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First analysis of how Uber and Lyft have affected roadway congestion in SF

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Re: First analysis of how Uber and Lyft have affected roadway congestion in SF

#91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In many ways, I think solutions like this are just kicking the can. Travel in a place like Bangkok for one day. Red lights look like the start of a motocross rally. There are even motorbike taxis. And motorcycles deciding the sidewalk doubles as a bike line is a common sight. But traffic is still completely brutal. That's also with city wide subway and airtrain transport options as well. The problem is simple. People…

Amount of potential traffic can't grow without limit. People need space to do other things. That puts a natural limit on the amount of traffic because people don't go places just to get there. They go places to do something when they get there.

The big underlying factor is population increase, both permanent increases of the local population and temporary increases from visitors. Though I imagine there are also other factors even beyond that one that also increase traffic. It's probably safe to say that increased income results in more activity involving transport, for instance. I'd agree there's definitely some theoretic cutoff where it becomes practically physically impossible to squeeze any more people into an area, but I'm not sure how practical it is to consider that since you're hitting major dystopia long before you get to that point.

Re: First analysis of how Uber and Lyft have affected roadway congestion in SF

#92
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We have to pick up and drop off our daughter at her day care on a daily basis and without Uber I'm amazed that Uber is considered an affordable commute device. Is that a SV phenomenon ?

Eh, it depends on how you look at it. If you are comparing Lyft/Uber to public transit, yeah they lose out by a lot, but I don't think a lot of people are doing that. I think a lot of people are comparing Lyft/Uber against the cost of owning a semi-new car in a major city and that's much more comparable. Here's a super ball park monthly cost breakdown: - Car payment: $250 - Parking: $200 - Insurance: $85 (~$500 every…

Also factor into the car cost the time lost driving there and back. That could easily be a couple of hours a week. Say 6 hours a month. What’s that worth? Could be $120 to $1200 a month.

Re: First analysis of how Uber and Lyft have affected roadway congestion in SF

#93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No - you are wrong. Dropping off kids has a lot of convenience if you take an Uber. You don't have to worry about parking and can actually spend time with your kid, like read them a story, when you drop off via Ubers vs. yourself. In my estimate, I save at least 15-20min per dropoff when I take Uber vs. when I do with my car. In the morning that 15-20min extra matter a lot.

I don't see how your point makes him wrong. If anything, it seems to reinforce his point.

Well you need to read it again.

Re: First analysis of how Uber and Lyft have affected roadway congestion in SF

#94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have kids? Do you know how expensive it is to raise them? The preschool costs around $3k/mo at least. Compared to that $300/mo is pretty minor and the convenience it offers is totally worth it.

Pretty sure most people aren't spending $3,000/month on private school. My kid goes to public Kindergarten which is free. Even in Toronto, which has some of the highest daycare costs in Canada, it was only $1,500/month. Aftercare at the school is $800/month. I'm very fortunate to make a good living so I can afford such things but even I balk at the idea of taking a daily Uber to drop my kid off. You should really rea…

I am talking about SF here which doesn't have a great public school system. Also, I was replying to a comment where someone is making a snarky remark about what one should or should not do with their money - and was attempting to provide context.

And this is hacker news. I am reasonably sure that we aren't representing working poor here but mostly well paid and skilled professionals.

Re: First analysis of how Uber and Lyft have affected roadway congestion in SF

#95
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have kids? Do you know how expensive it is to raise them? The preschool costs around $3k/mo at least. Compared to that $300/mo is pretty minor and the convenience it offers is totally worth it.

Yea. Not every parent sees it as essential to spend three THOUSAND dollars on a pre-school. Please don't generalise.

Sorry - I should have mentioned that I am in SF here. Preschools here are pretty expensive.

Re: First analysis of how Uber and Lyft have affected roadway congestion in SF

#96
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We have to pick up and drop off our daughter at her day care on a daily basis and without Uber I'm amazed that Uber is considered an affordable commute device. Is that a SV phenomenon ?

>I'm amazed that Uber is considered an affordable commute device. Is that a SV phenomenon ? Just the cost of registering a car in CA buys you a lot of Uber rides. Then there's parking and maintenance (the HN demographic is taking their cars to the dealer, not down the street to the neighbor who fixes cars as a side gig) and the fact most people rich enough to afford to use Uber every day are comparing to the payments…

It is both cost+convenience. As I mentioned in one of my other comments, parking near the day care is a major issue, even for a few minutes - so an old Civic wouldn't have helped. With my own car, I would have to at least spend 15min every day trying to look for parking and I would rather spend that time making our kid comfortable in school.

Re: First analysis of how Uber and Lyft have affected roadway congestion in SF

#97
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

#inflammatory At this point, you have no argument but probably are just pissed that families are co-habiting your preferred non-family only city space. Get a life and do something with it.

Personal attacks will get you banned on HN. Please post civilly and substantively, or not at all, regardless of how provocative another comment is or you feel it is. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

The other person's comment was so provocative. Sorry that I lost it. I am working on reducing these type of comments.

Re: First analysis of how Uber and Lyft have affected roadway congestion in SF

#98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, it depends on how you look at it. If you are comparing Lyft/Uber to public transit, yeah they lose out by a lot, but I don't think a lot of people are doing that. I think a lot of people are comparing Lyft/Uber against the cost of owning a semi-new car in a major city and that's much more comparable. Here's a super ball park monthly cost breakdown: - Car payment: $250 - Parking: $200 - Insurance: $85 (~$500 every…

No - you are wrong. Dropping off kids has a lot of convenience if you take an Uber. You don't have to worry about parking and can actually spend time with your kid, like read them a story, when you drop off via Ubers vs. yourself. In my estimate, I save at least 15-20min per dropoff when I take Uber vs. when I do with my car. In the morning that 15-20min extra matter a lot.

I don't see how I'm wrong.

My comment was basically in support of using Uber for regular transportation as it costs about the same as owning a car. At the end I even mentioned that Uber only might be easier because you don't have to worry about parking.

If I'm reading your comment correctly, you are also in favor of an Uber only lifestyle because it allows you more time with your kids, saves you time, and you don't have to deal with parking (which I also mentioned).

If that's the case, I think we're on the same side.

Re: First analysis of how Uber and Lyft have affected roadway congestion in SF

#99

Uber is really a heaven sent product for me and my family. We have to pick up and drop off our daughter at her day care on a daily basis and without Uber, I am not sure how would we have done it. I hope we can expand studies like this with the quality of life improvement which services like Uber have been responsible. Also, there are other things which have improved too. Such as less drunk driving, improved safety es…

How does the logistics of Uber and child seats work?

The fact that child restraints are not required on public transport (which is itself mysterious) makes it preferable to car transit, for our family.

Re: First analysis of how Uber and Lyft have affected roadway congestion in SF

#100
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? My experience has been extremely different, albeit both of us only really have antidotes. My friends/coworkers who got jobs in the city directly after college all don't have cars. Think 2013-2018 graduates. The only ones with cars, either grew up in the bay, or have worked outside the city at some point. Mind you these are all people who have a license in their prior state/country.

You meant "anecdotes", right? Autocorrect, probably.

Lets go with that ;)
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