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Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving

economist.com

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Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving

#61

Post by FullMtlAlcoholc »

daurnimator wrote: post #27
petergatsby wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Study credits Uber because specificity > vagueness. From 2011 - present Uber was responsible for vast the majority of ride-share rides: https://www.thestreet.com/story/13536061/1/uber-now-more-pop...

Living in New York for 2012-2015: it felt like there was about a 50:50 split on Lyft vs Uber. Lyft doesn't seem to have even near that sort of penetration in other cities from what I've experienced.

Lyft has a decent presence in Los Angeles and a number of people, including myself, find it to be consistently cheaper.

Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving

#62

Post by ruleabidinguser »

daurnimator wrote: post #27
petergatsby wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Study credits Uber because specificity > vagueness. From 2011 - present Uber was responsible for vast the majority of ride-share rides: https://www.thestreet.com/story/13536061/1/uber-now-more-pop...

Living in New York for 2012-2015: it felt like there was about a 50:50 split on Lyft vs Uber. Lyft doesn't seem to have even near that sort of penetration in other cities from what I've experienced.

What gave you the impression that Lyft has 50%? Thats certainly not been my experience.

Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving

#63

Post by harpastum »

BigJono wrote: post #46
plytheman wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious when self-driving cars become common place how the law will react to it. It's my assumption that the law will still require a driver to be sober in the event that manual control is needed, though I suppose if the car is driving itself perfectly fine police would have no reasonable grounds to pull anyone over and discover they're drunk in the first place.

> though I suppose if the car is driving itself perfectly fine police would have no reasonable grounds to pull anyone over and discover they're drunk in the first place. I can't speak for America, but here (Australia) I'd guess the vast majority of drunk driving tickets are from booze busses. I can't even remember the last time I saw somebody pulled over and breathalysed.

Could you elaborate? What's a booze bus? In the US, It's a pretty common occurrence to see someone pulled over and breathalyzed if they're driving erratically.

Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving

#65

Post by jhpaul »

Based on personal experiences this isn't surprising. When I was in college in a small town in the late 00's, many friends and acquaintances would drive across town after heavy drinking. 10-15 minutes, straight roads, little traffic. Other than not going out, or not getting home, you didn't have many options. It was a hour long walk or a $20-40 cab ride, if you could get one.

I was recently back in town for a wedding and our uber to the hotel from the venue (about the same distance) was $9.

Once came to town (now on the east coast) I instantly noticed many friends who used to drive would take an uber. It's cheap, it's easy to call one from a crowded/loud place, you know how much it will cost, they don't use cash, they know where you are, and you don't have to give directions. For someone intoxicated (or anyone really), these are game changers.

It's the difference between "who's going to drive?" and "who's calling an uber?"

Company politics aside, the accessibility of ride-sharing services introduces numerous real safety benefits on top of the obvious convenience.

Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving

#66

Post by mc32 »

So on the one hand technology allows for better taxi services resulting in fewer impaired-driving accidents, on the other hand, technology in the form or gadgets (entertainment systems, phones, GPS, etc., distract drivers as well as pedestrians resulting in more accidents on the not-under-the-influence side of things.

Still 24+% reduction is quite an nice result.

Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving

#67

Post by nikcub »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #20
ardit33 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bitter/hating much? I know Uber is not liked, but the fact that they have done a great job at disturbing the market in a great way. (Lyft as well, but they are still a minority player) Having have to deal with NYC cabs often, when they will lock the doors and ask where you are going before letting you in, Uber is a great improvement overall. Also, a NYC taxi medallion would cost 500k to almost 750k (that's like a mor…

But aren't they just disrupting it temporarily? My understanding is that VC funding is propping up those low fares. I guess it is good until that runs out though.

There is nothing wrong with their financial model at the moment - it's just high stakes, winner takes all, swing for the fences style of company building.

The most famous example is Amazon, fueling growth with raised capital over emphasis if profits. It lets them capture market and mindshare and do it extremely cheaply - Uber has raised $8B for what is likely less than a third of the company - including $5B at $90B+ only 8 months ago

This is exactly what investors want - turn what some might grow to be a respectable 20-30x return into 1000x and a shot at global domination.

Its amazing how global uber is - it really has total mindshare outside of the small number of areas competitors operate. I've heard "uber" used as a verb in 4 languages and in about a dozen different countries.

Uber claim they're profitable in older markets on a margin basis. That bodes well for being able to grow into profitability as you run out of countries to grow into, which is a little better and different to Amazon.com's "flicking the profit switch"

Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving

#68

Post by adventured »

vannevar wrote: post #43

Proving another benefit of subsidized public transportation. In Uber's case, low-cost rides subsidized by its investors.

Would you mind showing me their financials in the US market, so we can see the extent of the subsidization across different cities? I would like to see the numbers that you derived your claim from in regards to Uber's operations in the US.

Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving

#69

Post by mahyarm »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #20
ardit33 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bitter/hating much? I know Uber is not liked, but the fact that they have done a great job at disturbing the market in a great way. (Lyft as well, but they are still a minority player) Having have to deal with NYC cabs often, when they will lock the doors and ask where you are going before letting you in, Uber is a great improvement overall. Also, a NYC taxi medallion would cost 500k to almost 750k (that's like a mor…

But aren't they just disrupting it temporarily? My understanding is that VC funding is propping up those low fares. I guess it is good until that runs out though.

Your still not paying for a taxi medalion
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