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I was wondering why he would pick Redwood and Palo Alto as an example. To me that doesn't seem like a typical commute in the US. The distance is only 12.5km, yo

by jcfrei 11y ago

I was wondering why he would pick Redwood and Palo Alto as an example. To me that doesn't seem like a typical commute in the US. The distance is only 12.5km, you could almost travel by bike. Anyway I think VLM's first comment is a much more intuitive explanation why ride-sharing is not attractive.

rconti 11y ago
In fact, from where I live in Redwood City, it's more like 4 miles by bicycle. It's not really a typical commute, but I think the point is more than fair -- if the author picked 2 far-flung locations, the probability of a match is typically going to be even lower. That said, yes, there are common commute routes -- for example, more distance suburbs, which will have a number of commuters going to the same urban core(s). But statistically speaking, the longer the journey, the less likely the commute match, given a general tendency to live closer to work rather than, say, 5 states away. Even in the US!