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I have never used the any of the 3 services you describe except the bus, can you or someone else explain how the driver makes less when taking on more passenger

I have never used the any of the 3 services you describe except the bus, can you or someone else explain how the driver makes less when taking on more passengers? Surely that works in an opposite way to the bus. The more paying passengers using the bus service simultaneously, the greater the margin per vehicle. But for some reason Uber turns this on its head? Note: I am a country bumpkin who grew up in the sticks and still lives in the sticks, I had to learn how to bus as an adult. Forgive my ignorance.

digitalzombie 10y ago
> can you or someone else explain how the driver makes less when taking on more passengers? Summer Lyft driver here. As a passenger you get the option to choose to get a ride alone, just you and the lyft driver, to your destination like a taxi. This is the default option and it's the most expensive one. The new option that Uber have and Lyft is doing is pooled rides. Instead of having the Lyft car to yourself, you're willing to share that car with other passengers. Lyft can stop the driver and pick up more passengers that are opting for the pool ride along the way. The one trick to save money is just do the pool ride option and maybe you won't have a passenger to share with if Lyft can't find any other passenger to pool with. Club goers such as a bunch of guys or girls wanting to get a lyft ride to the same destination and are friends usually do the first option. It doesn't count as a pool ride. You're all friends not stranger going to the same place and such. There's other trick but that's not as important. If those club goers or group of friends went pool option that won't work because iirc it's meant for single passenger sharing the car with other passenger.
- orange_county 10y ago
  But that doesn't explain how the driver gets less money when they pick up more pool riders? The rates goes down when they pick up the 2nd and 3rd rider, but then at the same time they are gaining more fares. So shouldn't that make up for the rate drop? It's pretty obvious why doing pool for one rider is a huge loss, but I'm not quite sure how it is more of a loss if a 2nd or 3rd rider joins in.
  - mahyarm 10y ago
    Uber & lyft is really bad at showing how it works because the system is over complicated. The way it looks is they are getting ripped off all of the time and so they don't like it. http://therideshareguy.com/how-does-uberpool-pricing-work/ http://therideshareguy.com/how-does-uberpool-pricing-work/ Basically they are paid the same way as an UberX ride, by mile and by time, at a lower rate (0.75/mile vs 0.85/mile). But they are also paid for going out of their way to pick up new people in between, which in uberX they are not compensated for. Some math nerd in the company probably calculated it as equivalent using their historical data, said eureka, and made the business case for uberpool. But that is way too complicated to understand, so natrually people feel like they are ripped off. If they just made it same uberX rate and just told drivers you get paid for distance and time and do not show them anything else, I don't think they will care. To them it's would be another uberX
    - dnautics 10y ago
      yeah it was a source of major frustration for me trying to teach other drivers that lyft line was actually better for them, eventually I gave up and said look if you don't like it just turn it off -thats' fine more line rides for me. I don't know if this is still the case, It's even better because if you get a line at surge/primetime, the whole line is at the elevated rate, whether or not the subsequent riders are. One time, I got a three successive rides that extended a 150% primetime ride on lyft for about an hour and 20 minutes (I'm sure they fixed it so that doesn't happen anymore, ha).
JoshuaRedmond 10y ago
I believe they meant that the driver gets paid less for each new passenger, but the old passengers are still at the slightly higher rate. A full car still gets the driver more money per mile, but each subsequent passenger is worth less to the driver. Presumably this is to make it so it's worth picking up the first rider, which might be the only rider you get for that journey.
- celticninja 10y ago
  But a single rider in uberpool pays less than a single rider for a standard uber, so it's probably not as worthwhile unless you are getting a second, maybe third, rider.
  - aianus 10y ago
    The single rider pays less but Uber will pay you the difference if no other passengers ever join. I drive for Uber part time.
chillydawg 10y ago
Passengers in a pool ride all pay rate x. The driver in a pool ride gets paid (not exact figures) 0.8x for passenger 1, 0.7x for 2 and 0.6x for 3 (and so on). Uber/lyft keeps the difference. Genius from ubers end.

digitalzombie 10y ago

> can you or someone else explain how the driver makes less when taking on more passengers? Summer Lyft driver here. As a passenger you get the option to choose to get a ride alone, just you and the lyft driver, to your destination like a taxi. This is the default option and it's the most expensive one. The new option that Uber have and Lyft is doing is pooled rides. Instead of having the Lyft car to yourself, you're willing to share that car with other passengers. Lyft can stop the driver and pick up more passengers that are opting for the pool ride along the way. The one trick to save money is just do the pool ride option and maybe you won't have a passenger to share with if Lyft can't find any other passenger to pool with. Club goers such as a bunch of guys or girls wanting to get a lyft ride to the same destination and are friends usually do the first option. It doesn't count as a pool ride. You're all friends not stranger going to the same place and such. There's other trick but that's not as important. If those club goers or group of friends went pool option that won't work because iirc it's meant for single passenger sharing the car with other passenger.

orange_county 10y ago
But that doesn't explain how the driver gets less money when they pick up more pool riders? The rates goes down when they pick up the 2nd and 3rd rider, but then at the same time they are gaining more fares. So shouldn't that make up for the rate drop? It's pretty obvious why doing pool for one rider is a huge loss, but I'm not quite sure how it is more of a loss if a 2nd or 3rd rider joins in.
- mahyarm 10y ago
  Uber & lyft is really bad at showing how it works because the system is over complicated. The way it looks is they are getting ripped off all of the time and so they don't like it. http://therideshareguy.com/how-does-uberpool-pricing-work/ http://therideshareguy.com/how-does-uberpool-pricing-work/ Basically they are paid the same way as an UberX ride, by mile and by time, at a lower rate (0.75/mile vs 0.85/mile). But they are also paid for going out of their way to pick up new people in between, which in uberX they are not compensated for. Some math nerd in the company probably calculated it as equivalent using their historical data, said eureka, and made the business case for uberpool. But that is way too complicated to understand, so natrually people feel like they are ripped off. If they just made it same uberX rate and just told drivers you get paid for distance and time and do not show them anything else, I don't think they will care. To them it's would be another uberX
  - dnautics 10y ago
    yeah it was a source of major frustration for me trying to teach other drivers that lyft line was actually better for them, eventually I gave up and said look if you don't like it just turn it off -thats' fine more line rides for me. I don't know if this is still the case, It's even better because if you get a line at surge/primetime, the whole line is at the elevated rate, whether or not the subsequent riders are. One time, I got a three successive rides that extended a 150% primetime ride on lyft for about an hour and 20 minutes (I'm sure they fixed it so that doesn't happen anymore, ha).

JoshuaRedmond 10y ago

I believe they meant that the driver gets paid less for each new passenger, but the old passengers are still at the slightly higher rate. A full car still gets the driver more money per mile, but each subsequent passenger is worth less to the driver. Presumably this is to make it so it's worth picking up the first rider, which might be the only rider you get for that journey.

celticninja 10y ago
But a single rider in uberpool pays less than a single rider for a standard uber, so it's probably not as worthwhile unless you are getting a second, maybe third, rider.
- aianus 10y ago
  The single rider pays less but Uber will pay you the difference if no other passengers ever join. I drive for Uber part time.

chillydawg 10y ago

Passengers in a pool ride all pay rate x. The driver in a pool ride gets paid (not exact figures) 0.8x for passenger 1, 0.7x for 2 and 0.6x for 3 (and so on). Uber/lyft keeps the difference. Genius from ubers end.