Just a few short years ago, ride-sharing services like Lyft and Uber launched in cities across the country with the lofty goals of expanding transportation access, filling empty seats in cars on the road, and reducing traffic congestion and household transportation expenses by empowering Americans to share our rides.

Recent independent research indicates voters have good reasons to be optimistic about ride-sharing. Studies from the American Public Transportation Association, University of Minnesota, and Arizona State University have found that ride-sharing increases access to transportation; reduces single occupant vehicles; combats congestion; and reshapes long-held assumptions around personal vehicle ownership. While agreeable in theory, it was a major gamble whether America would come along for the ride.