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Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

nytimes.com

41–50 of 383 posts

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#41

When I use lyft now, I'm coming across drivers that only drive for lyft. The tide has definitely shifted against Uber. I'm not really sure there's a way back at this point. The one advantage Uber had was network effect, but in my experience that has diminished. Lyfts come just as fast as Ubers now because they have enough drivers on the road to support the response time. I'll never go back to Uber.

Odd. I'm in the Bay Area and have taken many Lyft's lately both in the south bay and also the peninsula. Usually the drivers I get drive for both even up to this point. Could just be regional, not really sure? I feel like even with Uber's issues many drivers who do ride-sharing as a "job" won't want to just drop Uber as it may mean losing out on income (not sure if they can make up the loss with driving more for Lyft…

People doing ride sharing as their main gig in your area are likely desperate for every extra dollar.

I'd say they would be one of the last places to transition.

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#42
post #23
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you need black cars specifically? More professional?

Not GP but I use them for clients. For personal use I'd be fine with a rickshaw.

At this point, some clients would be offended just for ordering an Uber for them, black car or not.

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#43

I feel like Lyft is the underdog coming back to strike the killer blow to Uber... The year Uber has had I wouldn't be surprised to see them disappear altogether by 2018/2019. Lyft seems to be doing things a lot better, but helps that their CEO isn't out starting fires instead of putting them out.

Interesting. I feel like there is no way Uber would be on the brink of bankruptcy and not be able to fundamentally change the problems that have persisted so far. I guess what I'm getting at is that a company valued at 69 billion dollars going out of business in less than 2 years should be a surprise to everyone .

A company fueled entirely by venture capital that has no proven ability to make a profit, valued at 69 billion dollars should be a surprise to everyone.

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? Are you thinking of competition in general? Because there is a lot of that in ride sharing just nothing as big as the two juggernauts in America.

I think competition in general for self driving cars , not for ride sharing.

Then the loss of Uber won't matter. Basically every car manufacturer is looking at this along with countless others. The market for self driving vehicles is so, so tiny and new that literally any (and many) could jump in and "win".

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#45
post #31

If Alphabet really wants to mess with Uber, why don't they just buy Lyft and offer lower ride pricing/higher driver pay for as long as it takes to put Uber out of business?

That's going to take a lot of dollars..

It also would send a strong message to everyone they ever partner with in the future.

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it will be a commodity market. Not excited as an investor, very excited as a customer though.

I agree. Ultimately no one is going to be able to produce and maintain a car cheaper than a car manufacturing company so I feel like the eventual "winner" is going to be someone either partnered with, or is, a car manufacturer. Tesla is positioning itself super well for this. GM seems to be on its way as well especially with their past interest in Lyft?

How has Tesla positioned itself super well. Didn't they...just recently figure out that factories are more difficult than cars?

Or will they be a partner?

Please clarify.

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#47
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

New York City cabs seem to stay in service about 6 years, with 400,000+ miles on them at that point.

400k miles, damn.

Not to mention those are city miles, so the engine has been running for quite a long time.

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#48

I feel like Lyft is the underdog coming back to strike the killer blow to Uber... The year Uber has had I wouldn't be surprised to see them disappear altogether by 2018/2019. Lyft seems to be doing things a lot better, but helps that their CEO isn't out starting fires instead of putting them out.

Interesting. I feel like there is no way Uber would be on the brink of bankruptcy and not be able to fundamentally change the problems that have persisted so far. I guess what I'm getting at is that a company valued at 69 billion dollars going out of business in less than 2 years should be a surprise to everyone .

The surprise to me is the craziness of that valuation to begin with. And if they were able to make "fundamental changes", why wouldn't they have done it by now? Seems like the path to change will be more difficult with the loss of top execs, low internal morale, and difficulty hiring top talent moving forward. Maybe out of business in 2 years is agressive, but 5 years? Wouldn't surprise me at all.

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#49

When I use lyft now, I'm coming across drivers that only drive for lyft. The tide has definitely shifted against Uber. I'm not really sure there's a way back at this point. The one advantage Uber had was network effect, but in my experience that has diminished. Lyfts come just as fast as Ubers now because they have enough drivers on the road to support the response time. I'll never go back to Uber.

Odd. I'm in the Bay Area and have taken many Lyft's lately both in the south bay and also the peninsula. Usually the drivers I get drive for both even up to this point. Could just be regional, not really sure? I feel like even with Uber's issues many drivers who do ride-sharing as a "job" won't want to just drop Uber as it may mean losing out on income (not sure if they can make up the loss with driving more for Lyft…

Also odd. I'm in San Francisco and I've found most drivers that only drive for Lyft too. When I talk to drivers (now I talk with every driver out of curiosity), they genuinely hate Uber. Maybe they were once Uber, but they've moved networks.

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#50

When I use lyft now, I'm coming across drivers that only drive for lyft. The tide has definitely shifted against Uber. I'm not really sure there's a way back at this point. The one advantage Uber had was network effect, but in my experience that has diminished. Lyfts come just as fast as Ubers now because they have enough drivers on the road to support the response time. I'll never go back to Uber.

Lyft barely exists outside of the US. Uber is still on top if you take a global view.
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