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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

#231

Post by mattmanser »

jgust wrote: post #182
sebleon wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Outdoor Activities Renting a car (via Getaround, Zipar) on weekends can be cost effective

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.

If zipcar's like our Enterprise Car Club here in Nottingham, the massive advantages are:

    1. No need to travel to rental (out-of-town) centres, it's round the corner
    2. Don't have to pick-up or drop-off during office hours
    3. Don't have to wait half-hour for all the paper-work and stuff
    4. Don't have to answer a bunch of obnoxious questions
    5. Don't have to dig out a load of documentation
    6. Can decide to take one on a whim, with no notice
    7. Can hire it for 2 or 3 hours instead of days
You pick up the car and go.

I don't use it much as generally taxis are cheaper, but if I want to go on a country walk or do a large shop, it's very handy.

I think it works out slightly more expensive if you hire it for whole days, but again all those conveniences apply.

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

#232

Post by kazinator »

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.

That's crazy expensive. I rent for around $30-$40 (Canadian dollars). Booking several weeks in advance, mind you. I often rent over Saturday night to Sunday morning. The near by place doesn't open until 9:00 on Sunday for returns, so I rent at 9:00 on Saturday even though they are open at 8:00 already, so I can return it within the 24 hours. During certain peak season times, they about double the rate. At those times, I favor the co-op in which I have a membership.

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

#233

Post by smileysteve »

bluedino wrote: post #151
starik36 wrote: post #11

I think the biggest impact is going to be felt with current generations of 18 year olds. My kid (about to be 18) has no interest in getting a driver's license and neither are any of his friends. He's happy to be taking Uber and Lyft anywhere he goes. And between the cost of the vehicle and insurance, it's cheaper for me as well. When I was 16, I couldn't wait to get a car.

>> He's happy to be taking Uber and Lyft anywhere he goes. What do kids who don't have any money do for a ride?

They're certainly not driving cars; A car has high upfront costs in purchasing and insurance. High usage costs in gas, and maintenance. High volatility in maintenance and accidents. And high downtime in times to have a shop fix it correctly.

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

#234

Post by smileysteve »

test6554 wrote: post #92
cbcoutinho wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll accept that there are reasons for having a car related to child rearing, especially for the first, say, 5-10 years of a child's life. After that, ditch the car and get back to using public transportation or human-powered locomotion. When I was growing up my family had a car, but around middle school it was possible to bike to any school/sports/extracurricular activity within 20 minutes. My parents kept the car f…

The other thing is germs. Even mild germaphobes will never ditch their cars. If you have a kid that is too young to have had all their vaccinations yet, it's a major concern.

from bubble boy to bubble people.

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

#235

Post by jacquesm »

throwaway1X2 wrote: post #224
jacquesm wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taxi's are usually exempt, Uber will provide a car seat for a surcharge of $10 in some locations, not sure about Lyft.

> Taxi's are usually exempt From local laws. From physical laws they are not. As a kid long time ago, I was sitting in a Fiat 124 when a bus driver wasn't paying attention to the road ahead and hit the stationary car on intersection in full city speed, thankfully it was direct hit from behind and there was nothing in front of the car, so there were no serious and only some very light injuries, but it was ugly. But I…

> From local laws. From physical laws they are not.

Absolutely, but I think the context was clearly indicating that we were talking about human laws, not physical laws.

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

#236

Post by smileysteve »

stephendedalus wrote: post #170

In 2017 I returned to America from living overseas. My mom passed away early in the year and I wanted nothing to do with shopping for a car, much less driving a car. So I just took Lyft to my new job until I had my feet under me and felt up to driving again. In the end I never felt up to driving full time. I now share my wife's car (we did get her a car eventually), but we only purchased the 1 car. We either ride in…

> Either way, "ride sharing" has definitely taken one more full time car off the road

one more full time car out of the parking lot.

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

#237

Post by ape4 »

milesokeefe wrote: post #217
gglover wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a 25 year old with a beater car 5 miles from downtown Seattle. Here are my real numbers: Parking: For me the bus is around 10 minutes slower each way. I just take that most days. Home parking: Free on-street parking Gas: $40/month * 12 = $480 Registration: $200 (May be a bit higher now with ST3) Insurance: $700 Maintenance: $1000 sounds about right For around $2380 / year. Well worth it for the freedom it gives m…

You pay $700/year for insurance as a 25 year old?

You need liability insurance. I don't think $700 would cover it.

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

#238

Post by msrpotus »

verylittlemeat wrote: post #221
kinkrtyavimoodh wrote: post #150

Not sure why so many people here are almost virtue signaling the act of not owning a drivers license. I agree—It's perfectly okay to not own a car if it doesn't make sense to your life situation. That being said, the ability to drive is nevertheless a useful skill and asset and at least in the United States, does not have a very high barrier to entry (for better or worse). There is so much in the United States that a…

It's just a hassle. For you the cost in time and money is worth it. For other people like myself it's just not. I know "virtue signaling" is the hot new way to disagree with people on the internet but you should use it in a more discriminating manner. Getting a permit is not free in terms of time or money. Getting a license takes even MORE time (pointless outdated mandatory education classes) and MORE money (lessons)…

Driving isn't easy. You can kill someone with a car if you don't know what you're doing. If anything, it should take more time and more classes/lessons to get a driver's license.

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

#239

Post by gonehome »

ams6110 wrote: post #215
CamTin wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your lease includes fuel? edit: Nevermind, the "e" in Fiat 500e stands for electric.

OK, but can you charge for free?

If you can charge at work then yes, but even if you charge at home it's extremely inexpensive to be almost free.

I think I worked it out once to around three cents a mile and I drive around eight to ten miles a day.

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

#240

Post by jimmaswell »

milesokeefe wrote: post #228
semi-extrinsic wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on your car, they said it's a beater. Of course an insurance company will give you significant price reduction if you have, say, a late 90s Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic with a 80 hp engine, as compared to something more modern and fun with twice the power.

I know that the sportiness and novelty of a car drives up the insurance price but it doesn't seem to as much as I thought, my friend recently got a new WRX and pays very very little in insurance for it considering he's a 22 year old male. But yeah it being a beater makes sense, I just got quotes for a 1981 Honda Civic in Seattle and some are even less than $700/year.

Seems like location is very important. I went down from ~$350 to ~$115 a month moving from NY to NJ. For reference: 22, male, just started driving in late 2017.
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