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Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

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Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#51

Post by joering2 »

I recently read that Uber/Lyft keeps even 75% of money for themselves. I wonder if there is an opportunity for third large ride-sharing app where business model would be based on bidding and company would keep much lower fee, just to cover overhead. So you want to go from point A to B, all local drivers are contacted and they have 45 seconds to bid who would charge less. Requester would see how much sorted by less $ and also ratings so he/she can chose someone more expensive but with better ratings.

Such model would kill Uber/Lyft overnight - they would not be able to adjust to that model because then their stocks would be cut down 95%. However, it is a win-to-win situation to both drivers and ride-takers - drivers get paid more and more stays in their pocket, while takers can chose if the ride is affordable, and at over 50% cheaper than what Lyft/Uber charge, it sure would be!

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#53

Post by robotburrito »

iso1337 wrote: post #3

I like these commute options that make it easier to get around but starting at $2/ride seems a bit high. If I were to use this twice daily for 200 days a year, I'd be looking at $800/year! I'd rather buy a bike in that case, and just use the bikeshare for one offs. I've never used a GoBike, but are those prices real & what are the typical usage patterns? Edit: I see, there are monthly and yearly plans that make it mu…

I cycle around SF constantly. However, I am very reluctant to actually leave my bike anywhere as it will more than likely get stolen. That is the reason I will use a bike share at times.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#54

Post by Benjammer »

jMyles wrote: post #44
pensketch wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're painting Lyft to be the bad guys because they're suing. It seems like SFMTA is trying to weasel out of a contract. Lyft isn't trying to prevent people from continuing to commute by bikeshare; they're trying to secure their ROI on their Motivate acquisition through the exclusivity contract with SF. Have you read the contract terms in the article you're linking to? SFMTA is saying the contract was for 'docked bi…

I'm not sure I agree that the city has the moral authority to grant a monopoly on such a concept. I like Lyft just fine and I especially applaud their efforts to expand into ebike-to-transit. But I also have a little trouble feeling sorry for a company that feels it has suffered a loss because its out-and-out regulatory capture scheme didn't pan out as successfully as it hoped.

Is it really fair to describe a 10 yr government contract as "out-and-out regulatory capture"?

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#55

Post by bsder »

ravenstine wrote: post #19

That is until Lyft gets bored with it and axes it like Lime did to their bikes. Now my town is vacant if any rental bikes, despite their promise of fixing our "last-mile" problem to our train station.

> That is until Lyft gets bored with it and axes it like Lime did to their bikes.

These seem to be be "docked". Wasn't Lime's problem that they were "dockless" and wound up being trash everywhere?

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#56

Post by julien_c »

jMyles wrote: post #44
pensketch wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're painting Lyft to be the bad guys because they're suing. It seems like SFMTA is trying to weasel out of a contract. Lyft isn't trying to prevent people from continuing to commute by bikeshare; they're trying to secure their ROI on their Motivate acquisition through the exclusivity contract with SF. Have you read the contract terms in the article you're linking to? SFMTA is saying the contract was for 'docked bi…

I'm not sure I agree that the city has the moral authority to grant a monopoly on such a concept. I like Lyft just fine and I especially applaud their efforts to expand into ebike-to-transit. But I also have a little trouble feeling sorry for a company that feels it has suffered a loss because its out-and-out regulatory capture scheme didn't pan out as successfully as it hoped.

Very nicely said.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#57

Post by streblo »

robotburrito wrote: post #52

Why doesn't the city just run it's own scooter/bike share? Seems like it would exist in the same domain as things like MUNI and in theory would allow the city to make a profit instead of LYFT/UBER etc.

Because they can let Uber/Lyft/et al do it, charge them a tax, and have none of the operational overhead or expenditures.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#58

Post by alpb »

holy_city wrote: post #47
alpb wrote: post #43

I was in SF this week and had a chance to try this out. They have 0 (zero) e-bikes despite their app has a column to list the count. They also force you to pick up the bike from designated racks and drop-off at designated racks which is a pain in the ass. On the other hand JUMP has a fully e-bike fleet, but bikes were impossible to come by. I parked a JUMP bike that had full battery. An hour later I came back and the…

>They also force you to pick up the bike from designated racks and drop-off at designated racks which is a pain in the ass. I mean it's pain in the ass when I have to move the crap from the front steps of my building or out of the driveway because people aren't courteous their dockless transport widgets. I'm alright walking a little ways to dock a bike/scooter as a user, but I'm firmly against any company or city tha…

Believe it or not, this doesn't happen in Seattle. Sure there was a month or two when people were treating bikes like shit, because they were new, but now the conventions have been established and people are more respectful. What you're worried about happens rarely in Seattle.

Assuming you live in SF, I'm not sure why you're not worried more about the people peeing on your wall, tossing their shoes or random garbage on your driveway more. Bikes being dropped off at a public sidewalk sounds like less of a problem than these.

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#59

Post by zippzom »

alpb wrote: post #43

I was in SF this week and had a chance to try this out. They have 0 (zero) e-bikes despite their app has a column to list the count. They also force you to pick up the bike from designated racks and drop-off at designated racks which is a pain in the ass. On the other hand JUMP has a fully e-bike fleet, but bikes were impossible to come by. I parked a JUMP bike that had full battery. An hour later I came back and the…

This hasn't been my experience at all. There are almost always e-bikes at the Ford stations (per the other comment maybe this was a one off issue) and the Jump bikes work just as well in SF as Seattle in my experience (no shortage of glitches in Seattle).

Re: Lyft Takes over Ford GoBike

#60

Post by untog »

jMyles wrote: post #44
pensketch wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're painting Lyft to be the bad guys because they're suing. It seems like SFMTA is trying to weasel out of a contract. Lyft isn't trying to prevent people from continuing to commute by bikeshare; they're trying to secure their ROI on their Motivate acquisition through the exclusivity contract with SF. Have you read the contract terms in the article you're linking to? SFMTA is saying the contract was for 'docked bi…

I'm not sure I agree that the city has the moral authority to grant a monopoly on such a concept. I like Lyft just fine and I especially applaud their efforts to expand into ebike-to-transit. But I also have a little trouble feeling sorry for a company that feels it has suffered a loss because its out-and-out regulatory capture scheme didn't pan out as successfully as it hoped.

You don't really have to feel sorry for them, you just have to recognise that they are entitled to what their contract says they are.

If you're against an exclusivity agreement (which actually makes a lot of sense when establishing a transportation network) then your complaint should be with the government, not Lyft.

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