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To be clear, Uber and Lyft are in cash burn phase, still... Yes, this is essentially still a free market economy but the prices of rides are largely subsidise

To be clear, Uber and Lyft are in cash burn phase, still... Yes, this is essentially still a free market economy but the prices of rides are largely subsidised to bring them to a point where they compete with public transport. That said, public transport is often a last mile problem. How do you get to and from the node, with a baby, in bad weather etc. Public transport is far from ideal and TNCs fill the gap willingly. TNCs fill the gap so easily by piggybacking off the Auto Lobby. If we had more, denser public transport coupled with reliable safe bike lanes (heck sometimes the whole sidewalk is missing...) public would be much more attractive.

httpz 8y ago
I'm not sure how credible this is but someone who work at one of the ride sharing company told me most of the cash burn happens in new markets for rapid growth and established markets like SF are profitable.
- godzillabrennus 8y ago
  I’ve heard the same. Though reaching “profitability” is not really a focus for them until automated vehicles are ready to replace the humans on the road.
  - oblio 8y ago
    The question that nobody at these companies wants to answer publicly: what if fully automated vehicles are still decades away?
- grandmczeb 8y ago
  I’ve been told the same thing by friends who work at Uber.
treerock 8y ago
> prices of rides are largely subsidised to bring them to a point where they compete with public transport Is this location based? I'm in the UK and my recent trips with Uber have cost around the same as a standard taxi and nowhere near as cheap as a bus would have cost.
- superseeplus 8y ago
  I’m sure this is comparing Uber Pool or similar rather than riding the car all by yourself. Also, San Francisco has multiple transit agencies and transferring between them means paying another fare.
- spiralx 8y ago
  > I'm in the UK and my recent trips with Uber have cost around the same as a standard taxi ... My experience is that they're about 10-20% more expensive on short local trips, but about 20-30% cheaper on medium distance trips, where Uber drivers have the benefit of not having to return to the area where their company operates from.
Evidlo 8y ago
TNC - transportation network company

httpz 8y ago

I'm not sure how credible this is but someone who work at one of the ride sharing company told me most of the cash burn happens in new markets for rapid growth and established markets like SF are profitable.

godzillabrennus 8y ago
I’ve heard the same. Though reaching “profitability” is not really a focus for them until automated vehicles are ready to replace the humans on the road.
- oblio 8y ago
  The question that nobody at these companies wants to answer publicly: what if fully automated vehicles are still decades away?
grandmczeb 8y ago
I’ve been told the same thing by friends who work at Uber.

treerock 8y ago

> prices of rides are largely subsidised to bring them to a point where they compete with public transport Is this location based? I'm in the UK and my recent trips with Uber have cost around the same as a standard taxi and nowhere near as cheap as a bus would have cost.

superseeplus 8y ago
I’m sure this is comparing Uber Pool or similar rather than riding the car all by yourself. Also, San Francisco has multiple transit agencies and transferring between them means paying another fare.
spiralx 8y ago
> I'm in the UK and my recent trips with Uber have cost around the same as a standard taxi ... My experience is that they're about 10-20% more expensive on short local trips, but about 20-30% cheaper on medium distance trips, where Uber drivers have the benefit of not having to return to the area where their company operates from.

Evidlo 8y ago

TNC - transportation network company