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Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

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Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#191

Post by j2bax »

ihaveajob wrote: post #176
d4mi3n wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in a similar situation, but from what I gather lifestyle factors heavily into the "do I need/want a car" equation. Kids, for example, usually mandate a car. Outdoor activities or any hobby that requires you haul around a lot of gear can also make having your own transportation a lot more appealing.

We do have a car and a toddler. The car sits idle most days, maybe once a week we get on it to go somewhere where it's inconvenient by bike or transit. For his first year we didn't have a car. This is in SF and Berkeley. A lot of people, even those with kids, could perfectly ditch their cars, rent occasionally and come out ahead in terms of costs (and lifestyle).

One thing I've wondered is how people deal with car seats with Uber/Lyft/Taxi's. Do they carry their own with them and take the time to install it and uninstall it? Do you just take the bus and not worry about a car seat?

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#192

Post by copperred »

yardie wrote: post #98
vlozko wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the bubble mentality of someone who lives in the city and/or doesn't have a family. How about you try hauling a baby in a stroller, diaper bag, and two other kids to a metro train (if you're so lucky to have one close) and then onto a bus. Ride sharing doesn't solve those problems, either, especially since you'd be in need of carseats. So no, automobile ownership is not dumb. There's plenty of use cases where…

And yet people have to do this everyday out of necessity. The alternative to not driving is not no car, public transport, ride sharing, and car hire all fill a need. BTW, met a few people with marginal income. They totally wrecked their credit by buying a car. They did not foresee the TCO on a car. After loan payments, insurance, gas, and maintenance they were barely keeping afloat. Payday loans finally sank them and…

I feel that many of the uber/lyft drivers are in this position. They squeeze some money out of the asset that they have, but in the long run I don't see how they come out ahead.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#193

Post by shafyy »

ajb wrote: post #155
shafyy wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But then you wouldn't answer the question with "Yes" in their survey, would you?

That depends what the question was. If they'd asked outright whether I specifically sold the car for that reason, they no, I wouldn't. But to be honest, I suspect the survey of being designed by their PR dept to generate this result, and I can imagine questions I might have answered 'yes' to that could then be interpreted in this way.

Definitely. I tried to find the report to see if they have appended the questionnaire, but it returns a 404: https://take.lyft.com/economic-impact/Lyft-Drives-Economy.pd...

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#194

Post by pxlpshr »

My wife and I share my Jeep but I tried really hard to be carless in Austin, TX. I even experimented with a variety of Segways (at the expense of many jokes) and alternatives to a bike for the longer-hauls so that I'm not drenched in sweat when I get to the office. [1]

I was totally fine when we lived downtown as it's becoming very walkable, but it's pretty impractical when you live even a short distance from the core. There are people that do it, we have decent running and bike trails, but it's just not suitable for us. My wife and I are on different time schedules which makes commuting together hard, and Austin lacks great public transportation combined with terrible traffic which drives up the Uber/Lyft cost per ride.

We decided to buy a 2nd car again but this time a used EV (BMW i3) so that our total cost of ownership is really low. Based on my napkin math and the deal we got on the car, I suspect we'll break-even or better compared with using a ride sharing service.

[1] Texas weather is also a thing...

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#195

Post by ghaff »

icebraining wrote: post #187
ghaff wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US employers assume adults can drive. Presumably, if they're hiring you as a delivery driver, they will confirm the appropriate licensing. But, if you're a random engineer that they discover can't go to various customer sites without all sorts of special arrangements, a lot of companies are probably going to take that into consideration come review time.

Fair enough, I guess in the US one should make that clear during the hiring interview. I wonder what US employers will do when the next generations of employees come in and their assumption starts failing hard.

Seems pretty straightforward. If it becomes an actual problem, they start calling it out and make it a requirement, even if it's negotiable.

ADDED: The reality is that there are lots of implicit assumptions in a professional job. Unless it's a job that involves significant/regular travel, they probably won't ask you if you're willing to step on a plane. They probably won't ask you if you're OK with attending meetings before 10am. Etc. If you have out-of-mainstream requirements it's probably mostly on you to raise them.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#196

Post by markkanof »

yeukhon wrote: post #189
jgust wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't find Zipcar all that affordable except for the very shortest of trips (read: < 3 hours). Anything over that and you're better off renting a vehicle for the day through traditional routes.

Same experience. I can rent for $100 for the full day. Problem is usually I have to pick up the car from the airport since local garages office hours are limited. There is very few available on the weekend.

Zipcar usually has both and hourly and day rate. The day rate is typically something like $85 and the process of picking up the car is typically much easier than a traditional rental.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#197

Post by matthewowen »

shafyy wrote: post #166
jorblumesea wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would never want to bring a rental car into a snow covered pass or an icy parking lot. Too much liability. Good suggestion, probably good for a day hike or otherwise.

Why not just get the insurance on top when renting to cap your liability?

there are road conditions you cannot drive in without snow chains, and rental companies don't allow you to attach chains. these road conditions are not uncommon if you're going skiing.

effectively there are moderately common road/condition combinations that you cannot drive in a rental car.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#198

Post by revelation »

nostrademons wrote: post #149
panda888888 wrote: post #103

It's part of the reason I haven't bought a car. I'm in my mid 20s and didn't get my license in high school because insurance would have been too expensive (my parents wanted me to pay for it). I think driving is a good life skill so I got my license in my early 20s, but I still have zero desire to own a car. That said, I live in Seattle, where there is good public transportation. Here are my numbers: Parking (I work…

Really shows how much subsidized parking can affect the equation. I've never had to pay for parking at my residence, and the only time I had to pay for parking was a 20-month stint working in downtown Boston. Cut those out and costs go down by $4500/year, over half. I spent about $25/month on gas (for most of my career, I've worked either 2 miles away from home or 20 feet away). Insurance has consistently been about…

You're still paying >$5k? for something you apparently barely use at $25 gas per month. That is a lot of dollars to soothe anxiety.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#199

Post by birdman3131 »

debt wrote: post #49
birdman3131 wrote: post #43

I don't get how using lyft/uber as your only form of transportation can be at all cheaper. Let me run some basic math. Uber wants $11.50 to take me home right now. Lyft wants $13.40 $11.50 * 2 = $23/day 23 * 5 = $115/week $115 * 52 weeks = $5980/year (I am ignoring vacation weeks for now.) My yearly cost for car ownership are roughly as follows. (Assuming only work and back.) Insurance(1): $886/year Fuel(2): $292.50…

Maintenance is time too. So pulling over and getting gas, bringing a car in for an oil change/replacing air filter/shocks/tire realignment etc. You have to get smog checks regularly. Parking tickets, speeding tickets, street cleaning. Maybe even a parking sticker. Also, don't ever get into an accident. I think a range depending on your risk profile makes more sense. Low end would be $3178 high end might be double tha…

You will spend longer waiting on uber/lyft to show up than you will fueling once a week and getting an oil change every 3k miles. A full set of tires takes under (1)30 minutes.

Arkansas does not run any emissions checks outside of 2 counties. However when I lived in texas they did. The cost was state limited to $5/year. Falls under the category of maintenance.

As for accidents I have 2 on record. one at fault and one not. I am not running the cheapest insurance but I am insuring a 90s/2000s car. It is much less than full coverage on a newer one. If I had a new car that I could not afford to eat the replacement costs I would definitely run full coverage but as it sits it is better not to.

I do not drink or smoke. Driving sleepy something I rarely do although it happens sometimes. However if I nod at all Ill pull over and park it. Not worth the risk. As for drinking uber and lyft is by far better. I was never trying to argue against them when needed. But for an only vehicle it seems to be higher costs.

I do treat my cars as disposable. When a transmission goes out and I can get a better car all around for less than a transmission rebuild would cost I don't waste the money fixing what I already have. I usually get a new (to me) car ever 2-4 years. I put yearly in my calculations because buying a nicer $3000 car every 3 years averages out to the same cost.

If anything I over estimated the cost out here although I do admit that the big cost other keep mentioning is parking and nobody around here charges for parking outside of meters downtown. and those are 10c/12 minutes. But if you live were those are an issue the cost would be more.

(1)A bit off topic but it can vary widely. I have taken a single tire to walmart for work several times. Took up to 3 hours to get done and never under 1 hour. However we have had a Discount Tire (The actual name. The service is not discount) open up here recently and I have had 2 vehicles in and out. car one was 2 tires in 15 minutes and 3 (spare) in 20 minutes. Car two was a set of 4 in 22 minutes. At this point I would recommend my local one to just about anybody. It greatly suprised me how good the service could be.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#200

Post by ams6110 »

panda888888 wrote: post #103

It's part of the reason I haven't bought a car. I'm in my mid 20s and didn't get my license in high school because insurance would have been too expensive (my parents wanted me to pay for it). I think driving is a good life skill so I got my license in my early 20s, but I still have zero desire to own a car. That said, I live in Seattle, where there is good public transportation. Here are my numbers: Parking (I work…

In your situation I would not own a car either. Part of the reason I would never live in a big city again.
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