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Lyft Is Said to Seek New Funding as Its Rival Uber Stumbles

nytimes.com

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Re: Lyft Is Said to Seek New Funding as Its Rival Uber Stumbles

#341

Post by conanbatt »

johnsea wrote: post #331
conanbatt wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you meant to be sarcastic I still dont get it. If you didnt, why do you attribute the first to the op?

No sarcasm intended. The op chooses to use uber and profit from low cost fares. He pays little and uber is only able to pay out meagre to their drivers. Uber is not profitable, they cannot pay their drivers better without raising the fares. Isn't this a fact? I didn't mean the op personally, but all who use such a service which imho exploit drivers. One chooses to use such a service and has to shoulder part of the re…

I think there is a difference on what the driver gets and what someone pays that the consumer is not responsible for. Its like arguing that you should go to the restaurant that gives its waiters the highest salaries.

The consumer cannot have that responsibility, because the consumer doesnt agree with the employee what the employee salary is as much as the employee doesn't dictaminate how much the consumer can pay.

Plus its reasonable to react to the best incentives you have, and doing otherwise is actually negative: if uber is cheaper for the same its better to use it. This coming from someone that usually takes Lyft, because i dislike Uber, but if i knew i could get a cheaper ride i would use Uber as I have.

You dont do anyone a favor by staying unreasonable :)

Re: Lyft Is Said to Seek New Funding as Its Rival Uber Stumbles

#342

Post by paulddraper »

IanCal wrote: post #228
paulddraper wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> cycle the 6 miles The minority cycles. Crowded cyclists are hardly better than crowded cars.

They take up less space and result in less pollution and a healthier population. In what way do you think they're about the same?

I was mostly referring to congestion.

(They certainly have advantages like exercise, noise, and storage space.)

Bicycles are physically smaller, but they still need a substantial safety zone, just like cars. It's easier and faster to stop a 25mph car than a 25mph bike.

Re: Lyft Is Said to Seek New Funding as Its Rival Uber Stumbles

#343

Post by hueving »

erispoe wrote: post #103
hueving wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That very name is the strawman. The ban doesn't even target the largest Muslim countries.

Yet it was sold as a Muslim ban by the administration, which is a major reason for San Francisco's federal appeal court to suspend it. The fact that it's not an effective Muslim ban is a different question.

>Yet it was sold as a Muslim ban by the administration

Do you have a source for this? There is so much political noise that the only place I've heard it is second-hand from people trying to avoid the contents of the actual executive order and block it based on feelings.

Re: Lyft Is Said to Seek New Funding as Its Rival Uber Stumbles

#344

Post by paulddraper »

rimantas wrote: post #309
CalRobert wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

.... Perhaps you can enlighten us as to how getting hit by a bicycle is comparable to getting hit by a Land Rover?

Land Rovers do not drive on sidewalks, for a start.

Bit of a strawman, since bicycles should drive in their own lanes.

Re: Lyft Is Said to Seek New Funding as Its Rival Uber Stumbles

#345

Post by subpixel »

wcummings wrote: post #315
op00to wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Yes, but poor people use public transportation to come from bad neighborhoods to good neighborhoods to rob us! We must ban all expansion of public transportation!" This exact sentiment is echoed by many in the US as a reason to not expand public transit. When asked about criminals driving cars to commit crimes, they were not open to bulldozing the roads over. It's gross.

>"Yes, but poor people use public transportation to come from bad neighborhoods to good neighborhoods to rob us! We must ban all expansion of public transportation!" This is why the (Boston) red line doesn't extend to Arlington.

Replace "poor" with "black" and you have the reason public transportation has been suppressed in large parts of the US.

When I lived in Atlanta a suburban city official explained that "we all know the sort of people who hang around bus stops" while killing plans to expand bus service.

Re: Lyft Is Said to Seek New Funding as Its Rival Uber Stumbles

#346

Post by Shinchy »

foxfired wrote: post #127

Here is how I see it. I rely on those rides to go to work every single day and here what it (would) costs me. Uber: $250 a month.(Majority) Lyft: $500 a month (Whenever Uber is too expensive) Bus : $100 a month (1h:15 for 6 miles and 3 buses... No) Politics and all internal conflicts aside, there is a need for these services whether we like it or not. When I need to make a decision in the morning I take whatever is t…

May I suggest buying a Bicycle?

Re: Lyft Is Said to Seek New Funding as Its Rival Uber Stumbles

#347

Post by yummyfajitas »

RobertoG wrote: post #335
th5234 wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The crime rates are much higher in the United States than in Europe. This website claims rape occurs at a 3 times higher rate and murder at a 6 times higher rate. I couldn't find any good statistics for robbery but I imagine it's in that range. Yes, crime has been decreasing in the United States for around a quarter of a century, but it still occurs at a much higher rate than Europe and almost an order of magnitude h…

It seems to me that it's all the same problem. If you have strong public spending you have more educated and less desperate people and better public transport.

To get the same transit in the US, we'd need to spend 5-10x what Europeans/Asians/anyone else in the world spends.

https://pedestrianobservations.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/comp...

In the US, public spending is generally a way to funnel money to cronies of the inner party (e.g. transit worker unions, construction unions, politically connected consultants). Various other interest groups - mainly NIMBY homeowners - will also demand their pound of flesh.

We need to fix our social technology ( http://thefutureprimaeval.net/social-technology-and-anarcho-... ) before we can build such things. Luckily we have people like Kalanick taking baby steps in that direction.

Re: Lyft Is Said to Seek New Funding as Its Rival Uber Stumbles

#348

Post by [deleted] »

wcummings wrote: post #315
op00to wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Yes, but poor people use public transportation to come from bad neighborhoods to good neighborhoods to rob us! We must ban all expansion of public transportation!" This exact sentiment is echoed by many in the US as a reason to not expand public transit. When asked about criminals driving cars to commit crimes, they were not open to bulldozing the roads over. It's gross.

>"Yes, but poor people use public transportation to come from bad neighborhoods to good neighborhoods to rob us! We must ban all expansion of public transportation!" This is why the (Boston) red line doesn't extend to Arlington.

[deleted]

Re: Lyft Is Said to Seek New Funding as Its Rival Uber Stumbles

#349

Post by dannypgh »

th5234 wrote: post #307
op00to wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Yes, but poor people use public transportation to come from bad neighborhoods to good neighborhoods to rob us! We must ban all expansion of public transportation!" This exact sentiment is echoed by many in the US as a reason to not expand public transit. When asked about criminals driving cars to commit crimes, they were not open to bulldozing the roads over. It's gross.

The crime rates are much higher in the United States than in Europe. This website claims rape occurs at a 3 times higher rate and murder at a 6 times higher rate. I couldn't find any good statistics for robbery but I imagine it's in that range. Yes, crime has been decreasing in the United States for around a quarter of a century, but it still occurs at a much higher rate than Europe and almost an order of magnitude h…

Rape and murder are both crimes where the odds are good you know your assailant. I don't believe the overall rate has much to do with transit. Of course, you admit it may not be rational- but in theory education can ease irrational thoughts, and this is likely simpler than solving the problem of crime.

http://nypost.com/2014/01/05/odds-that-youll-be-killed-by-a-...

http://www.911rape.org/facts-quotes/statistics

Re: Lyft Is Said to Seek New Funding as Its Rival Uber Stumbles

#350

Post by yummyfajitas »

smileysteve wrote: post #22
techsupporter wrote: post #3

Forgive me if this is me being dense, but from an outsider's perspective I don't understand what makes Lyft any better than Uber. Neither company properly categorizes their drivers (as employees), both have a rather sizeable cut from fares, both depended on being basically illegal cabs--except for Uber Black, which uses licensed black car services--to get started, and neither has a financially viable business model.…

The key points are - CEO never blackmailed journalists - No major revelations of sexual harassment - ~~No major revelations of political support~~ Related to core business - Surge Limit has prevented complaints about emergency pricing vs Uber. - Lyft takes a lower commission capped at 20%/25% - Lyft has in app digital tipping (drivers keep 100% of tips). Uber's tip policy encourages cash, which is an often cited comp…

Travis Kalanick has never blackmailed journalists. Emil Michael, an Uber executive, brought up the idea as an ethical hypothetical.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicole-campbell/what-was-said-...

Specifically, he asked Ben Smith of Buzzfeed whether it would be ethical for Uber to hire someone to investigate and report to the public true facts about a journalist (as opposed to journalists investigating and reporting true facts about people involved with Uber). Ben Smith evaded the question, most likely because he didn't want to admit that as a journalist he feels that's a privilege which should only be afforded to members of his club.

You are right that Lyft doesn't do much politics. Instead, Uber spends money fixing political problems and Lyft then freeloads on them, making money in the better world that Uber created. For me, that's a strong reason to prefer Uber to Lyft.

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