I pay $3 to commute to my office in Uber Pool or Lyft--cheaper than Metro. Usually no other rider. I don't know how this is sustainable.
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Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription
71–80 of 177 posts
Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
Margaret Thatcher once said "The problem with socialism is, you eventually run out of other people's money", which makes it ironic and humorous that Uber, the poster child of Valley Objectivism, has basically the same problem with their "price dumping funded by VCs" model.
The key difference being that in the case of Uber, those VCs and investors gave their money voluntarily.
Voluntarily, but not without expectation of recompense. At some point the monopoly will start focusing on another source of money...
Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription
#73I used Pool last night in the city. Took me from the Fidi to Inner Richmond. $2.37. It was almost cheaper than Muni. I can't imagine the drivers are making much at all .
I had the same reaction when I rode UberPool from the south bay into SF (a 45 minute ride) for just under $18, and nobody else pooled with me. How could this be fair to the drivers? So I asked the driver how much he was getting for the trip. I believe he said something like $50. Fortunately, he wasn't getting shortchanged. Later, someone pointed out to me that Lyft and Uber are aggressively competing right now. It se…
> It seems that Uber might be artificially deflating its prices to try and kill the competition
That is indeed the case: http://www.seattletimes.com/business/technology/will-ride-ha...
Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription
#74I pay $3 to commute to my office in Uber Pool or Lyft--cheaper than Metro. Usually no other rider. I don't know how this is sustainable.
All electric vehicles that drive themselves will make it sustainable. They can afford to burn cash while they get the fleet going and then they replace all their expensive and error prone human labor with cars that drive themselves and don't need to sleep.
Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not so sure I agree. If you crank up the prices, a lot of users who are users because of those prices will just stop being users. You don't exactly have a good way to lock users into it, so this strategy doesn't seem as effective. I imagine that the most locked in user will be one that sold their car to solely ride uber, and they can just go get a car if the the cost analysis tips more in favor of the car. "Worst…
Those users who were only in it for the cheap fares would have left anyways in a world where Lyft survives but fares increase to profitable levels. If Uber succeeds in killing Lyft, they can dictate pricing more effectively and harvest a surplus from the remaining consumers.
Okay and then one of the 13 other startups doing this suddenly become able to undercut Uber because they have VCs who are willing to gouge the actual balance sheet in order to put Uber out of business.
Crucially, Uber doesn't own the cars nor the drivers. Anyone willing to throw more cash to drivers and take less cash from riders (with the infusion of VC funding) can instantly steal both the supply and the demand from Uber.
Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not so sure I agree. If you crank up the prices, a lot of users who are users because of those prices will just stop being users. You don't exactly have a good way to lock users into it, so this strategy doesn't seem as effective. I imagine that the most locked in user will be one that sold their car to solely ride uber, and they can just go get a car if the the cost analysis tips more in favor of the car. "Worst…
As you say, there is no effective way for them to lock users in, but they don't need to. They can outspend and outlast Lyft to make them run out of cash and/or devalued to the point where they can acquire them and shut them down. At that point, any (future) new entrant to the market will face a steeper uphill battle than Lyft did. In the process, they may lose some customers to real cars or public transit, but they'l…
No they won't face a steeper uphill battle. They'll have a much easier time: legislation will be clearer, drivers will already be driving for uber so installing another app is trivial, riders will already be familiar with app-hailed rides and so installing another app is trivial.
Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription
#77I pay $3 to commute to my office in Uber Pool or Lyft--cheaper than Metro. Usually no other rider. I don't know how this is sustainable.
All electric vehicles that drive themselves will make it sustainable. They can afford to burn cash while they get the fleet going and then they replace all their expensive and error prone human labor with cars that drive themselves and don't need to sleep.
The word "sustainable" in your reply is a joke when you consider the unsustainability of the automobile for single rider transit. Electric or not, it's a tough sell compared to mass transit.
Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription
#78I used Pool last night in the city. Took me from the Fidi to Inner Richmond. $2.37. It was almost cheaper than Muni. I can't imagine the drivers are making much at all .
Check your invoice - you'll probably see the current 50% off promotion
No promotion listed on mine. here's the last 4 pool rides i've taken (4.0-5.3 miles):
http://storage8.static.itmages.com/i/16/0824/h_1472075099_97...
Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription
#79Uber has taken $12B of capital, broken the regulatory regimes and opened the drive-for-hire markets, marketed the benefits of drive-for-hire and ride-sharing to drivers and consumers, and helped drivers finance vehicles – but now there seems to be no barrier to entry for any competing service except writing an app. I'm happy to let VCs pay for my comfortable daily ride to work but I don't see how this is sustainable.…
A new entrant would have an undifferentiated product (and no drivers)
Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription
#80Uber has taken $12B of capital, broken the regulatory regimes and opened the drive-for-hire markets, marketed the benefits of drive-for-hire and ride-sharing to drivers and consumers, and helped drivers finance vehicles – but now there seems to be no barrier to entry for any competing service except writing an app. I'm happy to let VCs pay for my comfortable daily ride to work but I don't see how this is sustainable.…
> but now there seems to be no barrier to entry for any competing service except writing an app.
If that's true, why isn't Lyft doing well?