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$2.25 Lyft line rides in SF

blog.lyft.com

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Re: $2.25 Lyft line rides in SF

#51

Post by jacalata »

emmett wrote: post #23
eltondegeneres wrote: post #11

For its shortcomings, at least Muni has a level of accountability to the public that Lyft and Uber inherently lack. I can't see Lyft or Uber providing discounts to seniors or people with disabilities.

It would be simple for the public to provide this support for seniors and people with disabilities on ride sharing services. Just create a monthly subsidy that can be used for the purpose of any public transit. It doesn't have to be used only on Muni. Problem solved! In fact, that seems like a great policy idea.

No, it seems like a terrible policy idea just like giving people food stamps instead of money - less utility to the recipients than straight up cash, high overhead for the program including the development of rules on what is an acceptable expense (can I just give all the subsidy to my mom for driving me around? What if she creates a 3-car competitor to Uber? What if she actually never drives me around?), will appeal greatly to people who worry that giving poor people money would be terrible because they will just spend it on drugs and Cadillacs, etc.

Re: $2.25 Lyft line rides in SF

#52

Post by diego »

I just tried Lyft line in SF. The first request got canceled after five minutes. The second one found matches after a few minutes and told me to be outside 6 minutes later. At some point someone else joined the ride, so the 6 minutes turned into 12. About 15 minutes went by, and (when the estimated wait time had decreased only by 4 minutes) the driver decided to cancel the ride. My guess is that it was because rush hour pricing jumped from 50% to 75%, so "James" decided getting a single, full-price ride made more sense.

Needless to say, not a happy customer at this point.

Re: $2.25 Lyft line rides in SF

#53

Post by avani »

eltondegeneres wrote: post #11

For its shortcomings, at least Muni has a level of accountability to the public that Lyft and Uber inherently lack. I can't see Lyft or Uber providing discounts to seniors or people with disabilities.

Instead, they provide a reliable service. All the discounts in the world are useless when it's raining and the ramp is stuck, but "no worries, we'll send someone to you in 30 minutes."

  I have a lot of strong opinions about why Uber is a godsend for people with disabilities that still let them get into a car.  It grates on me when people bring up "the disabled" in support of any sort of public transit, when my experience has always been that it may work, or be half assed, and the perspective of the agencies when you ask for change (like, say, design a bus such that everyone gets on the same way, or a train station that only uses elevators (with hidden away backup stairs) such that if they are broken people will care) is to be grateful to have been invited to the party at all.

Re: $2.25 Lyft line rides in SF

#55

Post by gojomo »

dougabug wrote: post #42
gojomo wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...and the price skyrockets. Maybe. But maybe instead: Routing and capital intensity (lack of car idle-times) continues to improve. Shared-rides in larger-vehicles (vans) grow in proportion and convenience. Cities expand pick-up/drop-off zones for car services. Attempts at monopoly price hikes spur freelance/coop/upstart competitors along the most profitable corridors, able to snipe Uber rides via overlay apps/servic…

Who owns the cars? Who is liable for problems which arise? If I'm anywhere near home, I'm using my own self-driving car, not something used by tens of thousands of unknown people. If I'm somewhere else, I'd like to use a restricted set of cars of people that I know and trust and vice versa. Probably just trade favors and pay for gas/charging rather than a straight up fee. Would be nice to coordinate with a place to s…

Whoever wants to be in the business owns the cars, like every other rental/service offering. Whatever the liability challenges, they are likely less than current cars-with-drivers, after removing human error, emotions, and criminality.

You aren't likely to want to own your own self-driving car in a major city, unless you're an eccentric rich person, or a car hobbyist, or a old fogie. Urban garage/parking space is expensive for an asset that's idle 22+ hours of every day, and fueling/maintenance/looking-for-parking are likely not the best marginal use of your time.

What's your dislike of "something used by tens of thousands of unknown people", as long as it's well-maintained? Do you avoid libraries, sidewalks, parks, airports, shops, and restaurants?

Right now, Uber and other transport-network-providers are becoming "people I know and trust", because their systems have consistently delivered quick, clean, reasonably-priced rides across many times/places. App-dispatching a suitable-quality autocar from the nearest competitive local provider is going to save a lot of time/energy/pollution, compared to coordinating loaners from friends/family.

If transport regulators like city councils and taxi commissions were better at this sort of thing, they'd have bootstrapped a similarly rapid and ubiquitous ride-service years earlier, using their unique governmental coordination powers. Instead, they let a patchwork of inferior alternatives fester for decades.

I'm not sure of the eventual market structure of autocar-dominated city streets. Automation and standardization might make room for many providers, or just a few. Regulators could easily screw things up, by locking in specific practices or incumbent providers based on early guesses, biases, and corruption.

We'll just have to let lots of things be tried and see what works. For rapidly exploring the possibility space, the vigorous investor-fueled competition we're seeing now is very helpful.

Re: $2.25 Lyft line rides in SF

#57

Post by Psyonic »

geofft wrote: post #39
throwaway90999 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would a lyft driver be paying SF rent? The notion that low income earners ought to be renting in extremely expensive neighborhoods is nonsense. If I can commute across the bay so can everyone else.

I'm a little sad that the entirety of SF is now considered "extremely expensive neighborhoods". What's your response going to be when Oakland also becomes "extremely expensive neighborhoods" (if it isn't already)?

Walnut Creek

Re: $2.25 Lyft line rides in SF

#58

Post by diego »

dcpdx wrote: post #43

The company I work for recently won a contest put on by Lyft offering free Lyft Line rides to and from work for an entire week. I live in Lower Pac Heights and work in the Financial District and take a couple different Muni routes to and from work. I'll take either the 2 or the 3 heading in and the 38L heading back; the 38L is way too crowded in the morning by the time it gets to my closest stop. Morning commute usua…

Sounds similar to my thoughts. I've been trying to get a ride for the past two hours (I'm in the office, no rush to go home). I got canceled three times.

Re: $2.25 Lyft line rides in SF

#59

Post by dougabug »

gojomo wrote: post #55
dougabug wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who owns the cars? Who is liable for problems which arise? If I'm anywhere near home, I'm using my own self-driving car, not something used by tens of thousands of unknown people. If I'm somewhere else, I'd like to use a restricted set of cars of people that I know and trust and vice versa. Probably just trade favors and pay for gas/charging rather than a straight up fee. Would be nice to coordinate with a place to s…

Whoever wants to be in the business owns the cars, like every other rental/service offering. Whatever the liability challenges, they are likely less than current cars-with-drivers, after removing human error, emotions, and criminality. You aren't likely to want to own your own self-driving car in a major city, unless you're an eccentric rich person, or a car hobbyist, or a old fogie. Urban garage/parking space is exp…

Do you spend most of your life sleeping on public beds, lounging on public sofas, and public furniture? Eat most of your meals in restaurants? Rent your clothes? I'll spend some time in a hotel if I have to (i.e. far from home, no friends or family where I'm going), but I don't pay to sleep in a hotel or couch surf in my own neighborhood, nor do I rent cars unless I'm out of town.

I own my own home, means of transportation, eat most of my meals at my own table...the idea of being a renter of all the major environmental necessities of life is simply not appealing to me in the slightest. I'd rather sleep in my own natural latex, bed bug free bed, and sit on my own sofa or read a book on my own chair, call me crazy. There's never sticky goo on mine, or weird smells. I like private ownership.

For me, Uber is the opposite of "people I know and trust," and I have no desire to have them monetize my movements.

Re: $2.25 Lyft line rides in SF

#60

Post by baddox »

rtpg wrote: post #26
enahs-sf wrote: post #14

This price war between uber and lyft seems foolish and unsustainable, but as a consumer, I'm down.

You shouldn't, the end result is that drivers will end up with shitty salaries (and no, most drivers aren't going to be retrained as computer programmers when they realise Uber can't help them pay for their SF rent). Not to mention that these people are contractors (illegal) so have more personal taxes to pay. In my eyes Uber and Lyft have lost all moral high ground. These companies are just not following regulations…

Drivers' salaries can only go as low as drivers are willing to be paid to drive. That's no different than literally any commercial interaction. You could always volunteer to pay more, and the other party would probably be appreciative.

Of course, in this case I think it's pretty clear that Lyft and Uber are subsidizing the rides and paying drivers much more than the cost of the ride. If wealthy investors want to pay people to drive me around, I'm game.

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