If you take taxis, as many of us do, switch to a rideshare app! I won't endorse any one app, but I do want to talk about a great feature: shared or pooled rides.
Prior to rideshare apps, when traveling, I would be standing in the taxi line thinking, "we're all headed from the airport to the the same handful of hotels. Wouldn't it be great if we could double up, save some traffic, and split the fare?" But very rarely could you coordinate a shared ride successfully. Now, apps make it easy.
Here's an example from Lyft. A ride for just myself or my party would be $39.49, but if I'm willing to share a car with others going the same direction, it drops to $31.67 (a 20% savings). If I'm willing to walk a couple blocks to meet at a more convenient pickup point for all, my trip reduces even further to $28.25 (a 28% savings). They also show you the time added to accommodate the extra pickups/dropoffs, and this example is fairly average from my experience: an added 6-8 minutes.
This next example is from Uber. Their standard option for just you/your party is UberX, costing $30.70 for this ride. If you are willing to share the ride, choose Pool for $19.07 (a whopping 38% savings and 12 minute added time).
Keep in mind the available options, savings, and added time are all variable depending on when and to where you are traveling. For the best outcome, I have a couple apps downloaded and compare at the time I'm requesting my ride.
Cons: you need to have a little flexibility for arrival time.
Pros: in addition to saving money, there are all of the eco benefits of carpooling... and the apps take care of all the coordination for you!
