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Announcing UberPool

blog.uber.com

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Re: Announcing UberPool

#141

Post by cwyers »

necubi wrote: post #4

Sounds very similar to Hitch[0] which launched a couple of months ago in SF. It sounds very useful for long, expensive trips (e.g., cross bay, down to south bay) where the fixed cost of picking up or dropping off another passenger is a smaller factor. On an unrelated note, how is the form at the bottom supposed to update you when UberPool is in your area? Area codes are going to be inaccurate for anybody who's moved…

The thing is, I never use Uber when I'm in my area, because that's where my car is. I use Uber when I'm travelling.

Re: Announcing UberPool

#142

Post by akgerber »

superuser2 wrote: post #35
thaumasiotes wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, as of 2012 when I could have used such a service. $10 / hour is a fine price for short-term car rental... but since I wanted to use the car to go places, as opposed to just driving around in the parking lot, it worked out to more like $50-100 per hour (of driving). Bicycle rentals don't work like that -- you get on a bike at one stand and leave it at the stand closest to where you want to end up. I don't know wh…

Bicycles cost ~50x less but can be rented at similar rates. Also it's relatively easy for a bike-sharing company to redistribute bicycles on a truck if the supply bunches up somewhere. An hour of Divvy is surprisingly close in cost to an hour of ZipCar, which is astonishing considering how much more it must cost to operate ZipCar.

Bikesharing is designed to encourage short trips within its service zone— even if you want a longer trip, you can just dock/undock a bike to avoid a fee (aka docksurfing). The escalating hourly fee is designed to keep the bikes in circulation, not as a charge you pay during ordinary usage— I've been a member of Citibike in NYC for over a year, and have never paid a fee beyond the membership.

With Zipcar, you first pay a membership nearly as expensive as bikesharing, then pay at least $10/hr.

Re: Announcing UberPool

#143

Post by makomk »

megablast wrote: post #82
msoad wrote: post #30

There is a car sharing service in France called Blah Blah. Passengers have rated "Blah" so you don't have to share ride with people who speak less or more than you usually. http://www.blablacar.com/

Car sharing services in France are incredibly popular, everyone uses them. This is partly because the government has a monopoly and keeps the trains expensive, and stops buses from running. In the UK, buses are the way to go, you get very cheap buses if you book in advance.

UK buses may be cheap for long-distance travel, but outside of London they're pretty expensive for short distances, often more expensive than sharing a taxi with even one other person.

Re: Announcing UberPool

#144

Post by akgerber »

megablast wrote: post #82
msoad wrote: post #30

There is a car sharing service in France called Blah Blah. Passengers have rated "Blah" so you don't have to share ride with people who speak less or more than you usually. http://www.blablacar.com/

Car sharing services in France are incredibly popular, everyone uses them. This is partly because the government has a monopoly and keeps the trains expensive, and stops buses from running. In the UK, buses are the way to go, you get very cheap buses if you book in advance.

Buses in the US are cheap, but our government monopoly rail service is even more expensive and even slower— NYC to DC is shorter than Paris to Lyon, but costs for a ticket a week out are higher for the low-speed Northeast Regional than the TGV, and our low-speed high-speed train, the Acela, costs more than twice as much as the TGV.

Re: Announcing UberPool

#146

Post by bduerst »

netcan wrote: post #107
necubi wrote: post #4

Sounds very similar to Hitch[0] which launched a couple of months ago in SF. It sounds very useful for long, expensive trips (e.g., cross bay, down to south bay) where the fixed cost of picking up or dropping off another passenger is a smaller factor. On an unrelated note, how is the form at the bottom supposed to update you when UberPool is in your area? Area codes are going to be inaccurate for anybody who's moved…

This is one of those examples where the raw idea is not the main part. Uber have a lot of advantages. They have a userbase of passengers and drivers that can be brought over to new services. They have the media's attention, including mainstream media. They have the cash to run at a loss while building up. They have presence in a lot of cities. They also have the competence to do this well. Imagine that you build a "p…

I agree - I could help but think while reading this that I've seen a couple services like this already.

But you're right, the key to this is the implementation of the idea over the idea itself. Uber (probably) will generate a larger network of car poolers, which is necessary for this type of service to work.

Re: Announcing UberPool

#147

Post by jamesjyu »

free2rhyme214 wrote: post #145

The most exciting thing about Uber and Lyft launching these sharing services is not owning a car in the future. What do you think?

Imagine the combination of Uber and self driving cars. If Uber succeeds, they'll own a big piece of transit infrastructure.

Re: Announcing UberPool

#148

Post by thechut »

minimaxir wrote: post #2

I'm a little surprised at the choice of "Pool" instead of more conventional terms in the sharing economy such as "UberShare" or "UberContribute." I was very disappointed that UberPool isn't a swimming-pool-as-a-service.

I also thought this was another Summer gimmick like the ice cream.

Re: Announcing UberPool

#149

Post by kisielk »

RandallBrown wrote: post #37
andrewmunsell wrote: post #14

I'm a periodic Uber user and tend to use it later when public transit isn't running. This would be interesting, and if cheap enough, could be more convenient than waiting for a bus if you're in an area where they don't run frequently and it's storming, extremely hot, you don't want to wait around. I also just tried out Car2Go which costed me ~$15. The same trip from Uber, albiet at a different time of day, costs $9-1…

In Seattle, a car2go trip that costs $15 would be 36 minutes long. Car2Go has no mileage fee for trips under 150 miles. The same UberX trip would be $13 before taking mileage into account. If it took you 36 minutes, I assume you went at least 3 miles. So that makes the trip cost at least 17 bucks. I've found that Car2Go is quite a bit cheaper than using either Lyft or UberX. I usually use them together though. I'll t…

Car2go also has a $14.99 / hour maximum, so you could potentially drive it a lot more and for multiple stops. No way you could hire an UberX to drive you around the city for an hour for that price.

Re: Announcing UberPool

#150

Post by mynameisvlad »

madeofpalk wrote: post #92
mynameisvlad wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's their blog. They're a US-based company primarily (although not exclusively) focused on US consumers. You can expect that to result in English blog posts, just as you might expect a French company dealing with some France-only consumers to post in French.

Sorry, my bad. When I said i18n, I didn't mean I expected them to post in other languages, but I expected them to mention geographical availabilities and what not.

Ah, gotcha. Didn't they say the plan to expand on August 15th? I'd assume they'd be announcing the availability outside of the SF private beta then.
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