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I think part of their problem is Uber's aggressive fair discounting and driver subsidies. Why would I take a Bridj when I can get a 20-minute-long UberPOOL ride

I think part of their problem is Uber's aggressive fair discounting and driver subsidies. Why would I take a Bridj when I can get a 20-minute-long UberPOOL ride through Boston for $3 - $4? People at my company literally take an Uber to/from work daily because it's only moderately more expensive than the subway (MBTA fares are $2.25 - $2.75). At this point Uber's grown to the size where they can just slash prices and outlast anyone who can't lose as much money as they can. I wouldn't be surprised if public transportation actually started losing a considerable amount of fares to Uber.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
Finnucane 9y ago
Your coworkers haven't figured out how to get a monthly pass? A lot of employers offer a program to buy them with pre-tax income, so effectively a large discount. Can you get Uber for $40/month?
- accountyaccount 9y ago
  They're aware of pre-tax passes — but UberPOOL prices are generally within a dollar per-trip, so they'd rather pay that premium to save the time and hassle involved with public transit. Bridj was also slightly more expensive than public transit, and still had many of the downsides.
  - lovich 9y ago
    Speaking first hand. UberPOOl costs me an average of slightly under 5 dollars per ride so about twice as much as the T. In exchange my commute goes from 45 minutes minimum on the t, with walking included, to about 28-30 minutes. Between the time saved, not having to walk through weather, and not having my eardrums destroyed by screeching of the rails on the red line or the random delays that can possibly double my trip time, it ends up being worth it. If the price goes above 8 dollars I do end up taking the t however. It's unfortunate that public transport isn't better in Boston, but Uber is almost always a better value for the time and reliability
- runamok 9y ago
  Not sure if they are still doing this "POOL Pass" thing but possibly. https://newsroom.uber.com/us-massachusetts/july-pool-pass-ride-for-a-penny-all-month-long/ https://newsroom.uber.com/us-massachusetts/july-pool-pass-ri...
  - praneshp 9y ago
    Any idea why they have to charge $.01 per trip? My wife uses the unlimited flat fare package in south bay, 2.99 per pool ride or 7 per uberX ride (with caveats that apply rarely).
    - xapata 9y ago
      I have a few guesses: - Their software isn't set up to do $0 rides. Even the "free" rides show the total charge and take off a discount. - They want to do analysis on the price elasticity of demand and don't want to have a divide by zero error. - Someone thought it'd induce better behavior. Humans start getting weird with "free" things.
      - praneshp 9y ago
        Thanks for replying. I was wondering if they had to charge something to comply with a law or something (not that they would really let that get into the way of a feature).
jeeprider 9y ago
The minimum UberX fare in Boston is $6.35
- accountyaccount 9y ago
  Sorry, meant UberPOOL you're right.
mafuyu 9y ago
Yeah, I've been taking UberPool for my work commute in Boston recently. It's still around 3x more expensive than the monthly bus pass, but at 2.75 per ride, it's plenty reasonable.
JoshuaEddy 9y ago
Lots of people from Southie take UberPool to Seaport, Downtown, and Back Bay neighborhoods because the bus service is so terrible (#7 in particular). Imagine it's snowing or raining on you and three buses skip your stop because they are already full... the extra couple of bucks for door-to-door service without waiting outside and faster, predictable transit is very much worthwhile. In addition, Uber has offered a month-long/30-day "POOL Pass" for a flat fee, with a buck or two fee per ride which isn't affected by surge pricing. When the pass was introduced it was just one cent per ride, which made it cheaper/comparable to a bus pass. The pricing has since been raised (not cheaper than bus) but still a good deal, considering the benefits. And the program has seen many adjustments without being widely rolled out or promoted, so it seems to still be a program that they are testing out.
- wcummings 9y ago
  Can't you pretty easily bike or even walk from Southie to the Seaport?
  - accountyaccount 9y ago
    Half of the year, and if you're willing to compete with traffic — sure.
metaphorm 9y ago
*fare took me a minute (I'm a little slow after beer-o-clock) to figure out what you meant.
foobiekr 9y ago
do people not tip?

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

Finnucane 9y ago

Your coworkers haven't figured out how to get a monthly pass? A lot of employers offer a program to buy them with pre-tax income, so effectively a large discount. Can you get Uber for $40/month?

accountyaccount 9y ago
They're aware of pre-tax passes — but UberPOOL prices are generally within a dollar per-trip, so they'd rather pay that premium to save the time and hassle involved with public transit. Bridj was also slightly more expensive than public transit, and still had many of the downsides.
- lovich 9y ago
  Speaking first hand. UberPOOl costs me an average of slightly under 5 dollars per ride so about twice as much as the T. In exchange my commute goes from 45 minutes minimum on the t, with walking included, to about 28-30 minutes. Between the time saved, not having to walk through weather, and not having my eardrums destroyed by screeching of the rails on the red line or the random delays that can possibly double my trip time, it ends up being worth it. If the price goes above 8 dollars I do end up taking the t however. It's unfortunate that public transport isn't better in Boston, but Uber is almost always a better value for the time and reliability
runamok 9y ago
Not sure if they are still doing this "POOL Pass" thing but possibly. https://newsroom.uber.com/us-massachusetts/july-pool-pass-ride-for-a-penny-all-month-long/ https://newsroom.uber.com/us-massachusetts/july-pool-pass-ri...
- praneshp 9y ago
  Any idea why they have to charge $.01 per trip? My wife uses the unlimited flat fare package in south bay, 2.99 per pool ride or 7 per uberX ride (with caveats that apply rarely).
  - xapata 9y ago
    I have a few guesses: - Their software isn't set up to do $0 rides. Even the "free" rides show the total charge and take off a discount. - They want to do analysis on the price elasticity of demand and don't want to have a divide by zero error. - Someone thought it'd induce better behavior. Humans start getting weird with "free" things.
    - praneshp 9y ago
      Thanks for replying. I was wondering if they had to charge something to comply with a law or something (not that they would really let that get into the way of a feature).

jeeprider 9y ago

The minimum UberX fare in Boston is $6.35

accountyaccount 9y ago
Sorry, meant UberPOOL you're right.

mafuyu 9y ago

Yeah, I've been taking UberPool for my work commute in Boston recently. It's still around 3x more expensive than the monthly bus pass, but at 2.75 per ride, it's plenty reasonable.

JoshuaEddy 9y ago

Lots of people from Southie take UberPool to Seaport, Downtown, and Back Bay neighborhoods because the bus service is so terrible (#7 in particular). Imagine it's snowing or raining on you and three buses skip your stop because they are already full... the extra couple of bucks for door-to-door service without waiting outside and faster, predictable transit is very much worthwhile. In addition, Uber has offered a month-long/30-day "POOL Pass" for a flat fee, with a buck or two fee per ride which isn't affected by surge pricing. When the pass was introduced it was just one cent per ride, which made it cheaper/comparable to a bus pass. The pricing has since been raised (not cheaper than bus) but still a good deal, considering the benefits. And the program has seen many adjustments without being widely rolled out or promoted, so it seems to still be a program that they are testing out.

wcummings 9y ago
Can't you pretty easily bike or even walk from Southie to the Seaport?
- accountyaccount 9y ago
  Half of the year, and if you're willing to compete with traffic — sure.

metaphorm 9y ago

*fare took me a minute (I'm a little slow after beer-o-clock) to figure out what you meant.

foobiekr 9y ago

do people not tip?