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I cannot drive. I take Uber to and from work every day using a Uber pass. If my alternative were public transit, a bus to a train to another bus or train depend
by ctoth 9y ago
I cannot drive. I take Uber to and from work every day using a Uber pass.
If my alternative were public transit, a bus to a train to another bus or train depending, it would take me 1.5 hours per trip, for a total of 3 hours a day.
I would not work in the corporate world if this were the case.
Does this study capture these positive externalities?
For blind people, these often-derided services are the difference between a full life where we can participate, and being marginalized outcasts who are constantly late, smelling like the bus, and totally inconvenienced when compared with the guy who can just hop in his car.
- ibejoeb 9y agoDo you regularly get offered the Uber Pass? I've gotten it once, and I used the hell out of it, so now I'm pretty convinced that I'll never be offered again.
- sueders101 9y agoI'm not the parent comment, but I used to get offered Uber pass immediately after the previous one expired. Recently they switched over to option to auto-renew rather than having to manually buy a new pass each time. I'm in Portland, OR so it may be location specific.
- k_sh 9y agoI have a friend who has one, she uses it quite heavily - routinely cutting around $250 out of her Uber costs. She gets a new one every week.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- beager 9y agoI’m sure the positive anecdotes and trends are accounted for in the data, but nevertheless the data still says what it says. Uber and Lyft aren’t here to solve for transit access and commute optimization, they’re here to serve as many rides as possible.
- twic 9y agoIn London, efforts have been made to make buses and trains accessible for the blind and the mobility impaired, but there are also a couple of public schemes specifically for them. Taxicard makes it easy to arrange taxi trips, and subsidises them: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/taxis-and-minicabs/taxicard-and-capital-call https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/taxis-and-minicabs/taxicard-and-cap... Dial-a-ride is a shared minibus: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/dial-a-ride/ https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/dial-a-ride/ As the names hint, they have been running for years and years. I am lucky enough not to need them, and can't comment on how good they are, but i think it demonstrates that a sensible public transport authority can help less able people have the same freedom to travel as everyone else.
- avani 9y agoThose act like they're doing you a favor. "Our service will show up in an hour window if you call a day in advance, and you'd better be grateful, lesser human" I really fucking hate seperate but "equal" solutions for the disabled, and am grateful as hell I can afford to lyft everywhere I want to go.
- TeMPOraL 9y ago> For blind people, these often-derided services are the difference between a full life where we can participate Correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I understand, a big difference between old "Taxi mafia" and Uber is that the former will service people with disabilities, because they're forced to do so even if it's unprofitable by the same regulations that grant them semi-monopoly, while Uber will happily ignore this segment in its search for market efficiency.
- taysic 9y agoFrom what I understand Uber is much more affordable than cabs on average which can make a big difference to people. In the city I live near, there used to be such a shortage of cabs, waiting for an hour as they drove by you or after you called was not uncommon.
- TeMPOraL 9y agoTrue. It should definitely work this way in dense areas with lots of potential customer base. And taxis definitely seem to be in sad state in many places around the world. What I meant is that a regular taxi is obliged to serve a customer even in a more remote area of the city, while Uber can just ignore it. Similarly, taxi networks usually are obliged to have cars adapted to people with disabilities, which again increases their costs, but ensures there is service available for people with special need.
- upvotinglurker 9y agoBased on all the Uber- and taxi-related threads I've read on HN before, in many jurisdictions, taxis are legally "obliged" to accept credit/debit cards, pick up non-white customers (common U.S. anti-discrimination laws), etc., yet they manage to find ways to consistently fail to do so without meaningful consequences. Is there any evidence that they actually fulfill their obligation to serve customers with disabilities?
- thecrazyone 9y ago
- olalonde 9y agoThe honest truth (and this is going to get down voted) is that there are very powerful, vested interests in those services not taking off. In the future, taxis will be looked at as a relic from the past.
- thecrazyone 9y agoCan you expand on this? This seems more like an allegation at this point. I can only think of taxi unions, politicians and such who would want these services to stay around if not grow.
- olalonde 9y agoThat's all I meant.
- miko1293949 9y agoMay I ask how far is your work from home and what's the monthly total cost?