Uber Makes Travel Greener With New Sustainability Features

Many of us—me included—rely on Uber to get around wherever we are in the world. I use it in New York where I live but also during my travels, including recently in Cancun, where I hailed rides at least twice a day, the Hamptons, where I spent many weekends this summer, and Mumbai, my home city, which I visit every year.

But as a frequent traveler who experiences the impact of climate change firsthand (hello, unbearable heat in the summer that keeps getting worse every year), I’m constantly trying to find ways to lower my environmental footprint and be as green as possible.

Uber is now making that much easier: Starting today, the rideshare app introduced a lineup of new sustainable features.

Users can indicate that they prefer to ride in electric vehicles to start. According to the release about the initiatives, “1 in 4 people got their first electric vehicle ride on Uber and now, we’re making it even easier to go green! With our new EV preference feature, you can set your app to automatically match you with an electric vehicle whenever one’s close by. If the wait’s short, you’re cruising in an EV. If not, we’ll send a regular ride your way.”

A spokesperson for the company says that the feature will launch early next year in NYC, London, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Denver, Sacramento, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Philadelphia.

I personally love the Emission Savings Refresh, which is rolling out globally. You can see your emission savings in the app and can track their progress. This applies to bikes, scooters, UberX Share, Uber Greens, Uber Comfort Electrics, or any other green product—you can see the savings on the lock screen.

But there’s more. Uber is debuting a Climate Collection where you can browse, buy and get climate-conscious products on-demand with Uber Eats. Uber has collaborated with popular lifestyle brands for the collection, including Credo Beauty, Cuyana, L’Occitane, Trashie, Avaline, Allbirds and Stasher.

Uber is also teaming up with vendors at local markets in New York Los Angeles such Union Square Grassman and Gone Bananas Bread to deliver farm fresh produce and other local products to you. Yes, you can now eat green through Uber, too.

To show its commitment to being as green as possible, Uber has teamed up with Prince William’s The Earthshot Prize as a founding partner. The brand will fund ENSO Tyre’s pollution-reducing tires and supply them to Uber drivers in the UK.

In an email to Forbes, Uber’s Chief Product Officer, Sundeep Jain, said, “We believe there is a tremendous opportunity to make travel more sustainable globally, and our riders want just that. That’s why we’re working to make green options more available across the globe and making electric rides more ubiquitous.”

I say “kudos” to that. I know I’ll turn to Uber’s new green initiatives and encourage others to join me in the effort to do our bit for the environment.

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