Ride-Sharing Was Invented During World War I — Not by Uber

Key Takeaways

• •WWI: US government mandated ride-sharing to conserve rubber
• •WWII: carpooling was a patriotic duty with propaganda campaigns
• •1977: 23.5% of Americans carpooled — a modern peak
• •2002: Sunil Paul patented mobile ride-hailing 7 years before Uber existed

Source: US Census / DOT

Timeline

In 1943, the US government printed a poster showing a lone driver with the ghostly outline of Adolf Hitler in the passenger seat. The caption read: "When you ride ALONE you ride with Hitler! Join a Car-Sharing Club TODAY."

Carpooling wasn't just encouraged during World War II. It was a patriotic duty.

But the history of organized ride-sharing goes back even further — to World War I. When the United States entered the war in 1917, the government mandated ride-sharing to conserve rubber, which was critical for military vehicles and equipment. Citizens were asked to share rides, reduce unnecessary trips, and pool transportation resources.

It worked. And then the war ended, and everyone forgot about it.

'When you ride ALONE you ride with Hitler!' — an actual US government propaganda poster from 1943. Carpooling was patriotic.

The pattern repeated during World War II. Gas rationing made carpooling essential, not optional. The government created formal carpooling programs, printed propaganda, and organized neighborhood ride-sharing networks. By some estimates, over 35% of commuters shared rides during the war years.

Then the war ended, the suburbs exploded, and the American love affair with solo driving returned.

The next ride-sharing boom came during the 1973 oil crisis. When OPEC embargoed oil exports, gas prices tripled. President Nixon signed the Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act in 1974, which funded carpooling initiatives nationwide. By 1977, 23.5% of American commuters were carpooling — a modern peak.

The patent for mobile ride-hailing was filed in 2002 by Sunil Paul. Travis Kalanick didn't launch Uber until 2009.

Then gas got cheap again. By 1990, carpooling had dropped to 13%.

The digital revolution changed everything — eventually. In 2002, entrepreneur Sunil Paul was awarded a patent for "a computer-implemented method for determining an efficient transportation route" — essentially describing a mobile ride-hailing app. Seven years before Uber existed.

In 2007, Logan Green and John Zimmer founded Zimride, an intercity carpooling service for college students. They later spun off a real-time ride service called Lyft. In 2009, Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp launched UberCab in San Francisco.

Uber didn't invent ride-sharing. The US government did, over a century ago. Uber just made it convenient, instant, and available on your phone.

Today, ride-sharing apps are used by over 120 million Americans. We've returned to WWII-era levels of shared transportation — not because of patriotism or crisis, but because someone finally put the concept in our pockets.

The root of Uber isn't Silicon Valley. It's a wartime conservation program and a government propaganda poster featuring Hitler.

How did this make you feel?

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