On June 17th, 2020, the San Francisco-based ridesharing company Lyft announced that by 2030, all of the vehicles on its platform will be electric. The announcement comes shortly before the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is expected to present its air quality regulations for transportation network companies (TNCs) like Lyft. According to CARB, ridesharing cars have 50 percent higher emissions than personal cars due to “deadhead miles” between passenger rides, so a shift like this could have enormous environmental benefits.

Although switching its rental and autonomous car fleets will be a relatively simple process, the true difficulties will arise when trying to convince their drivers, whose personal cars make up the majority of the vehicles on Lyft’s network, to go electric. The only way Lyft’s president sees this happening is if electric vehicles (EVs) become a “financial no-brainer.” This will take extensive petitioning, research and collaboration with industry and government on Lyft’s part.

But as CARB’s chair Mary Nichols points out, switching to electric vehicles is only one part of reducing emissions. Services like ridesharing make it possible to cover holes in existing transportation networks, making it feasible for people to live without cars. Lyft is also making efforts on this front by collaborating with public transportation authorities and offering bicycles and electric scooters.

As Nichols puts it, Lyft is creating a “blueprint for the zero-emission transportation system of the future.” Now we can only hope that other transportation companies follow suit.