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This exactly. I think eventually we could see a Kayak-like service that just compares rates for your trip against a set and books accordingly. Containing Uber
by lallysingh 8y ago
This exactly. I think eventually we could see a Kayak-like service that just compares rates for your trip against a set and books accordingly. Containing Uber/Lyft/local taxi service/etc. It's very easy to enter the market. You just need a map in a UI (mapbox) and a way to charge people (stripe/square). There's probably a decent market for transportation-service-as-a-service. $1000 gets you all setup with a custom app (configured instance of a general app).
Drivers could have something similar where they see all the opportunities and potential fares across platforms in one app. What do they need? A list box to select the fare, then a map with reasonable routing, and a pay processor.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- deminature 8y agoHave you considered you might be glossing over some of the complexity involved in running operations like these?
- Synthetase 8y agoI am private beta testing an app that does exactly what is described.
- deminature 8y agoIt seems like there might be a difference between an app that serves a few hundred people and an app that serves hundreds of millions of people.
- aaronharder 8y agoDon't know much about the ride share industry, but am interested and curious. Which parts of this type of app do you think would be particularly difficult to scale?
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- Synthetase 8y agoThe way its built requires no human operational cost.
- deminature 8y agoI'd be skeptical if ridesharing is possible without some human operational involvement. The most complex part is not the 99% of trips that go right, but the 1% that go wrong. The consequences of failure are more severe than say, a SaaS app not working correctly.
- lallysingh 8y agoIt's not like Uber does a good job here.
- lallysingh 8y agoSpatially-oriented, locally-scoped applications pretty naturally shard out by region.
- IshKebab 8y agoGoogle Maps already has this. Well it doesn't charge you in the map, but it shows you services and gives you a price estimate.
- ovi256 8y agoWish someone started a list of "Posts on HN underestimating X".
- jameslevy 8y agoThe only way Uber and Lyft will allow themselves to be relegated to a "dumb pipes" role is if they are forced to with regulation. Otherwise, zero chance of this happening.