Yifang Zhu in The Washington Post

Yifang Zhu is the Center for Clean Air Associate Director and a professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences. In this Washington Post article, Zhu talks about the environmental impact of ride-hailing services on UCLA’s campus. 

UCLA students use ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft for about 11,000 trips a week to get from one part of campus to another, and that has raised environmental concerns in a city that is often smothered by smog, the Daily Bruin says.

“The pollutants coming out of the tailpipe heavily contribute to Los Angeles’ smog problem,” Yifang Zhu, an environmental health sciences professor said. Zhu, who is also associate director of the university’s Center for Clean Air, said the trips alone are probably only part of the problem: Drivers idling their engines while waiting to pick up their riders could potentially contribute more air pollution than the rides themselves.