This report builds on an on-going research effort that investigates emerging mobility patterns and the adoption of new mobility services. In this report, the authors focus on the environmental impacts of various modality styles and the frequency of ridehailing use among a sample of millennials (i.e., born from 1981 to 1997) and members of the preceding Generation X (i.e., born from 1965 to 1980). The total sample for the analysis included in this report includes 1,785 individuals who participated in a survey administered in Fall 2015 in California. In this study, the researchers focus on the vehicle miles traveled, the energy consumption, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for transportation purposes of various groups of travelers.

Key findings

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Drivers present the highest energy consumption and GHG emissions from the use of their private vehicles, and their environmental footprint is not that much affected by their limited use of ridehailing.

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Active travelers show the smallest energy consumption and GHG emission, on average; however, when accounting for trips made by ridehailing, regular ridehailing users in this group have fuel consumption and GHG emissions comparable to other groups.

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Among transit riders and car passengers, regular ridehailing users have even lower total energy consumption and GHG emissions from transportation than their non-user counterparts.

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