The Economics of UberX in NYC
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The Economics of UberX in NYC
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Re: The Economics of UberX in NYC
#2surge pricing not taken into account?
Re: The Economics of UberX in NYC
#3The most important giveaway of this post is this:
"But at the end of the day, their business model boils down to taking a 20% rake of a large commodity services business while pushing assets, costs, and liabilities off the corporate financial statements and onto the shoulders of their not-quite-employee-partners."
Re: The Economics of UberX in NYC
#4The most important giveaway of this post is this: "But at the end of the day, their business model boils down to taking a 20% rake of a large commodity services business while pushing assets, costs, and liabilities off the corporate financial statements and onto the shoulders of their not-quite-employee-partners."
And yet people still choose to drive for Uber. Are they all being taken advantage of?
Re: The Economics of UberX in NYC
#5Not taking surge pricing into account probably plays a large role in explaining this article's findings.
Another thing to note in his section with self driving cars: the pool of cars would be fixed in that case, but the amount of uber drivers fluctuates throughout the day. Now, uber doesn't really care if drivers are 70% utilized or 50% utilized, as their revenue doesn't depend on that, but they do have an interest in keeping the drivers marginally satisfied
Also I don't have the numbers but at least in SF, taking an uber to the airport is much cheaper than taking a cab ($25 vs 50 from my office, last I checked), so I could imagine that something like that skews the distribution of ride lengths.
Re: The Economics of UberX in NYC
#6The most important giveaway of this post is this: "But at the end of the day, their business model boils down to taking a 20% rake of a large commodity services business while pushing assets, costs, and liabilities off the corporate financial statements and onto the shoulders of their not-quite-employee-partners."
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Re: The Economics of UberX in NYC
#7I've signed up (as a user, not driver) for Via, Gett and Lyft. I believe drivers can do the same. As long as they don't collude and are constantly competing, it could be good for everyone. That said, I still prefer yellow cabs and use them when possible.
Re: The Economics of UberX in NYC
#8This guy's whole article falls apart based on one terrible assumption: that Uberx behaviors are similar to taxis. There are a whole host of reasons why this is not the case. Taxis are more likely to hang out in dense, Manhattan areas contributing to short and slow rides. Riders would much prefer to take an Uberx to the airport than a taxi. Surge pricing. Etc.
Re: The Economics of UberX in NYC
#9for the next three months at least, Uber is indemnifying full-time drivers against slow business. Good luck competing with that, companies-that-don’t-have-a-$1.5-billion-war-chest.
This is what worries me. Uber are the freemarket dream child, but they're using their financial heft to actively distort the market. They've already driven Hailo out of the city, and I wonder who is next. I want Uber to become the de-facto choice by providing good service, not by bullying everyone else out of the city.
Re: The Economics of UberX in NYC
#10This guy's whole article falls apart based on one terrible assumption: that Uberx behaviors are similar to taxis. There are a whole host of reasons why this is not the case. Taxis are more likely to hang out in dense, Manhattan areas contributing to short and slow rides. Riders would much prefer to take an Uberx to the airport than a taxi. Surge pricing. Etc.
Why would people be more inclined to take an UberX to the airport than a taxi? The taxi has a flat fare. And from the map view I've seen using Uber, UberX's absolutely do hang around in dense Manhattan areas.