Interestingly, Ola in India had already done something like this very recently.
Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription
21–30 of 177 posts
Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had the same reaction when I rode UberPool from the south bay into SF (a 45 minute ride) for just under $18, and nobody else pooled with me. How could this be fair to the drivers? So I asked the driver how much he was getting for the trip. I believe he said something like $50. Fortunately, he wasn't getting shortchanged. Later, someone pointed out to me that Lyft and Uber are aggressively competing right now. It se…
Margaret Thatcher once said "The problem with socialism is, you eventually run out of other people's money", which makes it ironic and humorous that Uber, the poster child of Valley Objectivism, has basically the same problem with their "price dumping funded by VCs" model.
The strategy, of course, being to make their competitors run out of other people's money first.
Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription
#23They launched this yesterday in San Diego also. I signed up.
Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription
#24I do not really like Uber. The company does shady stuff quite often but also their drivers seem to be bad. They do not care at all about traffic laws. Illegal u-turns, stop wherever they want, etc. I can't surely be the only one who experienced this?
Because taxis don't do this??
As a cyclist (in Boston), it's somewhat easier to predict that a taxi might (suddenly) decide to park in the bike lane, and it's more surprising (therefore slightly more dangerous) when another car does it.
Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription
#25They launched this yesterday in San Diego also. I signed up. https://www.uber.com/info/plus/sandiego/
Boston too - https://www.uber.com/info/plus/boston/
Edit: Looks like it's only available for uberPOOL.
Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because taxis don't do this??
As a cyclist (in Boston), it's somewhat easier to predict that a taxi might (suddenly) decide to park in the bike lane, and it's more surprising (therefore slightly more dangerous) when another car does it.
I wish that it wasn't the exception to be ticketed for that. I see it all the time, as long as drivers get off with a warning (and not a fine) it will keep happening.
Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had the same reaction when I rode UberPool from the south bay into SF (a 45 minute ride) for just under $18, and nobody else pooled with me. How could this be fair to the drivers? So I asked the driver how much he was getting for the trip. I believe he said something like $50. Fortunately, he wasn't getting shortchanged. Later, someone pointed out to me that Lyft and Uber are aggressively competing right now. It se…
Margaret Thatcher once said "The problem with socialism is, you eventually run out of other people's money", which makes it ironic and humorous that Uber, the poster child of Valley Objectivism, has basically the same problem with their "price dumping funded by VCs" model.
The key difference being that in the case of Uber, those VCs and investors gave their money voluntarily.
Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription
#28> Flat fares are designed to cover full fares for almost every trip, with a $20 limit for uberPOOL and $25 limit for uberX. You’ll be responsible for paying portions of the fare that exceed those maximums on each trip. The pricing felt convoluted even before I saw this part. I can't see this being worth the effort, if you can't even guarantee the $7 prices.
The overage feels generous to me. I'm not sure there's much of SF you can't get to with $25, even in traffic. It seems like this is their way of addressing the problem of "being in the car". If you get in the car with your $7 UberX pass, then demand to go to San Jose, something has to happen. Getting out of the car is probably worse for the customer, so they cap the amount this pass buys you, knowing you'll never hit…
Going to San Jose is explicitly not covered "when your trip begins and ends north of Cesar Chavez St. in San Francisco."
Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription
#29Clicking on the link launched the Uber app for me. I then rage quitted it before reading anything more.
Also happens in "no so" private mode on the iPhone. Apple should really fix that as it leaks information.
Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had the same reaction when I rode UberPool from the south bay into SF (a 45 minute ride) for just under $18, and nobody else pooled with me. How could this be fair to the drivers? So I asked the driver how much he was getting for the trip. I believe he said something like $50. Fortunately, he wasn't getting shortchanged. Later, someone pointed out to me that Lyft and Uber are aggressively competing right now. It se…
> for just under $18, and nobody else pooled with me. How could this be fair to the drivers? So I asked the driver how much he was getting for the trip. I believe he said something like $50 Quite the business model. I wonder if they really believe they're earning goodwill at the rate of an Andrew Jackson per ride?
If they can kill the competition they can then crank the prices back up and profit of this for years and years. It feels slightly 'evil' but it does make business sense, especially if they know they can outlast their competitors.