Over the last 50 years, urban development has centered around the automobile, but imagine for a minute, what our world could look like if we found a way to take most of these cars off the road. It would be a world with less traffic and less pollution. A world where we need less parking — where streets can be narrowed and sidewalks widened. It's a world where pedestrians, bikers, and children can navigate a city just as quickly and safely as an automobile.
At the same time, John was studying at Cornell's School of Hotel Administration, looking for ways to apply the principles of hospitality outside of hotels and restaurants. He took a city planning course, Green Citieswhich sparked his interest in infusing hospitality with transportation to improve people's quality of life.
A full shift to Transportation-as-a-Service that offers more safe, affordable, reliable and enjoyable experiences across ridesharing, bike and scooter sharing and transit is finally possible. And, we're beginning to see the early signs of this transition. Based on internal data, we estimate over 300,000 Lyft riders have given up their personal cars because of Lyft, and in 2018, 46% of our riders said they used their cars less because of Lyft.
We're proud of the momentum and even more excited by what lies ahead. Just 1% of miles traveled in the United States happen on rideshare networks.The road ahead represents a massive opportunity to serve our communities and drive value for our stockholders.