Uber commissioned research shows region spends 13 days in traffic congestion each year

Traffic jams in Asian cities are getting worse every year, and car owners are now questioning whether they should own a car at all.

People are stuck in traffic jams 52 minutes every day and spend an additional 26 minutes finding parking, according to a survey of 9,000 people across nine of Asia’s biggest cities.

Almost four out of ten car owners have considered ditching their car over the last year. That number is even higher when it comes to millennials, according to the survey.

”If the situation in Asia’s cities continues like this, they risk coming to a complete standstill in only a few years. Ridesharing can be an important compliment to public transport and private cars when reducing congestion as well as freeing up city space used today for parking spots. By putting more people into fewer cars, we can unlock our cities and their full potential. But it requires that we all work together”, said Brooks Entwistle, Chief Business Officer, Asia Pacific at Uber.

Uber also commissioned the Boston Consulting Group to assess the potential benefits that greater adoption of ridesharing may bring to Asian cities.

It estimated that between 40 percent and 70 percent of private vehicles on the road today across the nine cities it studied could be removed if ridesharing becomes a viable substitute for private vehicle ownership.

That would significantly improve congestion in all cities, and almost eliminate it altogether in some of them.

Uber is highlighting the absurdity of the traffic situation in its latest film, entitled “Boxes.”  

Using cardboard boxes to represent cars, the film humorously shows the reality of how people get around currently and ends with images of a city being overrun by boxes.  Shot on the streets of Bangkok with around 200 extras, the soundtrack is ”Bare Necessities” from the 1967 Disney film ”The Jungle Book”.

Check out the film here and more information on the study at www.unlockingcities.com.