Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Trends: Uber vs. Lyft

diklein.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 139 posts

Re: Trends: Uber vs. Lyft

#31

Post by moab »

eksith wrote: post #17

And this, folks, is why taxi regulation is a thing. Of course, there is crime and corruption and they have their own variety of scams[1]. But what you won't see is a sweeping sense of impunity because if you go out of bounds to this degree so blatantly (and at regular intervals, it seems), a rather large hammer will come down on you and your union. Taxi drivers in general are well aware of this. But a bunch of broexe…

I think what'll come out of this entire experiment is something very, very similar to the current taxi industry - simply with better apps and dependability, and I will not complain at all. A little part of me suspects that this will not be Uber (at least in America, where the regulatory blockade feels really impenetrable as an engineer), although at this point it's anyones game.

Re: Trends: Uber vs. Lyft

#32

Post by ihaveajob »

sinak wrote: post #29
birken wrote: post #23

If you live in San Francisco, you might consider getting a bike and/or using public transportation instead of ride-sharing services. Either of them are better for the city by reducing congestion and pollution, and biking in particular is surprisingly fast and convenient. If you are interested in getting introduced to biking, there are a bunch of free classes by the SF Bicycle Coalition that I highly recommend you loo…

So I cycle around SF, but am considering stopping. The data varies depending on which source you use, but it seems like cycling is about 3 times less dangerous than motorbiking, and considerably (at least ~5-10x) more dangerous than driving. Most people who've lived in SF have plenty of anecdotal evidence of friends who've been hurt, often seriously, by bike accidents. I'd love to be proven wrong about this: I love c…

It has been shown that the biggest factor in bike safety is the number of cyclists on the road. The more bikes, the more aware drivers are of our presence. In SF, Critical Mass had (I've learned) a huge impact in breaking ground for bike infrastructure. Currently, the Bay Area Bike Share has become a strong factor. If we stop biking now until it's safer, it might never be so.

Re: Trends: Uber vs. Lyft

#33

Post by yummyfajitas »

CaptainZapp wrote: post #24
yummyfajitas wrote: post #21

Why do we dislike Uber? Lets go through the links. 1) Stuff about the CEO's personal life. 2) CEO wants to automate business processes. Those of us in tech would never consider replacing humans with machines, right? 3) Trying to compete for workers. (Didn't we hate Apple/Google for agreeing not to do this?) 4) We love Peter Thiel and he hates it. 5-7) A few Uber drivers are crazy (Uber is helping the cops). Note that…

looking at your comment history you seem emotionally highly invested into a company, which according to your claim, you have used 3x4 times in your life.

I have no idea why you believe I'm "emotionally highly invested" in Uber - could you explain?

I don't like mob behavior and intellectual dishonesty. There has been a lot of it on HN lately which drives me to comment (also, due to an injury, I have way too much time on my hands).

Re: Trends: Uber vs. Lyft

#34

Post by eksith »

nemothekid wrote: post #25
eksith wrote: post #17

And this, folks, is why taxi regulation is a thing. Of course, there is crime and corruption and they have their own variety of scams[1]. But what you won't see is a sweeping sense of impunity because if you go out of bounds to this degree so blatantly (and at regular intervals, it seems), a rather large hammer will come down on you and your union. Taxi drivers in general are well aware of this. But a bunch of broexe…

So taxi regulations are in place to ensure faceless execs don't make mean remarks? Uber might not be startup of the month right now, but given the choice of excellent service for customers at the cost of a couple assholes in a boardroom somewhere versus crappy service while the execs try to please everyone, I'd choose excellent service every time. Ignoring the fact that, of course, taxi regulations don't stop people…

No, taxi regulations are in place so this kind of nonsense gets your license revoked: http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/26/6067663/this-is-ubers-play...

Re: Trends: Uber vs. Lyft

#36

Post by eksith »

moab wrote: post #31
eksith wrote: post #17

And this, folks, is why taxi regulation is a thing. Of course, there is crime and corruption and they have their own variety of scams[1]. But what you won't see is a sweeping sense of impunity because if you go out of bounds to this degree so blatantly (and at regular intervals, it seems), a rather large hammer will come down on you and your union. Taxi drivers in general are well aware of this. But a bunch of broexe…

I think what'll come out of this entire experiment is something very, very similar to the current taxi industry - simply with better apps and dependability, and I will not complain at all. A little part of me suspects that this will not be Uber (at least in America, where the regulatory blockade feels really impenetrable as an engineer), although at this point it's anyones game.

My honest hope when I first heard of Uber was that it would give a huge wakeup call to the industry. Let's face it, America is a service industry and many of its services suck. The attitude is marginal at best, horrifying at worst. I hoped this level of customer scrutiny on performance would bring it up to the same level as in Japan.

I'm still hoping someone will make it happen. Or rather, perhaps an entire army of services will make it happen as we've seen, a de facto monopoly, yields terrible results.

Re: Trends: Uber vs. Lyft

#38

Post by dnautics »

>There are too many instances of immaturity, deception, corruption, and negligence.

As an uber and lyft driver (I prefer lyft) who has created a runway to launch a startup nonprofit by driving for both, lyft has had its share of immaturity and negligence, you just haven't heard about it as much. But only 2/4 is an improvement. What worries me is that in many cases lyft has looked at uber and done exactly what they do. In most cases so far it's been merely superficial, but I worry it is only time until it becomes more than that.

A common mantra in the dual driver community is "uber is evil; lyft is incompetent"

Re: Trends: Uber vs. Lyft

#39

Post by kjksf »

comrh wrote: post #27
nemothekid wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So taxi regulations are in place to ensure faceless execs don't make mean remarks? Uber might not be startup of the month right now, but given the choice of excellent service for customers at the cost of a couple assholes in a boardroom somewhere versus crappy service while the execs try to please everyone, I'd choose excellent service every time. Ignoring the fact that, of course, taxi regulations don't stop people…

I think regulations have more to do with the drivers not taking you on 20 mile detours, trying to sexually assault or yelling at a cancer patient (all Uber stories).

So you have 3 stories about Uber.

How about 1733 complaints against taxi drivers in 1 year in San Francisco alone? https://www.baycitizen.org/news/transportation/cab-complaint...

"San Francisco taxi drivers routinely flout the law by refusing rides, declining to take credit cards, charging unauthorized fees, speeding, smoking, and talking and texting on cellphones while driving, according to a year’s worth of passenger complaints reviewed by The Bay Citizen."

How many of those drivers lost their license, do you think?

Re: Trends: Uber vs. Lyft

#40

Post by [deleted] »

birken wrote: post #23

If you live in San Francisco, you might consider getting a bike and/or using public transportation instead of ride-sharing services. Either of them are better for the city by reducing congestion and pollution, and biking in particular is surprisingly fast and convenient. If you are interested in getting introduced to biking, there are a bunch of free classes by the SF Bicycle Coalition that I highly recommend you loo…

[deleted]
Post reply on HN