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- How clean is your Uber or Lyft? Study finds ride-shares full of germs
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How clean is your Uber or Lyft? Study finds ride-shares full of germs
Ever wonder, when ordering a Lyft or Uber, how clean the vehicle picking you up actually is before you hop in the back seat?
Well, a new study, Driving with Germs, found that a ride-sharing vehicle has significantly more germs compared to a rental vehicle or a taxi -- and even more than a toothbrush holder, coffee reservoir and toilet seat.
Uber and Lyft did not respond to requests for comments.
For the study, NetQuote -- an insurance provider -- took swabs of multiple surfaces in nine different vehicles to compare the number of germs in ride-sharing vehicles, rental vehicles and taxis. Rideshares yielded the highest bacteria levels, with more than 6 million “colony-forming units” (CFU) of bacteria per square inch on average. Rental cars, meanwhile, average about 2 million CFU per square inch. Taxis had an average of just over 27,000 CFUs per square inch.
Certain parts of the vehicles contained different levels of bacteria. For instance, in the rideshare vehicles, the window buttons were “the worst when it comes to germs,” the study found. Those buttons had more than 5 million CFU per square inch on the tiny buttons. The seatbelts also contained high levels of bacteria, with more than 1 million CFU per square inch.
Door handles, interestingly, were the cleanest surfaces, with only 1,810 CFU per square inch.
“It’s only natural that a vehicle with an ever-changing roster of occupants would yield more bacteria than your own car,” the study concluded. “And our study revealed that more bacteria than you’d expect may lurk in some rideshare vehicles and rental cars, while taxis may err on the side of fewer germs. But our results don’t mean you should give up these vehicles altogether – in fact, you can easily take certain steps to protect yourself from a potential illness.”
Riders worried about the presence of germs could, for example, in a rental car wipe down key surfaces, like the steering wheel and gear shift. Riders using apps like Lyft and Uber should avoid touching their face and putting their hands in their pockets until they have a chance to wash their hands.
Comments: 2
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mrpowerWhy do ride-sharing vehicles have significantly more germs than a taxi? Such study is usually done by non-engineering people without sufficient logical thinking and reasoning. Only 9 cars were studied in this article which are far from enough to conclude anything. Why would a taxi be more cleaner? In which country was this study performed? Taking China market for instance, I would not believe a taxi can be any better than a ride-sharing car, and it should be worse knowing most drivers rush for more businesses and even pee on the side of the public streets. The frequency of taking passengers could be a factor. Ride-sharing cars might get a lot more use within a given time as they are less expensive than taxi in U.S., which could contribute to more germs. I don't feel this study is convincing, yet it gives a good advice to touch as few things as possible while you are in the car. It would be a good thing to bring your own "wiper" to clean your hands after getting out the car.
0Reply[MurphyBlackBook] Reply: -
JasmineMaybe Personal sanitizers will sell well. But why not install uv disinfection equipment on the Ride-sharing cars which could sterilize the car in the gap waiting for next passenger. And Operators need to set different cleaning frequencies according to the frequency of use of each car.At the same time, blacklist users should be established, tracking the cars used by blacklist users. Above maybe could improve UE(User Experience)
1Reply
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