3 ways car sharing helps our mental health
Hint: Fewer cars, happier cities.
Traffic stressing you out? You're not alone. Experts say traffic noise and congestion increases feelings of anxiety, isolation, and fatigue. (Wei, 2015)
But Zipcar members are helping clear the air. Every Zipcar takes up to 13 personally owned cars off the road. To put that in perspective: If we disappeared tomorrow, our members would buy over 200,000 personally owned cars. That’s a lot of traffic—and stress.
In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re highlighting the ways car sharing helps make our communities happier.
Quieter streets
Slower—and quieter—city traffic makes more room for natural sounds, which can reduce anxiety and boost cognitive performance. Which is great news, since an estimated 1 in 3 Americans are exposed to excessive noise level.
As Zipcar takes more cars off the road, we can work toward a future with quieter neighborhoods, which will help us sleep easier and feel better.
Less congestion
It’s not just about lowering the volume. With less-cluttered streets, it’d be easier for all of us to get around, lowering the day-to-day anxiety of traffic jams and delays.
According to a 2014 study, people are happier when they walk, bike, or take public transit to work. That includes Zipcar members, half of which ride public transit more than five times a week. When our cities make more room for people, bikes, and buses, we’re all happier as a result.
A greener future
Greenhouse gases aren’t just bad for the climate—studies show exposure to high levels of air pollution can decrease quality of life and increase the risk of depression.
But, by using Zipcar, you’re already working toward a greener, cleaner future. Zipcar members reduce their carbon footprint by around 1600 lbs of CO2. And, in NYC, our members reduce 164.8 million lbs of CO2 emissions annually. That’s like removing 3.2 million bags of trash from NYC’s Fresh Kills Landfill.
With cleaner air, greener cities, and quieter streets, we can all breathe a little easier.
References:
Hedgewald J., Schubert M., Freiberg A., Romero Starke K., Augustin F., Riedel-Heller S. G., Zeeb H., Seidler A. (2020) Traffic Noise and Mental Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7503511/
Marlynn Wei M.D., J.D. (2015). Commuting: “The Stress That Doesn’t Pay.” Psychology Today.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/urban-survival/201501/commuting-the-stress-that-doesnt-pay
Storey, Denis (2024). Slower Traffic, Quieter Streets Improve Urban Life. Psychiatrist.com.
https://www.psychiatrist.com/news/slower-traffic-quieter-streets-improve-urban-life/
The Apple Hearing Study Team (2023). Interactive US Maps of Noise Exposure: An Update from the Apple Hearing Study on International Noise Awareness Day 2023.
https://sph-umich.shinyapps.io/ahs-inad-2023/
Eberhardt J.L, Stråle L.-O., Berlin, M.H. (1987). The influence of continuous and intermittent traffic noise on sleep. Institute of Environmental Health, University of Lund, Lund, Sweden.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022460X87813767
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (2023). The Surprising Link between (Indoor) Air Quality and Mental Health.
