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Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

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Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#181

Post by gonehome »

astura wrote: post #167
gonehome wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

10,000 miles - it was also $4000 down, but you get $2500 back from the California EV incentive program so it comes to $1500 down and $90/month for a three year lease. You can get lucky and find deals where the money down is even lower. I missed one where it was $1500 down so CA was basically paying you $1000 to take the car (or if you factor in the monthly fee cost around $60 a month). Part of the reason for this is…

That won't be enough for most people - the average mileage driven per year for a male between 20 and 34 is almost $18,000. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/onh00/bar8.htm

I would guess it's enough when comparing to the people that are dropping car ownership for lyft or uber (especially considering that lyft and uber would be very expensive at those mileages).

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#182

Post by jgust »

sebleon wrote: post #162
d4mi3n wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in a similar situation, but from what I gather lifestyle factors heavily into the "do I need/want a car" equation. Kids, for example, usually mandate a car. Outdoor activities or any hobby that requires you haul around a lot of gear can also make having your own transportation a lot more appealing.

> Outdoor Activities Renting a car (via Getaround, Zipar) on weekends can be cost effective

I don't find Zipcar all that affordable except for the very shortest of trips (read: < 3 hours). Anything over that and you're better off renting a vehicle for the day through traditional routes.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#183

Post by usrusr »

jorblumesea wrote: post #130
panda888888 wrote: post #103

It's part of the reason I haven't bought a car. I'm in my mid 20s and didn't get my license in high school because insurance would have been too expensive (my parents wanted me to pay for it). I think driving is a good life skill so I got my license in my early 20s, but I still have zero desire to own a car. That said, I live in Seattle, where there is good public transportation. Here are my numbers: Parking (I work…

I think it really depends on your lifestyle. I love to hike, snowshoe and ski. Public transit to Snoqualmie doesn't exist and lyfts would be incredibly expensive, if they would even take you there. Not even factoring in lugging heavy equipment around. If you stay in the city almost all the time it's probably great. The minute you want to do something outside of the city it's impossible without a car.

> The minute you want to do something outside of the city it's impossible without a car.

Depends on where you live and what you do outside. Over the years, I have ridden my bike to half a dozen different countries, starting from my doorstep. That might be rare, but it's definitely not "impossible without a car".

I also happen to have access to a very active market for skiing/snowboarding weekend trips where a bus takes you to an hotel in the mountains on Friday night, you spend two days on the slopes and get back on Sunday evening. There are all kinds of people on those buses and most of them arrive at the meeting point by car, so it's definitely not a choice made out of necessity.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#184

Post by shafyy »

jorblumesea wrote: post #175
shafyy wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not just get the insurance on top when renting to cap your liability?

The entire idea is to be low cost, so when you start tacking on all these fees kinda defeats that purpose. At some point you will get to the point where it's the same cost to rent vs own.

It depends on how much you use it I guess. But the average person surely doesn't go out ice hiking every weekend.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#185

Post by icebraining »

ryanianian wrote: post #67
paulcole wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one of the few cases where I was ahead of my time. I turned 16 about 20 years ago and had 0 interest in a driver's license. I lived in an extremely rural area. My parents (rightly) said that I'd need to get a job to pay for a car. I figured why bother since I'd be paying for a car to drive to the job where I'd make money to pay for the car. Seemed like a complete waste of time and effort. 20 years later, I st…

So you're relying on friends/family to do the driving if you're outside of lyft/public-transit areas e.g. on vacation in a rental car? Not having a car is a great idea if you can get away with it - not having a license basically means you can't help out when necessary.

It's funny the difficulty that car owner show at understanding non-car-owners. Why would you assume that someone without a driver's license would go on vacation in a rental car in the first place?

By the way, this might not be true in the US, but in other places there's usually some sort of shared transit. Even if it's not a city bus or a ride-sharing network, there's usually some person with an unofficial "taxi" that drives others if you give them a call, or someone with a passenger van that makes a weekly trip to a city for a few regulars.

Old and poor people everywhere can't drive cars, so these solutions are widespread, you just need to ask around (calling the local shops usually does the trick).

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#186

Post by odammit »

panda888888 wrote: post #103

It's part of the reason I haven't bought a car. I'm in my mid 20s and didn't get my license in high school because insurance would have been too expensive (my parents wanted me to pay for it). I think driving is a good life skill so I got my license in my early 20s, but I still have zero desire to own a car. That said, I live in Seattle, where there is good public transportation. Here are my numbers: Parking (I work…

I’ve been carless in LA for a year. I walk to most things I need and work from home, so I’m lucky. Otherwise I bike or Uber/Lyft based on price.

I also have an Amex platinum which gets you $200 of Uber credit a year.

The one thing you’re missing from your calculation is parking tickets! In LA it can easily creep up on you :)

Also, no time spent parking and you can do work emails while someone else drives.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#187

Post by icebraining »

ghaff wrote: post #179
icebraining wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get why the employer would have to be "understanding and supportive". Either the job requires a driving license, in which case they should have asked at hiring time, or it doesn't. If they bait-and-switch the employee into driving despite not having asked for it, it's their own fault.

US employers assume adults can drive. Presumably, if they're hiring you as a delivery driver, they will confirm the appropriate licensing. But, if you're a random engineer that they discover can't go to various customer sites without all sorts of special arrangements, a lot of companies are probably going to take that into consideration come review time.

Fair enough, I guess in the US one should make that clear during the hiring interview.

I wonder what US employers will do when the next generations of employees come in and their assumption starts failing hard.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#188

Post by ghaff »

bob_theslob646 wrote: post #142
fyfy18 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it’s only a kilometre why not walk? That’s 15 minutes for the average person.

Would you want to walk in below freezing weather?

So long as there's a sidewalk? Yes? They make some very nice winter coats in Canada.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#189

Post by yeukhon »

jgust wrote: post #182
sebleon wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Outdoor Activities Renting a car (via Getaround, Zipar) on weekends can be cost effective

I don't find Zipcar all that affordable except for the very shortest of trips (read: < 3 hours). Anything over that and you're better off renting a vehicle for the day through traditional routes.

Same experience. I can rent for $100 for the full day. Problem is usually I have to pick up the car from the airport since local garages office hours are limited. There is very few available on the weekend.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#190

Post by xiainx »

sebleon wrote: post #162
d4mi3n wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in a similar situation, but from what I gather lifestyle factors heavily into the "do I need/want a car" equation. Kids, for example, usually mandate a car. Outdoor activities or any hobby that requires you haul around a lot of gear can also make having your own transportation a lot more appealing.

> Outdoor Activities Renting a car (via Getaround, Zipar) on weekends can be cost effective

I did this for a while after I moved to the bay area. Turns out, it adds up quickly. A weekend of climbing or backpacking or skiing comes in around $300. On top of that, it's less practical. You have to go get the car, higher mileage trips cost more, you can't rent for longer than a few days, etc. If you're going out of town every weekend, and possibly driving during the week too, car sharing services aren't quite as great as they seem.
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