Houston City Council gives green light to Uber, Lyft
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Re: Houston City Council gives green light to Uber, Lyft
#2I don't know anything about Houston, but compared to the issues faced by car-sharing companies in some other large cities, Houston's government seems remarkably sane.
Re: Houston City Council gives green light to Uber, Lyft
#3I don't know anything about Houston, but compared to the issues faced by car-sharing companies in some other large cities, Houston's government seems remarkably sane.
I used to live there for some years in the '90s and still visit semi-regularly because family live there, and in my own experience (which may not to apply to all neighborhoods), nobody cares about this market in Houston, because everyone drives their private cars. So it's kind of a meh, do what you want. There is a very small public-transit system, and a smallish number of taxi drivers who mainly serve business travelers (there's a fairly big convention business, and a lot of oil & gas business travel). I never once took a taxi in 4+ years living there, and nobody else I knew did either. I rarely even saw a taxi, much less contemplated something as New-Yorkian as trying to hail one on the street. So I think the average Houstonian has basically no opinion on "disrupting the taxi market", because the Houston taxi market is not a major player in Houstonians' lives. I'm sure the taxi drivers do care about this kind of thing, because the business-travel market is non-negligible, but that's more of a back-room lobbying kind of discussion; the average Houstonian doesn't take taxis and won't take Uber.
Re: Houston City Council gives green light to Uber, Lyft
#4I don't know anything about Houston, but compared to the issues faced by car-sharing companies in some other large cities, Houston's government seems remarkably sane.
I used to live there for some years in the '90s and still visit semi-regularly because family live there, and in my own experience (which may not to apply to all neighborhoods), nobody cares about this market in Houston, because everyone drives their private cars. So it's kind of a meh, do what you want. There is a very small public-transit system, and a smallish number of taxi drivers who mainly serve business trave…
Speaking as someone who who lived in Houston for the last two years, I disagree about Houstonians not wanting Uber/taxis. Yes, we all have cars, but I can't tell you how many times I would have preferred not to drive on Friday/Saturday nights (as a 20/almost 30-something). We wind up driving because, as you say, taxis were rare, and when they were around they were all pretty awful. Not living there now, but I'm very much looking forward to visiting Uber/Lyft.
Also, as an aside, I knew someone in Houston who was in city government, and it's amazing how some of these dynamics work. Basically, this change was blocked by the yellow cab lobby for the last two years, and only for the price of about $5,000 of campaign contributions per city council seat. Local politics are insane.
Re: Houston City Council gives green light to Uber, Lyft
#5Please tell me AirBnb is still far being legal.
Re: Houston City Council gives green light to Uber, Lyft
#6Earlier quoted context omitted.
I used to live there for some years in the '90s and still visit semi-regularly because family live there, and in my own experience (which may not to apply to all neighborhoods), nobody cares about this market in Houston, because everyone drives their private cars. So it's kind of a meh, do what you want. There is a very small public-transit system, and a smallish number of taxi drivers who mainly serve business trave…
Speaking as someone who who lived in Houston for the last two years, I disagree about Houstonians not wanting Uber/taxis. Yes, we all have cars, but I can't tell you how many times I would have preferred not to drive on Friday/Saturday nights (as a 20/almost 30-something). We wind up driving because, as you say, taxis were rare, and when they were around they were all pretty awful. Not living there now, but I'm very…
I don't think it's taxis being rare that's the problem. You could always call a taxi or a car service, and occasionally I'd see people do that from bars. Which seems to be the basic model here too, call a vehicle to a location and wait for it to arrive. And business travelers already take car/limo services to the airport when they're being reimbursed. But most people avoid taxis/cars because it's expensive, and because you've always got your own car anyway (and parking is easy/free). Maybe in a smallish area around Montrose or Rice Village it'd work, but I don't see people taking Uber/Lyft to most of the city, unless they really cut the prices (which doesn't seem to be their strategy). If you're going downtown and live in Clear Lake or Bellaire, you could today avoid driving and pay ~$100 in round-trip taxi/limo fare. But nobody does. Or, you could in the future pay ~$100 to Uber/Lyft for the same thing. Will this entice more people? My guess is not many.
Re: Houston City Council gives green light to Uber, Lyft
#7Please tell me AirBnb is still far being legal.
...why?
Re: Houston City Council gives green light to Uber, Lyft
#8Houston has their downtown lights turn green sequentially if you travel the speed limit. Nifty: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/a...
Re: Houston City Council gives green light to Uber, Lyft
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Speaking as someone who who lived in Houston for the last two years, I disagree about Houstonians not wanting Uber/taxis. Yes, we all have cars, but I can't tell you how many times I would have preferred not to drive on Friday/Saturday nights (as a 20/almost 30-something). We wind up driving because, as you say, taxis were rare, and when they were around they were all pretty awful. Not living there now, but I'm very…
I don't think it's taxis being rare that's the problem. You could always call a taxi or a car service, and occasionally I'd see people do that from bars. Which seems to be the basic model here too, call a vehicle to a location and wait for it to arrive. And business travelers already take car/limo services to the airport when they're being reimbursed. But most people avoid taxis/cars because it's expensive, and becau…
Suburban commuters of course won't use taxis or Uber. But Houston is experiencing an urban revitalization. Almost everybody I know either lives in the loop or wants to.
For folks in the loop, having easy transportation to/from bars, for instance, makes Uber pretty attractive.
Re: Houston City Council gives green light to Uber, Lyft
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
Speaking as someone who who lived in Houston for the last two years, I disagree about Houstonians not wanting Uber/taxis. Yes, we all have cars, but I can't tell you how many times I would have preferred not to drive on Friday/Saturday nights (as a 20/almost 30-something). We wind up driving because, as you say, taxis were rare, and when they were around they were all pretty awful. Not living there now, but I'm very…
I don't think it's taxis being rare that's the problem. You could always call a taxi or a car service, and occasionally I'd see people do that from bars. Which seems to be the basic model here too, call a vehicle to a location and wait for it to arrive. And business travelers already take car/limo services to the airport when they're being reimbursed. But most people avoid taxis/cars because it's expensive, and becau…
Their prices are actually pretty low in Houston, lower than I expected. E.g. Bellaire to Downtown $12-$17; Clear Lake to Downtown, $28-$37 estimate. Not that bad. I could see myself (and other people) using it, even for crosstown trips.
Edit: The base fare is $1.90 and $0.19/min, $1.48/mi - minimum $5.70. Compare to NYC where it's $3 base fare, $0.40/min and $2.15/mi with an $8 minimum. That's quite a difference.