Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017 • Hacker News Board

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

#281

Post by wutbrodo » Wed, Jan 17, 2018, 12:42 AM UTC

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.

I've never had a car and my roommate ditched his car shortly after moving in with me. It's a complete no brainer unless you live in a poorly-designed area[1]. He actually likes driving, but with a small fraction of the money he's saving relative to owning a car, he rents a sportscar once a month and we drive somewhere beautiful (one of our favorite choices is the oceanside cliffs near us).

[1] To be fair, the US wreaked havoc across its cities in the 60s and 70s, so it's a lot more common here than it should be.

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

#282

Post by jordache » Wed, Jan 17, 2018, 12:42 AM UTC

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…

lifestyle as a variable of reasonable lyft fares? eeee

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

#283

Post by phil21 » Wed, Jan 17, 2018, 12:42 AM UTC

rootusrootus wrote: post #262

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…

I have noticed this very strongly just in the last few weeks alone. Anytime a conversation begins that has to do with cars, a whole bunch of people immediately jump in to point how owning a car is immoral, how it destroys the environment, how it kills innocent children, how you should feel ashamed for owning one, etc. Maybe I've missed it before but with the recent spate of self-driving car stories it has become real…

And I'd say your viewpoint is extremely narrow.

The entire US is effectively "car culture" - and in my (and others) opinions, that car culture has effectively killed our society. Maybe permanently.

You cannot have a functional society when the majority of productive people sequester themselves off from "the others" into little boxes set apart from each other, never interacting with anyone unless it's a planned social engagement. Typically that means extreme segregation - which we're seeing.

The car - and the resulting car-based society (basically every single community/transportation project in the past 50+ years has been car-centric) - gives you the beginnings of the total social breakdown we are experiencing.

That wouldn't be an entirely bad thing necessarily - it would mean people chose that. Unfortunately they didn't. Car culture (and the suburban culture it enabled) was subsidized by the rest of society practically from day one.

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

#284

Post by kasey_junk » Wed, Jan 17, 2018, 12:46 AM UTC

ghostly_s wrote: post #251

Improvotter wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 per year for a train pass? Wow. I pay $100 USD per month for a CTA pass in Chicago...and that's about the best transit situation you'll find in the US.

Just for context this is the all you can eat monthly plan for the CTA and the suburban bus system. It represents something like 50 per ride, no transfer train trips per month.

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

#285

Post by rosege » Wed, Jan 17, 2018, 12:49 AM UTC

d4mi3n wrote: post #121

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'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.

or a dog

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

#286

Post by phil21 » Wed, Jan 17, 2018, 12:53 AM UTC

vlozko wrote: post #229

kasey_junk wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is a fairly normal and commonly solved problem all over the United States. Lots and lots of people who can't afford to own cars deal with this and worst as a matter of course. Making life easier for people who choose to not own cars, has positive impact for those who can't own cars (and not to even begin on reducing the negative externalities). For the record, I own a car but also frequently hauled a baby stroll…

I did specify being close to the city being a factor in how doable it is to go without a car. And even then, there are limiting factors that make car ownership worthwhile. Things like: 1. Monthly Costo/BJs run (with family in tow) 2. Visiting family that's over an hour away and not along any rail/bus line. 3. You live in a pretty remote area. Essentially, I'm saying that there are life choices and/or criteria met tha…

> But since so many Americans live in the suburbs without easy access to public transportation, car ownership just makes the best sense for some people.

And I doubt many folks would have a problem with that, except for the fact that car transportation is by far the most heavily subsidized lifestyles around without even factoring environment or societal external costs. Add suburbs to that and the people living the worst possible lifestyle for the environment are being bailed out by the rest of the country who does not live like that.

That's my major problem with car culture in the US. It's basically welfare for the wealthiest of Americans.

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

#287

Post by kasey_junk » Wed, Jan 17, 2018, 12:56 AM UTC

vlozko wrote: post #229

kasey_junk wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is a fairly normal and commonly solved problem all over the United States. Lots and lots of people who can't afford to own cars deal with this and worst as a matter of course. Making life easier for people who choose to not own cars, has positive impact for those who can't own cars (and not to even begin on reducing the negative externalities). For the record, I own a car but also frequently hauled a baby stroll…

I did specify being close to the city being a factor in how doable it is to go without a car. And even then, there are limiting factors that make car ownership worthwhile. Things like: 1. Monthly Costo/BJs run (with family in tow) 2. Visiting family that's over an hour away and not along any rail/bus line. 3. You live in a pretty remote area. Essentially, I'm saying that there are life choices and/or criteria met tha…

Yeah i wasn’t disagreeing with the not stupid part.

Was disagreeing with the difficulty part. It’s not hard to prioritize living a car limited life. In particular I find the “schlepping kids” argument uncompelling because the stuff you schlepp grows to the ease of schlepping. Lots of people with no choice handle this as the easiest part of their day.

If anything my argument is that we should make it more stupid to own a car.

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

#288

Post by fullshark » Wed, Jan 17, 2018, 1:09 AM UTC

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 not a virtue signal so much as a status signal. Having enough money to afford to live in densely populated urban areas where you don't need a car to live is a status symbol.

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

#289

Post by pavel_lishin » Wed, Jan 17, 2018, 1:10 AM UTC

wpietri wrote: post #276

lhorie wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lifestyle plays a part in where and how you live though. Kids may not require a car in downtown Toronto, but all the nice kid-oriented programs are uptown, where you do need a car to get around. Similarly, living in SF with two kids, I don't technically _need_ a car since MUNI coverage is decent, but we have a fast-paced lifestyle: it's a heck more convenient to have a car when you are regularly going to costco, ikea…

A tangent: > the car becomes a "base" This is the biggest divide I see when talking with people about future ownership of self-driving cars: will they consume it as an on-demand service, or will they own it outright? Some are vehemently in the "I'd never own a car again" camp, and others say "I'll buy one right away". People with kids seem much more likely to say the latter. It's not just transportation, it's a mobil…

I imagine that depends on the kid's age. When they're small, having a "mobile room" (I love this concept) is great - a place to store the car seat, the stroller, extra clothes, diapers, some backup formula, etc. As they get older, they need less and less accoutrements, until everything they need can fit in their pockets.

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

#290

Post by kasey_junk » Wed, Jan 17, 2018, 1:13 AM UTC

wpietri wrote: post #276

lhorie wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lifestyle plays a part in where and how you live though. Kids may not require a car in downtown Toronto, but all the nice kid-oriented programs are uptown, where you do need a car to get around. Similarly, living in SF with two kids, I don't technically _need_ a car since MUNI coverage is decent, but we have a fast-paced lifestyle: it's a heck more convenient to have a car when you are regularly going to costco, ikea…

A tangent: > the car becomes a "base" This is the biggest divide I see when talking with people about future ownership of self-driving cars: will they consume it as an on-demand service, or will they own it outright? Some are vehemently in the "I'd never own a car again" camp, and others say "I'll buy one right away". People with kids seem much more likely to say the latter. It's not just transportation, it's a mobil…

If we are casting votes, put me in the “very soon won’t own a car” camp and it’s because I have a kid.

My wife and I each gave up cars we loved because they didn’t make sense for our new kid oriented life. The econobox we have instead we both hate and will likely replace with “nothing” when it becomes cost stupid to own.

I might buy a car after that but it will be pure toy.