4 ms·

First of all, I don't think your tone is very kind or conducive to a productive conversation. You state with no evidence whatsoever that rideshare services "ca

First of all, I don't think your tone is very kind or conducive to a productive conversation. You state with no evidence whatsoever that rideshare services "can't or won't compete with mass transit" while the truth is that millions of people decide between the two on a daily basis. In places like NYC and SF where transit is viable, it is widely used by the lower, middle, even upper middle classes. It has become much more prevalent to simply take Lyft to work every day (some employers just pay for it) which leaves less people on MTA or BART. That hurts funding for maintaining extremely expensive public transit systems which often leads to cutbacks in service during tough times as "we can't support the long hours with so few passengers" Yes some of the lower class benefits from ridesharing (in the short term at least) and I acknowledged there were two sides to the argument. But ultimately if people get some cheap rides for a few years but then have to choose between expensive rides or degraded public transit, then they've almost certainly lost out unless driverless cars or some other innovation saves the day.

mrgordon 9y ago
Here is a recent article about how people are switching from public transit to ridesharing and not from driving as many people expect: http://fortune.com/2017/10/13/uber-lyft-public-transit-ridership/ http://fortune.com/2017/10/13/uber-lyft-public-transit-rider... It doesn't make sense to say ridesharing "can't or won't compete with mass transit" when its literally the main thing it competes with.
IWeldMelons 9y ago
I do not understand how it is possible. Public transit is soo much cheaper. In many cases, it is just unaffordable for someone to switch from taking the bus to Uber.
- mrgordon 9y ago
  For example, in San Francisco the bus costs $2.50 to $2.75 depending on how you pay. If two people want to go somewhere, thats at least $5. Instead I can get door to door service with Lyft for between $3.90 and $4.10 for the first person and an additional $0.90 for the second person. This means I typically come out slightly ahead with Lyft with two people and its way more convenient. Its great... for now. Who knows how long it will last at these prices?
  - IWeldMelons 9y ago
    3.90? Are you going like half a mile or what? Most of the city people usually have bus passes, because jobs are often far away.
    - mrgordon 9y ago
      Usually 1-2 miles. We don't need to do it every day so it isn't worth having a bus pass. If we wanted to do it daily though, there are ridesharing passes too. Some people pay like $20-25 a month for a pack of Uber passes that give a certain number of rides. This is just talking about the daily commute. Say I want to go to the airport. Its $12-14 in a Lyft usually and about the same for two people on BART. Even if I had a bus pass for work, I'd still need to pay for either BART or Lyft and Lyft saves at least 45 minutes (including 15 minutes of walking to get to a station) for an approximately equal price so it ends up being a no brainer until prices go up. Obviously if you go large distances then a commuter rail pass or maybe a bus pass would make more sense.
      - geezerjay 9y ago
        > Usually 1-2 miles. We don't need to do it every day You hardly count as mass transit traffic if your only use is sporadic and it covers close to a walking distance.
        mrgordon 9y ago
        False. Everyone who decides to use a bus/train instead of a Lyft counts as a public transit user. In aggregate, our decisions determine how many riders use public transit. It serves no purpose to ignore anyone who rides less than 30-40 times a month (which is around what you need to break even on a pass)
  - geezerjay 9y ago
    > For example, in San Francisco the bus costs $2.50 to $2.75 depending on how you pay. According to Google, sfmta fares are $2.25 per adult. Those fares however are for single trips for sporadic users. Those are don't represent mass transit users. People who use mass transit with some relevant frequency use it with enough to justify paying for a monthly pass, which sfmta's goes for between $68 and $80 a month.
- lhorie 9y ago
  Think about it this way: if you already own a car, why would you use ridesharing? Taking a uber instead of public transit because you're late, or because it's faster than taking 2 buses to some one-off destination, however, seems entirely reasonable.
  - geezerjay 9y ago
    > Think about it this way: if you already own a car, why would you use ridesharing? To avoid traffic, to avoid parking problems, to avoid driving drunk, to avoid leaving your car unattended in a dubious neighborhood, to avoid parking costs, etc...
erik_seaberg 9y ago
BART never solved the last-mile problem before ridesharing. The nearest station is a 10-minute walk to a 20-minute bus ride after a 30-minute wait. And that's a pretty direct 4 mile trip, from most locations it'd be worse. Driving myself isn't even an option unless I get there before dawn because BART can't keep up with demand for parking.

mrgordon 9y ago

Here is a recent article about how people are switching from public transit to ridesharing and not from driving as many people expect: http://fortune.com/2017/10/13/uber-lyft-public-transit-ridership/ http://fortune.com/2017/10/13/uber-lyft-public-transit-rider... It doesn't make sense to say ridesharing "can't or won't compete with mass transit" when its literally the main thing it competes with.

IWeldMelons 9y ago

I do not understand how it is possible. Public transit is soo much cheaper. In many cases, it is just unaffordable for someone to switch from taking the bus to Uber.

mrgordon 9y ago
For example, in San Francisco the bus costs $2.50 to $2.75 depending on how you pay. If two people want to go somewhere, thats at least $5. Instead I can get door to door service with Lyft for between $3.90 and $4.10 for the first person and an additional $0.90 for the second person. This means I typically come out slightly ahead with Lyft with two people and its way more convenient. Its great... for now. Who knows how long it will last at these prices?
- IWeldMelons 9y ago
  3.90? Are you going like half a mile or what? Most of the city people usually have bus passes, because jobs are often far away.
  - mrgordon 9y ago
    Usually 1-2 miles. We don't need to do it every day so it isn't worth having a bus pass. If we wanted to do it daily though, there are ridesharing passes too. Some people pay like $20-25 a month for a pack of Uber passes that give a certain number of rides. This is just talking about the daily commute. Say I want to go to the airport. Its $12-14 in a Lyft usually and about the same for two people on BART. Even if I had a bus pass for work, I'd still need to pay for either BART or Lyft and Lyft saves at least 45 minutes (including 15 minutes of walking to get to a station) for an approximately equal price so it ends up being a no brainer until prices go up. Obviously if you go large distances then a commuter rail pass or maybe a bus pass would make more sense.
    - geezerjay 9y ago
      > Usually 1-2 miles. We don't need to do it every day You hardly count as mass transit traffic if your only use is sporadic and it covers close to a walking distance.
      - mrgordon 9y ago
        False. Everyone who decides to use a bus/train instead of a Lyft counts as a public transit user. In aggregate, our decisions determine how many riders use public transit. It serves no purpose to ignore anyone who rides less than 30-40 times a month (which is around what you need to break even on a pass)
- geezerjay 9y ago
  > For example, in San Francisco the bus costs $2.50 to $2.75 depending on how you pay. According to Google, sfmta fares are $2.25 per adult. Those fares however are for single trips for sporadic users. Those are don't represent mass transit users. People who use mass transit with some relevant frequency use it with enough to justify paying for a monthly pass, which sfmta's goes for between $68 and $80 a month.
lhorie 9y ago
Think about it this way: if you already own a car, why would you use ridesharing? Taking a uber instead of public transit because you're late, or because it's faster than taking 2 buses to some one-off destination, however, seems entirely reasonable.
- geezerjay 9y ago
  > Think about it this way: if you already own a car, why would you use ridesharing? To avoid traffic, to avoid parking problems, to avoid driving drunk, to avoid leaving your car unattended in a dubious neighborhood, to avoid parking costs, etc...

erik_seaberg 9y ago

BART never solved the last-mile problem before ridesharing. The nearest station is a 10-minute walk to a 20-minute bus ride after a 30-minute wait. And that's a pretty direct 4 mile trip, from most locations it'd be worse. Driving myself isn't even an option unless I get there before dawn because BART can't keep up with demand for parking.