121–130 of 159 posts
I don't quite understand what that means. Are they saying that all Google employees have access to the beta, or is Google involved in some other way?
I've been waiting for something like this to arrive for a while. In Israel and the West Bank, services called sheiruts act as mini-buses; they're taxis that pick up multiple passengers going in the same direction, usually for the same price as a public bus ticket. When buses are scarce, they are a really useful service. Could UberPool be like this?
Sounds similar to songthaews in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Aside from bikes, they seem to be the primary way of getting around and you just hail them like a taxi, talk to the driver to confirm that they're headed in somewhat the right direction, and it all works a bit like a dynamically selected bus route.
Almost in every single other country this has always been the way to ride a taxi. "This is also a bold social experiment." come on! They're making it sound like they discovered nuclear fusion.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is there a reason you don't want to just bike? Seems like the perfect distance for it, and it's free after the initial investment of a couple hundred dollars.
I very much do want to bike, but my family (and some of my bike-commuting friends) seem to think I'll get hit by a truck and are very against the idea. :P
[1] http://www.welcome.cabwith.me/ [2] http://www.citylab.com/cityfixer/2014/03/how-system-shared-t...
"Our friends at Google will also be joining us in the beta. They share our vision of a more energy-efficient world with less traffic congestion and pollution in our cities and are excited to be early adopters of UberPool." I don't quite understand what that means. Are they saying that all Google employees have access to the beta, or is Google involved in some other way?
Cab With Me[1] is doing this in NYC right now (head of biz dev here). MIT came out with a study[2] that showed ~80% of cab rides in 2011 could have been shared, if there was an easy facilitator. [1] http://www.welcome.cabwith.me/ [2] http://www.citylab.com/cityfixer/2014/03/how-system-shared-t...
"Our friends at Google will also be joining us in the beta. They share our vision of a more energy-efficient world with less traffic congestion and pollution in our cities and are excited to be early adopters of UberPool." I don't quite understand what that means. Are they saying that all Google employees have access to the beta, or is Google involved in some other way?
I'm assuming that google is having its employees participate in the beta so they can share rides to the HQ
Along the lines of reducing fossil fuel consumption and having just returned from a trip to Copenhagen and Amsterdam, I really wish the bicycling culture was better embraced in the States in the bigger cities. NYC has Citibike which I find fantastic! But DC doesn't have the density of bike stations to make it convenient. How are the other cities? Miami, Chicago, San Fran, etc?
Boston has a very strong biking culture, partly due to the large number of university students there.
I think that while the biking culture in Boston is great, it won't be a good replacement for cars until there are more bike lanes and more careful drivers.