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Vancouver Doesn't Have Uber

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Re: Vancouver Doesn't Have Uber

#21

Post by dionidium »

RodericDay wrote: post #16
caiob wrote: post #3

Spotty public transit? Vancouver has one of the best public transportation systems in North America. Honestly, Vancouverites aren't at all bothered by the fact that Uber doesn't exist out there. The author clearly has never been to other cities in Canada such as Toronto and/or Ottawa where commute is a nightmare.

You're getting a lot of replies saying "it bugs me", so I guess I'll counter-balance them by stating that, while I was working there, nobody used cabs regularly enough for it to matter, and when we did, it was no issue. Broad age range, from 18 year-old coop interns to 35 year old parents and 50 year old senior execs.

Parent is just missing the point of Uber. I've spent a fair amount of time in Vancouver, always Downtown. My use case for Uber was going across town at 10 or 11pm after hanging out after work (e.g. Gastown to West End). SkyTrain is no help and a bus is 1) probably not direct; 2) not immediately available.

An Uber would be there in 4 minutes and take me door-to-door.

I usually just walked in these situations. (It's about a 25-minute walk.)

Re: Vancouver Doesn't Have Uber

#22

Post by caiob »

stealthefocus wrote: post #8
caiob wrote: post #3

Spotty public transit? Vancouver has one of the best public transportation systems in North America. Honestly, Vancouverites aren't at all bothered by the fact that Uber doesn't exist out there. The author clearly has never been to other cities in Canada such as Toronto and/or Ottawa where commute is a nightmare.

I'm a Vancouver resident and the transit is great. The Skytrain is spotty in its coverage. No East/West travel, which I believe is what they're referring to. Also after using Uber in Toronto, I am super jealous and want it here.

Jealousy is one thing, but do you really need it?

Re: Vancouver Doesn't Have Uber

#23

Post by optimali »

Cab service is bad inside Vancouver and utterly miserable outside Vancouver proper. If you are in the North shore, Burnaby, Tri-cities or further, you pretty much have to book a cab well in advance and then call in to remind them, and even then you may be better off just taking transit. Good luck getting anywhere in a reasonable amount of time with out a car.

Re: Vancouver Doesn't Have Uber

#24

Post by serge2k »

> Vancouver Is Silicon Valley North

What?

Since when?

Are they going to have big tech companies paying big tech company?

Is this just based on the outrageous housing prices?

> With spotty public transportation and a dearth of taxis, Canada's third-largest city seemed built for ride-sharing

Never had a problem with transit in vancouver. Taxis are stupidly expensive, but skytrain + a bus is usually not too bad.

Re: Vancouver Doesn't Have Uber

#26

Post by Grishnakh »

RodericDay wrote: post #17
madiator wrote: post #13

The article sounds one-sided in favor of Uber, but as a tourist who visited the place recently, it would have been much easier for me if Uber/Lyft operated. The public transit may be nice, but as a tourist, I didn't bother with the bus timings and such: it was way easier to get a cab. Under such circumstances, Uber/Lyft may have made it much easier, especially since, at times we felt flagging down a cab was impossibl…

If you're not used to public transport in your home city, you probably wouldn't know how to use it in a different city. For example, you can send a text to any bus-stop, and immediately get a list of upcoming bus times. They were also fully integrated to Map apps. This is the sorest spot of "Uber culture" for me: wealthy and educated people who would put skills and pressure into keeping public transit sharp and usabl…

It's not the job of wealthy and educated people to use their skills to fix public transit, any more than it's my job as a private citizen on the East Coast to reform the police department in LA (take your pick which "LA"). That job belongs to the local government. If the local government is incompetent at running public transit in an efficient manner so that both locals and visitors can easily use it to get around, that's the fault of the local government. The "wealthy and educated" people you refer to are not government officials, and have no business telling the government what to do (they probably aren't even constituents). So they're doing the only thing they can: making a private service that solves a real problem and provides a real solution for many, many people.

If local governments would like to learn from this and come up with their own solutions, perhaps even hiring some of these smart people to help them, that'd be great. But I don't see them doing any of that.

Re: Vancouver Doesn't Have Uber

#27

Post by Grishnakh »

serge2k wrote: post #25

While I disagree with the idea that Uber should have to charge $75/ride as a limousine service, it's honestly refreshing to see a place that doesn't let them flout regulation.

No, it's really not. First off, it's not unique: there's a bunch of places where they're outright banned or prevented from operating, such as Austin. Second, forcing them to price rides at $75 a ride is just a tactic to drive them out of business altogether, without the government doing anything to actually make the situation better for its citizens.

What enlightened local governments would do is figure out how to enact some sensible regulations on these new Uber-like services, and then let them set their own prices and compete fairly. Sensible regulations would have to do with employee treatment, such as the whole controversy about employees being "contractors" (which is a hard problem: many of them like working part-time, and even work for multiple services simultaneously, taking calls from one service or the other), and the controversy about how to deal with the auto insurance (this one's easier: they could simply require Uber to self-insure while a driver is on a call, but there's still an issue about when drivers are between calls). But I don't see any attempts by cities to do anything like this; they only want to prop up the existing taxi cartels, and do a terrible job with public transit.

Re: Vancouver Doesn't Have Uber

#28

Post by Grishnakh »

serge2k wrote: post #24

> Vancouver Is Silicon Valley North What? Since when? Are they going to have big tech companies paying big tech company? Is this just based on the outrageous housing prices? > With spotty public transportation and a dearth of taxis, Canada's third-largest city seemed built for ride-sharing Never had a problem with transit in vancouver. Taxis are stupidly expensive, but skytrain + a bus is usually not too bad.

Did you try taking public transit at 2AM? In many cities, the public transit shuts down at some time in the evening, forcing people to use cabs (or Uber). It's great if a city has decent public transit, but there's a reason why other services have a role: some people are in a big hurry, others are caught out at a time when there's no public transit available. There's also plenty of cases where the public transit option just isn't very good for a particular route (such as, in the NYC area, try going from Jersey City to Staten Island on public transit).

Re: Vancouver Doesn't Have Uber

#29

Post by yladiz »

I don't understand the apprehension to using public transportation, especially in a city that has a genuinely good system. If the issue is time, fair enough, Uber could be better, but with good enough planning you can get almost anywhere with buses, the Skytrain, and just walking. If you have an absolutely urgent need to get somewhere, I'd argue that you didn't plan well or you can hire a driver for the day, because even with Uber unless you're in a city that is at a high saturation level you're still gonna wait 5-10+ minutes for the Uber to arrive.

Also: > "It's the only city in the world that I need to hire a driver"

He's never been to Seoul, one of the largest cities in the world, which also has effectively no Uber presence...

Re: Vancouver Doesn't Have Uber

#30

Post by wvenable »

yladiz wrote: post #29

I don't understand the apprehension to using public transportation, especially in a city that has a genuinely good system. If the issue is time, fair enough, Uber could be better, but with good enough planning you can get almost anywhere with buses, the Skytrain, and just walking. If you have an absolutely urgent need to get somewhere, I'd argue that you didn't plan well or you can hire a driver for the day, because…

> I don't understand the apprehension to using public transportation

I use public transportation twice a day every weekday but that doesn't mean I wouldn't also, occasionally, need to have need of Uber. They serve different needs, is that so hard to understand?

> If you have an absolutely urgent need to get somewhere, I'd argue that you didn't plan well

If only there was a service that existed to help you get somewhere if something goes terribly wrong with your plans! Somebody should turn that into a business and make money.

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