Uber and Lyft carpools could one day replace most New York City taxis

Like most cities around the world, New York City suffers from horrendous traffic. A new MIT study suggests that UberPool and Lyft Line (the two apps' carpool features that allow strangers to share a ride for a reduced fare) could be the key to cutting down on urban congestion. If New Yorkers switched from private taxis to carpools, traffic would decrease by dramatically, according to the researchers. Using data from 3 million taxi rides, they designed an AI algorithm that would both reduce congestion and wait time for the vehicles. The researchers used taxi ride data to understand how New Yorkers move by car (Just 23% of Manhattan households own personal cars).