171–180 of 197 posts
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That sounds clever and informed but is mostly obnoxious.
What? It's well known that both Uber and AirBnB long relied on their users to operate unlicensed jitneys and unlicensed, uninspected, uninsured lodging houses.
And both are primarily successful because they have executed at a very high level on a consistent basis.
A few notes on items I find a bit strange here. 1. To get from the East Bay to SF in the carpool lane you need 2 passengers (3 people total - or a car that only seats two) 2. The East Bay already has a pretty nice system for this called the Casual Carpool which is probably its biggest competition. The Casual Carpool is just a bunch of spots (usually BART Stations) where drivers can stop and pick up a few other passen…
The largest such system I'm aware of is slugging in the DC area (particularly along the 95/395 corridor to Pentagon/downtown): at various parking lots, a driver pulls up to a line of people, says they have 3 slots and is heading to the Pentagon (say), and 3 people pile in and get to ride the HOV to the Pentagon. It's entirely free, almost entirely grassroots (governments occasionally ask that the pick-ups/drop-offs m…
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That sounds clever and informed but is mostly obnoxious.
I didn't mean to offend, but I apparently have. I truly believe what I said, so I would like to know how would you suggest I improve the comment?
Secondly, Uber got big using exclusively licensed town cars. And vacation rentals have been around for centuries.
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> Most people are more concerned about getting somewhere than reading contracts Indeed. I'd also add "Getting somewhere cheap ..." as a primary incentive for these rides. I've used Craigslist "ride shares" between Montreal Toronto ($30) on a number of occasions. I fully understood the risks I was taking compared to paying 3x as much for a safer train ride ($100). The vehicle is advertised as being a Mercedes mini-bus…
Montreal Toronto is around $45 on VIA, no? Or are you talking about a round trip?
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Background checks? I had 2 UberX/Grab (the Singaporean Lyft) drivers who openly admitted to being ex-cons - and that in Singapore too. One even laughed that British prisons were like a 5* hotel compared to Asian ones. If these companies perform background checks, what are they checking for?
Being an ex-con should not disqualify you from driving a cab. Especially in a country like the US that has obscene incarceration rates, and where who ends up in prison is a factor of race and wealth more than the seriousness of the crime. An ex-con has paid his or her "debt to society" by being in prison. If we don't let them get a job and earn a living, how will they get rehabilitated in society? Edit: typo/car/cab.
This is what Uber checks for in California: https://newsroom.uber.com/details-on-safety/
Basically any lifetime sex offense, or terrorist register; and anything violent, or DUIs in the last 7 years.
Both of my drivers would not have passed the last 7 years bit (from what I deduced from our conversation) so the standards are clearly different abroad.
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A serious question to everyone complaining about uninsured drivers: do you ask your friends for proof of insurance before getting in their cars as passengers? Do any insurance companies sell passenger insurance to cover accidents when you're the passenger in a car with an underinsured driver?
Yes. Your auto liability insurance covers you in any personal vehicle.
How does Lyft expect to maintain a financial middleman relationship in a carpool relationship? What incentive does a commuter have to keep paying Lyft?
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No insurance is a huge red flag to me
Insurance and regulation arbitrage is basically the name of the game for Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb as far as I can tell.
That regulation is a decade or two behind the technology is unfortunate, but merely a side story.
I can see drivers/passengers travelling together for weeks or months at a time. So you'd probably just want to quit Lyft and enter a private arrangement. Is there anything in Lyft's business model to prevent or mitigate this?