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Yeah but they are more convenient and comfortable. Doesn't that say something about current public transit thinking? Some People are willing to pay a little bit

Yeah but they are more convenient and comfortable. Doesn't that say something about current public transit thinking? Some People are willing to pay a little bit more if it is convenient and comfortable.

ProAm 9y ago
When the subsidies end, will people be willing to pay $10 +1 for the exact same ride vs public transit?
- harigov 9y ago
  Subsidies are here to accomplish economies of scale. And when they have that scale, the cost of ride will also decrease dramatically (run buses instead of cars, electric cars/buses?), so my bet is that there will be an increase in price but it won't be order of magnitude more than current price.
  - ProAm 9y ago
    Subsidies here are not for economies of scale, but for market share. Your bet is a risky one vs proven methodology.
    - harigov 9y ago
      It depends on what you consider as market in which Uber/Lyft operate. If it's entire personal transportation market, then one can think of them as in a zero-sum game with other players. I believe that the ride share market (even if you include taxis) is a growing market. Sure, it is very competitive so there is some struggle to gain market share, but there is also incentive to grow so as to get that economies of scale because whoever has that can price extremely competitively and be the winner.
    - jasonbarone 9y ago
      But they are for economies of scale. Product like UberPool, LyftLine, and UberEats were born from it. The business gets more efficient, and as the network keeps evolving it’ll open up new business opportunities that’ll drive prices down.
      - ProAm 9y ago
        It's still a grab for market share before the race to the bottom is finished and hopefully they've iterated to autonomous drivers, until then both companies are loss leaders with no profit visible on the horizon.
        jasonbarone 9y ago
        Sorry, sounds like you have a lot of inaccurate information you're basing that off of.
        ProAm 9y ago
        As do you.
        jasonbarone 9y ago
        My guess is you don’t work for either company, right?

ProAm 9y ago

When the subsidies end, will people be willing to pay $10 +1 for the exact same ride vs public transit?

harigov 9y ago
Subsidies are here to accomplish economies of scale. And when they have that scale, the cost of ride will also decrease dramatically (run buses instead of cars, electric cars/buses?), so my bet is that there will be an increase in price but it won't be order of magnitude more than current price.
- ProAm 9y ago
  Subsidies here are not for economies of scale, but for market share. Your bet is a risky one vs proven methodology.
  - harigov 9y ago
    It depends on what you consider as market in which Uber/Lyft operate. If it's entire personal transportation market, then one can think of them as in a zero-sum game with other players. I believe that the ride share market (even if you include taxis) is a growing market. Sure, it is very competitive so there is some struggle to gain market share, but there is also incentive to grow so as to get that economies of scale because whoever has that can price extremely competitively and be the winner.
  - jasonbarone 9y ago
    But they are for economies of scale. Product like UberPool, LyftLine, and UberEats were born from it. The business gets more efficient, and as the network keeps evolving it’ll open up new business opportunities that’ll drive prices down.
    - ProAm 9y ago
      It's still a grab for market share before the race to the bottom is finished and hopefully they've iterated to autonomous drivers, until then both companies are loss leaders with no profit visible on the horizon.
      - jasonbarone 9y ago
        Sorry, sounds like you have a lot of inaccurate information you're basing that off of.
        ProAm 9y ago
        As do you.
        jasonbarone 9y ago
        My guess is you don’t work for either company, right?