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Somewhat off-topic: Why is something like Uber called ride-sharing to begin with? I'm not sharing my ride with anyone that coincidentally wants to travel (more

by cgeier 9y ago

Somewhat off-topic: Why is something like Uber called ride-sharing to begin with? I'm not sharing my ride with anyone that coincidentally wants to travel (more or less) the same route as me. I pay somebody to drive their car first to me, and then some other place. This is called a taxi or cab [1], there Uber is a taxi company. At least in Germany, there used to be actual ride-sharing systems, of which the best one used to be mitfahrzentrale.de, where people would advertise what route they were planing to drive (and when) and other people could "book" a seat on that route. I don't know if some others still exist, I haven't used them in years. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicab https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicab

tronje 9y ago
Further off-topic, for anyone curious: There are a number of ride-sharing services, the self-proclaimed biggest being blablacar.de, previously known as mitfahrgelegenheiten.de, I believe. We also have a multitude of car-sharing services, where if you subscribe, you can look for a free car parked somewhere, and then drive it wherever you want within a certain area. Examples are car2go, DriveNow, and I believe Starcar and other rental-car companies also have services like that. Uber actually had to pull out of several german cities because of taxi-related regulations. Taxi-drivers in those cities need to obtain a license, which drivers for Uber obviously don't do. So (some german) institutions also view Uber as a taxi company. Source: https://www.theverge.com/2015/10/30/9648676/uber-germany-hamburg-frankfurt-dusseldorf https://www.theverge.com/2015/10/30/9648676/uber-germany-ham...
elicash 9y ago
Along these lines, Lyft started out as an actual ride-sharing platform with Zimride, until eventually the current model took off and they decided to sell the ride-sharing part of the company away.
- amyjess 9y ago
  Lyft also used a donation model back in the day (this was the case when I first started using them in 2014). You didn't have to pay for anything, but there was a "suggested donation" along with a message saying that drivers you donate money to will be more likely to give you a ride again.
emodendroket 9y ago
Well, the real reason is because none of regulations that apply to taxi and livery services make any mention of "ride-sharing," so you can claim you aren't subject to any of them.

by cgeier 9y ago

tronje 9y ago

Further off-topic, for anyone curious: There are a number of ride-sharing services, the self-proclaimed biggest being blablacar.de, previously known as mitfahrgelegenheiten.de, I believe. We also have a multitude of car-sharing services, where if you subscribe, you can look for a free car parked somewhere, and then drive it wherever you want within a certain area. Examples are car2go, DriveNow, and I believe Starcar and other rental-car companies also have services like that. Uber actually had to pull out of several german cities because of taxi-related regulations. Taxi-drivers in those cities need to obtain a license, which drivers for Uber obviously don't do. So (some german) institutions also view Uber as a taxi company. Source: https://www.theverge.com/2015/10/30/9648676/uber-germany-hamburg-frankfurt-dusseldorf https://www.theverge.com/2015/10/30/9648676/uber-germany-ham...

elicash 9y ago

Along these lines, Lyft started out as an actual ride-sharing platform with Zimride, until eventually the current model took off and they decided to sell the ride-sharing part of the company away.

amyjess 9y ago
Lyft also used a donation model back in the day (this was the case when I first started using them in 2014). You didn't have to pay for anything, but there was a "suggested donation" along with a message saying that drivers you donate money to will be more likely to give you a ride again.

emodendroket 9y ago

Well, the real reason is because none of regulations that apply to taxi and livery services make any mention of "ride-sharing," so you can claim you aren't subject to any of them.