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The guy makes some good points, and there does seem to be a lot of questionable startups, but it's not like they're tapping into public funds. Somewhere, someho

The guy makes some good points, and there does seem to be a lot of questionable startups, but it's not like they're tapping into public funds. Somewhere, somehow, some angel investor thought that it was a good team and a good idea and they were happy to part with their money. It's better that we live in a more optimistic world than one where every crazy idea is a bad idea. However, how is taking Uber to work every day 'spoiled'? I bet the guys owns a car where he is from and spends significantly more on monthly transportation than I do. For $4 more than a bus, I get point to point pick up and drop off, and save about 40 minutes of my time (which I can use to go work out in the mornings). And some others have figured out that it makes sense to spend $20 on grocery delivery rather than spending 90 minutes doing it yourself if you're working 60-80 hours per week and make more than $20/hour. To be sure, a lot of people work long and hard. They make certain sacrifices but just because they are not the same sacrifices that the author would make it doesn't mean they're bad.

amyjess 11y ago
> For $4 more than a bus Depending on where you live, Uber/Lyft can be a lot more expensive than a bus. In Dallas, a monthly public transport pass costs $80. This comes with unlimited uses of the buses and trains for an entire month. Let's say you work twenty days (four weeks) a month, with a trip each way. That amortizes to $2 a trip, less if you also use your pass for personal trips on weekends. Lyft costs me about $11 on average to get me between home and work. If I were to take Lyft to and from work every day for a month, again assuming twenty working days a month, I'd be paying about $440 a month. That's not $4 more; it's $9 more. That's 5.5 times how much I'd be paying for public transport. Again, that's not counting using it for personal trips on weekends (here, the minimum is $5.70, including the trust & safety fee). If Uber/Lyft is only $4 more than a bus in SF, then buses are way expensive there.
- jamesfzhang 11y ago
  Agreed that it definitely depends on where you live. I don't, but could, take an Uber/Lyft for my commute everyday and it would cost about $5-$7, whereas a ride on SF public transit would take $2.25 and + 10-20 extra minutes.
- dnr 11y ago
  Lyft Line (the thing where you share with other people) is capped at $6 within a decent size swath of SF. Muni is $2.25 and Bart is $1.95 for within the same general area. I think that's where the $4 came from.

amyjess 11y ago

> For $4 more than a bus Depending on where you live, Uber/Lyft can be a lot more expensive than a bus. In Dallas, a monthly public transport pass costs $80. This comes with unlimited uses of the buses and trains for an entire month. Let's say you work twenty days (four weeks) a month, with a trip each way. That amortizes to $2 a trip, less if you also use your pass for personal trips on weekends. Lyft costs me about $11 on average to get me between home and work. If I were to take Lyft to and from work every day for a month, again assuming twenty working days a month, I'd be paying about $440 a month. That's not $4 more; it's $9 more. That's 5.5 times how much I'd be paying for public transport. Again, that's not counting using it for personal trips on weekends (here, the minimum is $5.70, including the trust & safety fee). If Uber/Lyft is only $4 more than a bus in SF, then buses are way expensive there.

jamesfzhang 11y ago
Agreed that it definitely depends on where you live. I don't, but could, take an Uber/Lyft for my commute everyday and it would cost about $5-$7, whereas a ride on SF public transit would take $2.25 and + 10-20 extra minutes.
dnr 11y ago
Lyft Line (the thing where you share with other people) is capped at $6 within a decent size swath of SF. Muni is $2.25 and Bart is $1.95 for within the same general area. I think that's where the $4 came from.