Rideshare operations are being suspended in California • Hacker News Board

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#251

Post by the_mitsuhiko » Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 5:17 PM UTC

aceman22 wrote: post #138

claudeganon wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Medicare for All is widely popular in the US. The insurance industry, hospitals, and employers who want leverage over workers buy off politicians to prevent it from happening.

Just my humble opinion, but it seems Medicare for all would only exacerbate the actual problem of medical costs being too high due to government subsidization. I'll take my down votes and go now...

Medicare for all would create the largest insurance pool the US has seen. It makes absolutely no sense why that would raise the costs.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#252

Post by bradly » Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 5:18 PM UTC

subdane wrote: post #31

Am I nuts, or is the heart of this issue really the fact that our healthcare system is built on tying benefits to full time jobs?

Also poor mass transit.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#253

Post by gotoeleven » Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 5:18 PM UTC

georgeecollins wrote: post #93

gotoeleven wrote: post #8

California has proven itself again and again to be really good at centrally planning the economic activities of individuals so I think this will work out pretty well in the end.

That is why the California economy is collapsing. /s Everybody likes to complain about California. When I was born here it was about 15m people. Now its 40m. If you are unhappy, please leave to a lower cost, lower tax state. People have been predicting California's decline my entire life and the real problem is it can't handle the growth. Also, California has been sucking up employing the young and of mid-west and so…

If California had the weather of South Dakota no one would live there. California is the state version of being born on third base and thinking you hit a triple.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#254

Post by JMTQp8lwXL » Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 5:18 PM UTC

cactus2093 wrote: post #177

JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The average person's response to being told they'd have to take another driver's test isn't to replace driving with Uber/Lyft. You're in a unique position to be able to afford to replace all driving with ridesharing, since gas+insurance+maintenance costs are much lower than say, a month of commuting to an office via rideshare.

The irony in this comment is amazing. You're in a unique, privileged position to not even consider public transit for some trips an option. Public transit for everyday commute to work, plus Uber/Lyft for trips outside of common commute hours or off the beaten path where public transit is less reliable, can definitely be cheaper than car ownership.

Well, OP was considering driving vs rideshare, so that's what I compared/contrasted. They never considered public transit, and continuing with their train of thought, neither did I. Seems like a reasonable perspective to take.

Public transit isn't an option for all people, particularly in low income communities, that have to get from home to work in rural and suburban areas. They aren't dense enough for public transit.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#255

Post by compycom » Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 5:18 PM UTC

blhack wrote: post #131

Lot of my friends who work in non tech jobs use driving for Uber or Lyft as a way to either get a little extra cash, or bridge themselves across gaps in employment. This would devastate them. Absolutely heartless move on behalf of the California government. Don’t kick the little guys while they’re down to make some political point. It’s not the time.

Uber and Lyft are voluntarily suspending operations to make a political point; they are the ones kicking the little guy while they're down. The fact that these companies can spend 100 million to dismantle the outcome of the political process shows how little power the California government actually has.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#256

Post by LatteLazy » Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 5:18 PM UTC

mqus wrote: post #239

LatteLazy wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, what you're describing without realizing it is just a cab company except you pay everyone a 30+ hours a week for doing nothing on top of what you pay them for actually working... This is why cab companies don't already let drivers pick their own hours (assuming they don't use the uber-lite approach of people just hiring the cab\medallion).

Whoa, uber/lyft are just cab companies with more flexible work-schemes? Tell me something new.

The flexibility around time worked is contingent on flexibility around pay. Flexibility around pay is being banned.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#257

Post by dumbfoundded » Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 5:19 PM UTC

ciarannolan wrote: post #204

georgeecollins wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is why the California economy is collapsing. /s Everybody likes to complain about California. When I was born here it was about 15m people. Now its 40m. If you are unhappy, please leave to a lower cost, lower tax state. People have been predicting California's decline my entire life and the real problem is it can't handle the growth. Also, California has been sucking up employing the young and of mid-west and so…

The "liberal states bad" trope has popped up on conservative media in the last year or so, so you'll see a lot more of it on places like HN.

Yeah, pretty much all of the best state economies are extremely liberal (1). I think the anti-tax sentiment on HN is from people who make a lot of money and then realize they have to pay taxes. They attribute their success entirely to themselves and then whine about giving anything back to the environment that enabled them. California certainly has giant problems but don't let it distract you from the big picture.

(1) https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/economy

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#258

Post by Mxs2000 » Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 5:19 PM UTC

mbesto wrote: post #75

manigandham wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People freely working is not exploitation. Full time driving jobs already exist if you wanted that instead of freelance rideshare driving.

> People freely working is not exploitation. Just because someone freely accepts work, doesn't mean its automatically free of exploitation. Exploitation just means one party is taking advantage of another parties weakness. Rideshare specifically - I don't think this exploitation is unilateral, but it does exist. Example - UAE commercial builders freely attracting Pakistan/India laborers and then holding their passpor…

Your example does not match the Uber/Lyft situation. They are free to stop driving at any time and are not stranded in a foreign land without vital identification.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#259

Post by nemothekid » Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 5:19 PM UTC

JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #192

rsweeney21 wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their business model is on-demand transportation. The business model doesn't work if the workforce is not also on-demand. I don't think that's spin, but maybe society decides that we don't like on-demand businesses.

> The business model doesn't work if the workforce is not also on-demand. Have they tried it to confirm it 'doesn't work'? Maybe rideshare companies need to reduce their cut, and start putting more of that money into the driver's pocket. Doesn't mean it can't be a profitable business, though possibly low-margin. Have they tried paring back development costs, marketing costs, etc?

Converting someone to an employee means a lot more than just paying them more. There is entirely new infrastructure that has to exist now.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#260

Post by manigandham » Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 5:19 PM UTC

tedivm wrote: post #77

manigandham wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% of the thousands of Uber drivers I've talked to over the past 8 years have said work flexibility is their greatest advantage. Many of them already have other commitments and drive for extra income. If they wanted a FT driving job, they would've gotten one.

AB5 left that flexibility in place. It allows for flexible hours and the ability to pick and choose the rides they accept. Nothing about this legislation or the court case before it took that flexibility away. Nothing about it requires people to be "full time" either.

Employees were always able to have flexible hours, there's nothing new about that. The major change is that employee classification means predetermined shifts.

Uber/Lyft will control when and where and how long work is. That changes everything about the service (which is what matters more than the price) and makes it nonviable outside of a few major urban areas.