I don't use Uber, but I do like the idea. Hopefully, Lyft steals it.
Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare
171–180 of 198 posts
Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare
#172Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's rare that I see anyone bring up the pollution induced by Uber's (and Lyft's) business models. Now there's something I'd like to see studied more intensely.
I don't remember where but I heard that just manufacturing a car cause more pollution than it's entire lifetime on the road. If Uber prevents people from buying cars then Uber may actually be environmentally friendly.
Consistent with the 'smart car' idea, where they manufacture cars with a low-environmental impact, yet the cars have poor gas mileage. To be a win, what you said would have to be true.
I've wondered about that for some time.
Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare
#173Based on my rides recently I have seen the quality of drivers plummet on both Uber and Lyft. I'd be much more willing to wait (and maybe even pay) for a higher quality driver. Having a driver who cannot follow a GPS and takes you in a circle 3-4 times around the airport or does not speak English well enough to understand your request to stop on the right instead of the left like the GPS shows can be quite frustrating…
As a cyclist, I cringe every time I see an Uber or Lyft sticker on a car now. These are amateur drivers doing a job that should require at least some professional training, and it shows: blocking bike lanes (and often traffic lanes too!), failing to look for cyclists when merging back into traffic (or turning right, etc.), not signalling turns half the time... I've narrowly missed getting side-swiped more times than…
> blocking bike lanes (and often traffic lanes too!), failing to look for cyclists when merging back into traffic (or turning right, etc.), not signalling turns half the time...
As a fellow cyclist, I don't think you've described any qualities that are specific to uber or lyft drivers, you've effectively described about 90% of the drivers on the road.
Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare
#174Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Uber is paying for the streets that they use. Uber doesn't pay a cent in gas taxes (they're not employees, they're partners, right?), and since they've never made money before, they don't pay a cent in taxes either.
Careful about mistaking accounting for economics. If gas taxes were lowered to zero, could Uber increase their share of the ride payment by the current tax amount, without harming their relationship with the drivers? If so, then Uber is paying that tax, not the drivers.
Maybe if gasoline weren't extremely inelastic, your begging the question wouldn't be so ridiculous. I pay $4.00/gal for gas. The gas tax is 18 cents. Under 5 percent. Yes, I suppose Uber could lower their cut by a tenth of a percent and really put some extra change in my pocket!!
PS. I have an expensive piece of paper in economics and statistics, but I appreciate you telling me to be careful. Gotta have somebody looking out for me, i suppose.
Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare
#175I do wonder how you get drivers to accept rates for them that flow from lower prices. I visit Accra reasonably often and frequently get drivers dropping me on price grounds - this would make the areas covered by this behaviour bigger, I think.
Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare
#176Based on my rides recently I have seen the quality of drivers plummet on both Uber and Lyft. I'd be much more willing to wait (and maybe even pay) for a higher quality driver. Having a driver who cannot follow a GPS and takes you in a circle 3-4 times around the airport or does not speak English well enough to understand your request to stop on the right instead of the left like the GPS shows can be quite frustrating…
As a cyclist, I cringe every time I see an Uber or Lyft sticker on a car now. These are amateur drivers doing a job that should require at least some professional training, and it shows: blocking bike lanes (and often traffic lanes too!), failing to look for cyclists when merging back into traffic (or turning right, etc.), not signalling turns half the time... I've narrowly missed getting side-swiped more times than…
Sadly, professional taxi drivers are often no better
Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare
#177Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's rare that I see anyone bring up the pollution induced by Uber's (and Lyft's) business models. Now there's something I'd like to see studied more intensely.
I don't remember where but I heard that just manufacturing a car cause more pollution than it's entire lifetime on the road. If Uber prevents people from buying cars then Uber may actually be environmentally friendly.
> If Uber prevents people from buying cars then Uber may actually be environmentally friendly.
How about the new cars that Uber is encouraging their drivers to buy with tantalizing financing?
Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
>You know Uber builds it's own mapping services right? And in fact, the guy who helped lead those efforts is the guy responsible for creating Google Earth which later formed the basis for Google's entire mapping efforts (which he led). Yeah, but when I get into a car it's not Uber Maps on the phone, it's Google Maps. So I'm not very concerned about a guy who worked at Uber for less than two years. >He's a great guy b…
> Yeah, but when I get into a car it's not Uber Maps on the phone, it's Google Maps. So I'm not very concerned about a guy who worked at Uber for less than two years. Navigation might be Google Maps or Waze, but everything else is Uber. My point is that Uber is 100% serious about mapping and they are investing a ton of resources into it. They're likely one of the few players who are doing this at scale, international…
> Navigation might be Google Maps or Waze, but everything else is Uber. My point is that Uber is 100% serious about mapping and they are investing a ton of resources into it. They're likely one of the few players who are doing this at scale, internationally.
So you're comparing scaling out a mapping back end to building and running massive transit infrastructure?
> With respect to your point about Airports, they're not even close to being paid for by the airlines in any meaningfully fair way.
Take a look at JFK. Airlines absolutely do pay significant amounts into airports.
> Absolutely wrong. I use Uber/Lyft every day. I don't have a car. Uber/Lyft are nothing like a bus route - not even close. To even suggest that they're similar to a traditional bus service route is to reveal that you haven't used the services in any meaningful way.
FWIW, BART doesn't run buses.
> Ride sharing is creating a whole class of jobs that have a very important role to play in society.
Minimum wage jobs with no benefits (thus externalizing the cost of providing the jobs)? That's not much of a win in my book.
> Now, should these be the only career options for people? Obviously not. I think that's where most people's concerns are valid. We can't create a society where this is the only type of work available. But can this type of work exist alongside other meaningful options? Of course!
And absolutely none of that means Uber is doing something more challenging than running a transit agency like BART or NYMTA. Uber's externalized most of their costs, disregarded most laws, and is scaling a very specific part of their software stack. It's not surprising to see growth under those circumstances.
Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare
#179Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't remember where but I heard that just manufacturing a car cause more pollution than it's entire lifetime on the road. If Uber prevents people from buying cars then Uber may actually be environmentally friendly.
> If Uber prevents people from buying cars then Uber may actually be environmentally friendly. How about the new cars that Uber is encouraging their drivers to buy with tantalizing financing?
I don't have a source but I assume that the driver:rider ratio of cars owned times pollution of manufacturing is greater than the rider:driver ratio of time driven time pollution of driving.
Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare
#180Earlier quoted context omitted.
>You know Uber builds it's own mapping services right? And in fact, the guy who helped lead those efforts is the guy responsible for creating Google Earth which later formed the basis for Google's entire mapping efforts (which he led). Yeah, but when I get into a car it's not Uber Maps on the phone, it's Google Maps. So I'm not very concerned about a guy who worked at Uber for less than two years. >He's a great guy b…
> Yeah, but when I get into a car it's not Uber Maps on the phone, it's Google Maps. So I'm not very concerned about a guy who worked at Uber for less than two years. Navigation might be Google Maps or Waze, but everything else is Uber. My point is that Uber is 100% serious about mapping and they are investing a ton of resources into it. They're likely one of the few players who are doing this at scale, international…
> They are absolutely 100% disruptive (even more so if you're a woman and safety is important to you).
Ah, I thought things like "God mode", Boobr, and doxxing critics felt creepy and unsafe. But that's just me, and I'm not a woman.
> There's a reason drivers drive for these services.
Sure. We like to call those predatory financing and exaggerated claims about compensation. Your buzzword laden defense of Uber misses the point though: scaling Uber is significantly easier than scaling a transit agency like an airline or BART.