Suppose there were five people who live within two blocks of you who were all going to work at the same time and roughly the same place.
It would be so easy to share a ride. But so hard to get that group together.
Enter ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft. The companies are developing algorithms to locate neighbors headed to the roughly the same place at the same time.
The strategy has already reduced some congestion in larger cities.
A recent report by the American Public Transportation Association suggests that ride-sharing trips are replacing personal vehicles and public transportation.