Are fewer teens driving because of ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft? Not likely. First, these services usually require that riders be 18 years old or older, so most high school students can’t use them alone. In addition, Uber debuted in 2009 and Lyft in 2012, and the decline in getting a driver’s license began long before that. The decline appears in suburbs and rural areas, where Uber is often unavailable. The most consistent decline appears among suburban teens—suggesting that the downslide has more to do with Mom and Dad driving Junior around (see Appendix B).
