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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

#241

Post by jimmaswell »

usrusr wrote: post #158
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…

Tried becoming a car person once, ignoring all that math, just as a luxury. The cheapest old banger is more of a "luxury car" then a Lexus if you don't have much use for a car. Turns out it's impossible for me, cars just don't stay operational through sufficiently longs stretches of disuse.

My car sat for a year before I got it and it was fine. It depends on the car and conditions.

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

#242

Post by romwell »

Improvotter wrote: post #216
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…

Cause we're all giving numbers here. Let me give you my numbers for my bike. I rent my bike and got a train subscription. I pay about 50 EUR a year for my bike and 100 EUR a year for my train subscription. I have a car, but I'm not the one paying insurance on it anymore (passed on to other family member). The car was 5000 EUR used (Volkswagen Polo) which was bought 7-8 years ago and it was a 5 year old car back then.…

>100 EUR a year for my train subscription.

You don't just live in a city where biking is a priority, you live in a country where you can actually get to places by train - which the US, for all intents and purposes, is not.

This is an apples-to-oranges comparison.

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

#243

Post by ghostly_s »

semi-extrinsic wrote: post #225
matthewowen wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> there are road conditions you cannot drive in without snow chains Where is this? I live in northern part of Scandinavia, and we manage just fine with normal winter tires. Snow chains are pretty much only for semi trucks. Most people even use studless winter tires these days. And of course rental cars have winter tires in the winter season, anything else would be illegal.

Seconded, grew up in far northern Minnesota and no-one uses snowchains there, though there is a preference for cars with high clearance (and some sand/skidboards in the trunk, usually). I guess I can see this if you're doing deep backwoods skiing, but that's an awfully niche pastime no? I've never heard of a ski resort that's inaccessible without snowchains.

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

#244

Post by freehunter »

semi-extrinsic wrote: post #225
matthewowen wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> there are road conditions you cannot drive in without snow chains Where is this? I live in northern part of Scandinavia, and we manage just fine with normal winter tires. Snow chains are pretty much only for semi trucks. Most people even use studless winter tires these days. And of course rental cars have winter tires in the winter season, anything else would be illegal.

>anything else would be illegal

The US does not mandate snow tires at a national level, and in many places (even northern states where snow and ice are common) tire chains are illegal because they can damage the roads.

If you're going up steep hills covered in ice, winter tires or even studded tires are not going to work. You need chains. Then again, the best rally drivers are Scandinavian, so maybe you guys are just better drivers than we are :)

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

#245

Post by ghaff »

semi-extrinsic wrote: post #225
matthewowen wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> there are road conditions you cannot drive in without snow chains Where is this? I live in northern part of Scandinavia, and we manage just fine with normal winter tires. Snow chains are pretty much only for semi trucks. Most people even use studless winter tires these days. And of course rental cars have winter tires in the winter season, anything else would be illegal.

Western US. I can't comment on whether they should be required or not but they commonly are required in Utah, passes in the Sierras such as going up to Tahoe, and in the Cascades.

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

#246

Post by georgeecollins »

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?

The trick to reducing insurance on a beater car is to not insure the car for damage. Just get insurance for passengers, yourself, damage you do to other people, cars and property.

Never insure for a risk you can cover yourself. If you have a car that is worth < $10k, you probably should pay for damage to it out of pocket.

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

#247

Post by lhorie »

j2bax wrote: post #191
ihaveajob wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

We moved cross-country and didn't have our car for a few weeks. For the few uber trips we took during that time, we just YOLO'd: had the kids (5 and 3) wear normal seatbelts, but with the chest strap going under their arms rather than over their neck. They also travelled to/from airport without car seats.

In my experience, drivers are generally a _lot_ more careful when there are kids in the car, compared to, say, a pool driver at rush hour.

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

#248

Post by javiramos »

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…

I reached exactly the same conclusion (I have no kids etc.). I commute to work via Uber/Lyft Pool for ~$450/month. Owning a car in Boston would mean: - Parking $315/month - Gas $75/month - Insurance $1,500/year - Car Lease $200/month - Maintenance $1,000/year - Miscellaneous Boston registraction fees etc. $500/year - TOTAL $840/month For me, owning a car makes no sense.

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

#249

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

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

#250

Post by ghaff »

ghostly_s wrote: post #243
semi-extrinsic wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there are road conditions you cannot drive in without snow chains Where is this? I live in northern part of Scandinavia, and we manage just fine with normal winter tires. Snow chains are pretty much only for semi trucks. Most people even use studless winter tires these days. And of course rental cars have winter tires in the winter season, anything else would be illegal.

Seconded, grew up in far northern Minnesota and no-one uses snowchains there, though there is a preference for cars with high clearance (and some sand/skidboards in the trunk, usually). I guess I can see this if you're doing deep backwoods skiing, but that's an awfully niche pastime no? I've never heard of a ski resort that's inaccessible without snowchains.

>I've never heard of a ski resort that's inaccessible without snowchains.

Lots of them in the West. Little Cottonwood Canyon (at a minimum) in Utah. Tahoe from the Bay area (Donner Pass) under certain conditions http://www.dot.ca.gov/trafficops/trucks/chains.html. In a number of cases you can get exceptions for approved winter tires but it varies.

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