As companies like Uber drastically change transportation options in cities across the world, one question routinely comes up: Is it more expensive to own a car or to take an Uber?
That question was examined in Mary Meeker's 2018 internet trends report, an annual deep-dive into the tech industry that's become an influential yearly report on the state of technology. Meeker is a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers.
Among the topics covered in the nearly 300-page report released today was the issue of cost between owning a personal vehicle versus taking an Uber. When looking at five of the largest cities in the U.S., it's actually cheaper to rely on Uber than to own a car in four of the five cities.
In Chicago, it costs around $116 a week to own a car, compared to $77 to rely on Uber. Dallas was the only market studied where it was more expensive to Uber, costing $181 per week versus $65 to own a car.
The report measured weekly car costs by looking at gas, maintenance, insurance and parking costs. Uber rides were measured during peak commute times in February 2017 for UberX and UberPool rides.
The report confirms what many in Chicago already know---you can get around the city just fine thanks to Uber, Lyft, taxis, Divvy, a reliable transit system and the emergence of dockless bikes and scooters that are slowly being tested in Chicago.
