8 ms·

Uber’s transit offering just went live in Denver

138 points by prostoalex 8y ago

zhoujianfu 8y ago
I assume they (and/or lyft and google maps) will eventually do what google maps should already have in my opinion, a final option next to car/walking/bike/transit/taxi: "multi-modal". A lot of times the fastest way to get somewhere in LA is actually: walk to a scooter, scoot to the train, train to the closest stop, then uber to your final destination. But that isn't shown automatically and it's a lot of work to calculate it yourself.
- kcorbitt 8y ago
  I use Citymapper for this; have for years (https://citymapper.com/ https://citymapper.com/). It does exactly what you're asking for. I too am surprised that Google hasn't eaten their lunch by baking this into Google Maps.
  - petra 8y ago
    I suspect that curating accurate transit data is a lot of boring, never ending work, and on the other hand, Google don't think they will have big enough money there(without building something like UBER, not their style), so they don't bother.
    - yen223 8y ago
      Google Maps already has realtime transit information for Sydney (and I suspect, any other transit system which offers Google Transit APIs). The cool thing is that for Sydney, the same APIs are available to the public: https://opendata.transport.nsw.gov.au/dataset/public-transport-timetables-realtime https://opendata.transport.nsw.gov.au/dataset/public-transpo...
      - petra 8y ago
        Sure. but compared to their competitors, they're really slow.
    - askvictor 8y ago
      Google built an API/data standard to standardise this type of data, exactly to solve this problem.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - zhoujianfu 8y ago
    Oh, I hadn’t seen that! But hmm, it doesn’t seem to have jump bikes/scooters, Lyft scooters, bird, or lime in the scooters section, and again there’s no multi-mode.. it just shows walking/biking/Uber/public transit but not a combination of them. It does have a jet pack option which is nice and forward thinking! :)
    - kcorbitt 8y ago
      I get multi-mode suggestions all the time, although the precise mix of options it suggests does depend on the points you're looking to travel between. Not sure about their scooter coverage though; I don't use it for that.
    - andreasklinger 8y ago
      citymapper has scooters/bikes and multi-mode actually it's famous for the second one
- BHSPitMonkey 8y ago
  Google Maps announced this back in October: > Drive , walk and ride : support for mixed-mode commutes > There’s a new feature for people whose commutes involve both driving and public transit. You can see helpful information about when to leave, and for each leg of your trip: you’ll know if there’s traffic on your drive, when the next train departs, and how long it’ll take to walk from the train station to the office. We do the work for you and automatically factor this into your ETA so you can anticipate exactly when you’ll get to work. https://www.blog.google/products/maps/take-control-your-commute-google-maps/ https://www.blog.google/products/maps/take-control-your-comm...
  - pofilat 8y ago
    Caveat: That feature only works if you pay with enhanced access to your (unrelated) data, by enabling Web and App Activity tracking/logging.
    - dannyw 8y ago
      This is completely absurd and should be grounds for a GDPR complaint for any EU friends. Wonder if that’s why this is US only.
    - bfred_it 8y ago
      I recently flushed years of Google history but I kept the tracking enabled. I’ll keep flushing it regularly and you could do the same. I don’t really care that they track me for a short time, it’s not like they don’t keep logs anyway.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
  - zhoujianfu 8y ago
    Hmm, I just tried this but it makes you choose your mode of transit. One option is “car and public transit” but then when I tried it it had me walking 17 minutes to a bus to a train station. For a total of 81 minutes right now (when just driving would be 30). Also they’re not taking scooters into account it seems, or the ability to take an Uber from a train station..
- stu_k 8y ago
  Citymapper[1] will do that to a certain extent and it’s pretty good, especially with docked bikes. I wish I could tell it I like walking more than catching a connecting bus, so I’m occasionally working on a side project to allow custom routes for common commutes. [1] https://citymapper.com https://citymapper.com
max76 8y ago
So, does this just tell you which public transit options you have available, with plans for ticket purchasing in the future? I don't see why any city would want to give uber a piece of their transit fare revenue. Google and Apple both provide great information about navigating public transit as a funnel for new users, and they do it as a free service.
mlthoughts2018 8y ago
Seems like a data play. You’ll likely enable location in the Uber app, so now they’ll get your location passively when you’re just searching public transit routes. Turn that around and resell the location data to other data aggregating businesses. Or use it in-house to augment forecasting or pricing models. Seems slimey to me. Public funds should be providing app access for this sort of thing, with audits to demonstrate personal data is not collected. Really wish it was more popular to lock down privacy options in phones to make it so this sort of thing is not profitable for companies like this.
- max76 8y ago
  The cities could actually charge for access to an api with this data. It would be a new revenue stream for transportation departments and allow for front end viewing to be open to the free market. I'd gladly pay for an app that consisted of OSM with a transit data layer and a strict privacy policy. I'd be okay requesting the entire map of a region from the front end service to cache and doing the computation with geolocation on my local device.
  - jlarocco 8y ago
    Denver RTD already does this: http://www.rtd-denver.com/Developer.shtml http://www.rtd-denver.com/Developer.shtml And they have an app for checking bus locations and buying tickets, and it's free. I think the API is great for enabling integrations, but I really hope they keep their existing apps. There's no reason end users shouldn't be able to get the data directly from RTD, and they definitely shouldn't be forced into using a sleazy company like Uber.
  - SahAssar 8y ago
    Charging anything for information about public services is ridiculous. If there is one thing public services should be able to do is to make it as easy as possible for all consumers to be as informed as possible.
- zhobbs 8y ago
  I look at it more in the sense of Uber's product not being a rideshare app, but being a "move you from point A to B in the best way possible app" (best = meets your cost/time/comfort needs). Here's a good writeup on the "jobs to be done": https://stratechery.com/2018/aggregators-and-jobs-to-be-done/ https://stratechery.com/2018/aggregators-and-jobs-to-be-done...
benatkin 8y ago
This means opening Google Maps less, and opening the Uber app more. The ability of Google Maps to show an estimated Uber price and provide a link to the Uber app is nice for Uber but it's better for Uber to have users opening their own app than to have a tiny feature in another company's app. They might be providing walking directions in the future, I think. And once it's a fully-fledged map app, having it track your location outside of the ride has the same justification as Google. Wow, I hadn't noticed but they got rid of that feature. Perhaps they'll reinstate it at some point. https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/29/16219542/uber-location-tracking-app-ios-android-privacy https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/29/16219542/uber-location-tr...
- gumby 8y ago
  You can still get Uber pricing directly from inside Apple Maps but Lyft abandoned this plug in. Funny, where I live Lyft was always more expensive, as was completely obvious when I used Apple Maps. Lyft is cheaper in some markets but I was so annoyed by their fear of comparison that I have stopped using them. And Uber aren't saints, so this is a missed opportunity for Lyft.
- petra 8y ago
  For UBER it's great - they get highly targeted access to large amount of people needing transportation - AND that are willing to sit next to other people to save money. So as a first step, they could offer those people to share their first/last mile with other passengers, in a 6-passenger minivan. The price will be cheap/cheapest, and the trip fast(the route will be optimized). That would be an easy sell. Probably viral. And it would increase transit ridership - and lead to other transportation authorities cooperating. And Google can't compete with that.
- bradleyjg 8y ago
  > This means opening Google Maps less, and opening the Uber app more. I have both installed on my phone. What possible reason could I have for picking the uber one to open up if I'm looking to take public transportation? Is it better in any way whatsoever?
  - 8y ago
drivers99 8y ago
/r/denver discussion: https://old.reddit.com/r/Denver/comments/alsm56/uber_transit_just_went_live_in_denver/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Denver/comments/alsm56/uber_transit... RTD already has their own app for buying tickets. Transit app (or google maps) work well for planning trips. You can’t even actually buy a ticket yet on the Uber app. > Uber is aiming to increase efficiency, enhance the experience and increase equity and accessibility What does that mean?
- foota 8y ago
  They're trying to integrate Uber with transit. Catch a ride to a bus stop and bus the rest of the way. Edit: It doesn't look like that's their offering now, but I think they'll move towards it.
  - max76 8y ago
    That's only one interpretation of what they said. Their statement was specifically vague to allow people to fill in the blanks themselves.
- filoleg 8y ago
  >What does that mean? It is so vague, it means absolutely anything you want to imagine, and nothing specific. I would be surprised if a variation of that specific line you quoted didn’t end up in the next season of HBO’s Silicon Valley
  - woolvalley 8y ago
    efficiency: Minimum time, distance & money enhance the experience: less stressful / research required / more convenient increase equity and accessibility: make it cheaper so more people can afford it
- kokokokoko 8y ago
  > equity and accessibility People with disabilities(especially electric wheelchairs). Uber currently has a service in some markets: https://www.uber.com/ride/uberwav/ https://www.uber.com/ride/uberwav/ Many people with disabilities depend on municipal "paratransit". For example this is for Denver http://www.rtd-denver.com/accessARide.shtml http://www.rtd-denver.com/accessARide.shtml If you visit the page you can see the experience is less than awesome. You typically need to book your trip a day or more in advance . Considering how expensive paratransit can be for a municipality, I imagine they could see using Uber, even if only for dispatch) as a potential big win in both overall user experience and cost savings. > increase efficiency Many muncipalities prefer to do as much in the private sector as possible. Handing ticketing and payment over to 3rd party providers has the potential for cost saving if Uber and other services can do it for less money. Edit: I should add that I'm not writing this as something I think will end up being true as much as I'm clarifying the corporate speak that Uber is sending out for other decision makers in other municipalities.
dlbucci 8y ago
I thought this would be useful for purchasing tickets, since I don't always have exact change when I don't have a pass, but that's not available yet...
andy_ppp 8y ago
I would love them to add proper hacker routes where you can get from A to B via the best route and include an Uber and traffic into the mix, optimising for the shortest journey and ordering Uber’s automatically as I leave public transport.
gumby 8y ago
If shorter rides are a better deal ($/km) for Uber and the drivers I can see a win in using uber to/from transit stations, especially as in the USA train stations and the like tend to be built away from where people actually want to be. And transit lines in the USA interconnect poorly (the Bay Area is an extreme example but not the only case). For example using Uber from my house to Caltrain and from the SF Caltrain to my friend's house would be a convenient single booking. OTOH I am not sure it's true that short trips are more profitable (for Uber or drivers) in which case this is presumably a PR effort.
chrischen 8y ago
How is this better than having something like a clipper card (nfc transit card)?
ape4 8y ago
Slightly off topic. I took a Uber ride recently that took the worse route. It went thru many small streets that were full of snow. Cars could not pass each other. They had to slow down for safely. Maybe its a good shortcut in the summer.
o10449366 8y ago
I would love to see this come to more cities. I live in a major north American city where public transportation is run by the local government. They have an official transportation app, but it's a buggy mess that's just a wrapper for the phone browser. It features "real time" (their words) route tracking, but as I quickly found out, the busses that move along the map aren't actually representative of the real busses and their locations (e.g. GPS tracking). Instead, their location and arrival estimates are based entirely on where they should be at that time under ideal conditions, making them entirely useless at rush hour and in inclimate weather conditions (which is precisely when people rely on them the most). As a result, catching the bus is a complete guessing game every day. There are three possible outcomes: 1) The bus arrives 5-10 minutes early and doesn't wait around, so you have to get to your stop at least 15 minutes early. 2) The bus is late (the typical scenario), so you spend 15-60+ minutes convincing yourself you aren't crazy and the bus didn't pass before your eyes while wondering how long you can continue standing outside before getting frostbite. 3) You spend 15-30 minutes standing around in scenario (2) above before getting an "alert" from the app that your route has been cancelled. These late alerts ensure that even if you manage to find a different route to take you to your destination, you'll have to repeat the guessing game above and you'll definitely be late. Uber and Lyft have numerous problems still, but as far as I'm concerned their disruption of the transportation industry has been long overdue. My local government refuses to expose the transportation API, so even if there was a motivated individual who wanted to make a better app they wouldn't have access to the information they needed. I can't wait for more competition in this space.
- Traster 8y ago
  I don't know why, but this bad practice seems to be in place in so many places. Live tracking seems to be almost uniformly code for Timetable tracking in public transit. In the UK I can stand and watch the live information for the train departing from Waterloo - it'll say the train is on-time for leaving at 5:30. I can go into their own app, identify the physical train that is going to terminate at waterloo and become my train and find out that it left the last station 20 minutes late. Clearly the system is driven by timetables which are then modified by manual entries rather than some actual underlying representation of the trains (which clearly must exist for them to be able to manage their fleet of trains).
simplecomplex 8y ago
Getting into the Municipal ticketing racket won't dig Uber out of their massive money pit.
- googlemike 8y ago
  What do you mean "Municipal ticketing racket"? Did you read the article?
  - simplecomplex 8y ago
    Yeah. You don't think that's a goal? Uber desperately needs to show additional revenue streams as the (un)reality of self-driving cars and food delivery sets in. Muni tickets is big business. Look at Cubic Transportation Systems. > Initially, the ability to purchase tickets via the Uber app won’t be available, but it’s on the horizon. The in-app ticketing portion, in partnership with Masabi, will be available in the coming weeks, Reich said.
    - googlemike 8y ago
      This seems far less like a revenue stream and far more of a way to get people to use Google Maps less. I am sure they have data showing that very many Uber trips in most major American cities starts with a comparison against local public transit.
lawrenceyan 8y ago
It's like Google Maps but perhaps slightly inferior in quality. Smart, I like the way Uber thinks. They should add Apple Maps integration next in order to improve their overall map fidelity.
foobandit 8y ago
This would be very useful if they could automatically solve the "last mile" problem for transit. For example, if I can make a single order from home to work, involving both Uber for the short distance from home to the train, and then a train ticket to work, then this could add some value.
fzn 8y ago
This website has lately been totally unusable, due to the dark-ux workflow at "https://guce.oath.com/collectConsent/partners/vendors".. https://guce.oath.com/collectConsent/partners/vendors"... I hope they're conscious of the traffic they lose. There's no obvious way to dismiss/slip through and be sure that consent has not been given to third-party data collection. Just saying, not the first time I stumble on that f*ckery. Schade!
nihonde 8y ago
I know it’s tiresome to talk about how Japan lives in the future, but this kind of thing (and more) has been available in Japan in apps like Yahoo! Transit for years: https://transit.yahoo.co.jp https://transit.yahoo.co.jp
oskkejdjdkjd 8y ago
Sort of unrelated but god do I hate the fashion of SV. The guy pictured at the top of the article looks like some kind of hyper-hipster. Everything about his clothes screams “down to earth,” “humble,” “stoic,” “thoughtful,” etc. it drives me insane because this guy is the exact opposite of that. He’s a cut-throat business person. It’s part of a broader trend in SV where people put on the appearance of wanting to improve the world, caring about social justice and all the other tired out virtue tropes. But in reality these businesses are no different than those that came before them. The dishonesty is astounding to me.
- Kinnard 8y ago
  Do you self-identify as a cynic?
  - oskkejdjdkjd 8y ago
    Who cares? Does this have something to do with my comment?
- op00to 8y ago
  Maybe the dude knows he can get away with a pretty comfy sweater t-shirt jeans combo, so he does.
- staz 8y ago
  > Everything about his clothes screams “down to earth,” “humble,” “stoic,” “thoughtful,” etc. It's a jean and a hoodie. I think you are reading bit much into it
- iwritecode 8y ago
  What would the appropriate attire be?
- oskkejdjdkjd 8y ago
  Reading too much into it: public figures have rationalization for what they wear, and a lot more insignificant things. But yes, I’m not saying this guy in particular. I’m not reading into him. It’s about the wide-spread trend. He’s just following the trend. He’s just being comfortable: a $4000 bespoke silk suit is a lot more comfortable. And trust me this guy probably owns a few garments in that category. What should he wear: I’m not saying this guy is horrible for choosing to wear this exact garment. He’s following a negative trend, and my comment is about the trend. “God do I hate the fashion of SV,” please read stuff before replying.
uhrlocher 8y ago
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/04/why-is-silicon-valley-so-awful-to-women/517788/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/04/why-is-... https://www.newsweek.com/2016/06/17/silicon-valley-takeover-468182.html https://www.newsweek.com/2016/06/17/silicon-valley-takeover-... https://medium.com/@preethikasireddy/why-im-leaving-silicon-valley-72919edb3297 https://medium.com/@preethikasireddy/why-im-leaving-silicon-... https://getlighthouse.com/blog/silicon-valley-bad-managers/ https://getlighthouse.com/blog/silicon-valley-bad-managers/ https://www.philanthropy.com/article/A-Star-Performer-Created-a/243159 https://www.philanthropy.com/article/A-Star-Performer-Create... https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/a-valley-too-far-is-the-toxic-culture-of-the-tech-world-beyond-repair/article35610645/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/internati... https://www.geekwire.com/2018/emily-chang-brotopia-silicon-valley-companies-can-tackle-toxic-culture/ https://www.geekwire.com/2018/emily-chang-brotopia-silicon-v... https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/297481 https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/297481 https://thenextweb.com/insider/2017/03/11/bro-culture-poisoning-silicon-valley/ https://thenextweb.com/insider/2017/03/11/bro-culture-poison... https://www.quora.com/Is-the-culture-in-the-Silicon-Valley-becoming-increasingly-toxic?share=1 https://www.quora.com/Is-the-culture-in-the-Silicon-Valley-b... https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/06/ellen-pao-memoir-silicon-valley-toxic-culture https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/06/ellen-pao-memoir-sil... https://www.recode.net/2018/2/5/16972096/emily-chang-brotopia-book-bloomberg-technology-culture-silicon-valley-kara-swisher-decode-podcast https://www.recode.net/2018/2/5/16972096/emily-chang-brotopi... https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Silicon-Valley-Community-Foundation-Reviews-E331546.htm https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Silicon-Valley-Community-F... https://www.wired.com/story/everyone-hates-silicon-valley-except-its-imitators/ https://www.wired.com/story/everyone-hates-silicon-valley-ex... https://www.intelligencesquaredus.org/debates/silicon-valley-has-lost-its-soul https://www.intelligencesquaredus.org/debates/silicon-valley... https://yourstory.com/2017/07/silicon-valley-bro-culture/ https://yourstory.com/2017/07/silicon-valley-bro-culture/ https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-quiet-efforts-to-battle-silicon-valleys-bro-culture-1541943938 https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-quiet-efforts-to-battle-sil... https://thebolditalic.com/a-source-of-sorrow-in-silicon-valley-1a81ccd80ac2?gi=bc741a45779e https://thebolditalic.com/a-source-of-sorrow-in-silicon-vall... https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2019/01/25/is-silicon-valley-the-real-villain-in-the-theranos.html https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2019/01/25/is-... https://www.rawstory.com/2018/07/silicon-valley-become-next-detroit-struggles-survive-toxic-mess-created/ https://www.rawstory.com/2018/07/silicon-valley-become-next-... https://builttoadapt.io/so-you-want-to-build-a-silicon-valley-like-software-developer-culture-focus-on-the-people-809ddf4c426a?gi=af0b0c66fd4f https://builttoadapt.io/so-you-want-to-build-a-silicon-valle... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3-bMDaMhLg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3-bMDaMhLg https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/01/silicon-valley-sexual-harassment-startups https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/01/silicon-valley... https://www.indiewire.com/2018/07/silicon-valley-actress-alice-wetterlund-t-j-miller-co-stars-enabled-bullying-1201985168/# https://www.indiewire.com/2018/07/silicon-valley-actress-ali...! https://www.theneweconomy.com/technology/silicons-sexist-brogrammer-culture-is-locking-women-out-of-tech https://www.theneweconomy.com/technology/silicons-sexist-bro... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17051800 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17051800 https://www.losaltosonline.com/news/sections/schools/210-school-features/55819- https://www.losaltosonline.com/news/sections/schools/210-sch...
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duxup 8y ago
I'm worried about tying public transpiration to companies that aren't / don't know if they're at all profitable.
- shereadsthenews 8y ago
  You should be much more concerned about tying transportation to a company that _is_ profitable. The point of public transportation is to provide an external benefit. Uber will just interpose itself and extract rents.
  - duxup 8y ago
    I'm not sure I understand what you're saying / the benefit of using a company that is not profitable...
    - albedoa 8y ago
      There is no mention of such a benefit in the comment you are replying to. The point is that the qualifiers you applied in your original comment should be less worrisome than their opposites, which is not to say that they shouldn't be worrisome.
      - duxup 8y ago
        Why would they be less worrisome?
        albedoa 8y ago
        Because those companies would be in less of a position to have the effects described in the original reply. I would like to help you more, but I don’t know what is confusing.
  - qudat 8y ago
    What about the extraction of taxes? The government has already imposed itself and setup a coercive monopoly for transportation. They are the ultimate in extracting rents.
mattsfrey 8y ago
Uber has a very large investment in mapping technology and would surely like to expand its applicability, this could very well be the first push to start competing with google maps.
Proven 8y ago
It's incredible how much of essential services are crap and destroy the well-being of the people thanks to government management." When I see this I want unregulated telcos, transportation, banking, and more.
deanCommie 8y ago
When I heard Uber was getting into Transit I imagined something more disruptive than just aggregation of different transportation types. Consider: Public bus systems are constrained to fixed schedules and stops for obvious reasons. Neither apply in a Mobile App. Uber could sign up drivers who own mini-vans or large buses, and dynamically generate "bus routes" using on key waypoints, and both ongoing and forecasted demand (based on historical data). As a consumer, the experience is still 1) Pick a destination 2) Go to the spot where Uber asks you to go (Which already happens in places like Airports, or if you use Uber Pool which asks you to move a little closer to the route to decrease driving time 3) Get in the uber 4) Get off at a spot when the app/driver tells you which isn't exactly at your destination but close All for a much much lower price Meanwhile, as a driver, the experience is: 1) Follow the Uber app's navigation that tells you where your next 'Stop' is. 2) Drive around in a circle that changes throughout the day. It's a hard problem to solve and get perfect but it would actually justify improving an existing public service.
- masonic 8y ago
  This sounds a lot like the Dial-A-Ride concept that Santa Clara county Transit tried in the 1970s.
- uber-employee 8y ago
  Uber is already doing buses in LatAm and MENA. Most North American cities (except NYC really) just don’t have the density to make the unit economics work for a marketplace with buses. Also, Express POOL (shared ride with walking in order to make the trip more efficient) is already dirt cheap.
Angostura 8y ago
I think I’ll continue to use the excellent Citymapper
baby 8y ago
Oh my, this is would be a game changer for the US!
lazybreather 8y ago
Out of context. Why can't I read techcrunch articles on HN app? They load for the first few seconds and disappear. My Firefox app has ublock origin. Does that effect viewing on HN app as well?
yaqubms 8y ago
its have been not good for uber recent year as strike golbally. https://ridesharefeed.com/lyft-promo-code-free-first-ride-guide/ https://ridesharefeed.com/lyft-promo-code-free-first-ride-gu...

138 points by prostoalex 8y ago

I assume they (and/or lyft and google maps) will eventually do what google maps should already have in my opinion, a final option next to car/walking/bike/transit/taxi: "multi-modal". A lot of times the fastest way to get somewhere in LA is actually: walk to a scooter, scoot to the train, train to the closest stop, then uber to your final destination. But that isn't shown automatically and it's a lot of work to calculate it yourself.

kcorbitt 8y ago
I use Citymapper for this; have for years (https://citymapper.com/ https://citymapper.com/). It does exactly what you're asking for. I too am surprised that Google hasn't eaten their lunch by baking this into Google Maps.
- petra 8y ago
  I suspect that curating accurate transit data is a lot of boring, never ending work, and on the other hand, Google don't think they will have big enough money there(without building something like UBER, not their style), so they don't bother.
  - yen223 8y ago
    Google Maps already has realtime transit information for Sydney (and I suspect, any other transit system which offers Google Transit APIs). The cool thing is that for Sydney, the same APIs are available to the public: https://opendata.transport.nsw.gov.au/dataset/public-transport-timetables-realtime https://opendata.transport.nsw.gov.au/dataset/public-transpo...
    - petra 8y ago
      Sure. but compared to their competitors, they're really slow.
  - askvictor 8y ago
    Google built an API/data standard to standardise this type of data, exactly to solve this problem.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- zhoujianfu 8y ago
  Oh, I hadn’t seen that! But hmm, it doesn’t seem to have jump bikes/scooters, Lyft scooters, bird, or lime in the scooters section, and again there’s no multi-mode.. it just shows walking/biking/Uber/public transit but not a combination of them. It does have a jet pack option which is nice and forward thinking! :)
  - kcorbitt 8y ago
    I get multi-mode suggestions all the time, although the precise mix of options it suggests does depend on the points you're looking to travel between. Not sure about their scooter coverage though; I don't use it for that.
  - andreasklinger 8y ago
    citymapper has scooters/bikes and multi-mode actually it's famous for the second one
BHSPitMonkey 8y ago
Google Maps announced this back in October: > Drive , walk and ride : support for mixed-mode commutes > There’s a new feature for people whose commutes involve both driving and public transit. You can see helpful information about when to leave, and for each leg of your trip: you’ll know if there’s traffic on your drive, when the next train departs, and how long it’ll take to walk from the train station to the office. We do the work for you and automatically factor this into your ETA so you can anticipate exactly when you’ll get to work. https://www.blog.google/products/maps/take-control-your-commute-google-maps/ https://www.blog.google/products/maps/take-control-your-comm...
- pofilat 8y ago
  Caveat: That feature only works if you pay with enhanced access to your (unrelated) data, by enabling Web and App Activity tracking/logging.
  - dannyw 8y ago
    This is completely absurd and should be grounds for a GDPR complaint for any EU friends. Wonder if that’s why this is US only.
  - bfred_it 8y ago
    I recently flushed years of Google history but I kept the tracking enabled. I’ll keep flushing it regularly and you could do the same. I don’t really care that they track me for a short time, it’s not like they don’t keep logs anyway.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- zhoujianfu 8y ago
  Hmm, I just tried this but it makes you choose your mode of transit. One option is “car and public transit” but then when I tried it it had me walking 17 minutes to a bus to a train station. For a total of 81 minutes right now (when just driving would be 30). Also they’re not taking scooters into account it seems, or the ability to take an Uber from a train station..
stu_k 8y ago
Citymapper[1] will do that to a certain extent and it’s pretty good, especially with docked bikes. I wish I could tell it I like walking more than catching a connecting bus, so I’m occasionally working on a side project to allow custom routes for common commutes. [1] https://citymapper.com https://citymapper.com

max76 8y ago

So, does this just tell you which public transit options you have available, with plans for ticket purchasing in the future? I don't see why any city would want to give uber a piece of their transit fare revenue. Google and Apple both provide great information about navigating public transit as a funnel for new users, and they do it as a free service.

mlthoughts2018 8y ago

Seems like a data play. You’ll likely enable location in the Uber app, so now they’ll get your location passively when you’re just searching public transit routes. Turn that around and resell the location data to other data aggregating businesses. Or use it in-house to augment forecasting or pricing models. Seems slimey to me. Public funds should be providing app access for this sort of thing, with audits to demonstrate personal data is not collected. Really wish it was more popular to lock down privacy options in phones to make it so this sort of thing is not profitable for companies like this.

max76 8y ago
The cities could actually charge for access to an api with this data. It would be a new revenue stream for transportation departments and allow for front end viewing to be open to the free market. I'd gladly pay for an app that consisted of OSM with a transit data layer and a strict privacy policy. I'd be okay requesting the entire map of a region from the front end service to cache and doing the computation with geolocation on my local device.
- jlarocco 8y ago
  Denver RTD already does this: http://www.rtd-denver.com/Developer.shtml http://www.rtd-denver.com/Developer.shtml And they have an app for checking bus locations and buying tickets, and it's free. I think the API is great for enabling integrations, but I really hope they keep their existing apps. There's no reason end users shouldn't be able to get the data directly from RTD, and they definitely shouldn't be forced into using a sleazy company like Uber.
- SahAssar 8y ago
  Charging anything for information about public services is ridiculous. If there is one thing public services should be able to do is to make it as easy as possible for all consumers to be as informed as possible.
zhobbs 8y ago
I look at it more in the sense of Uber's product not being a rideshare app, but being a "move you from point A to B in the best way possible app" (best = meets your cost/time/comfort needs). Here's a good writeup on the "jobs to be done": https://stratechery.com/2018/aggregators-and-jobs-to-be-done/ https://stratechery.com/2018/aggregators-and-jobs-to-be-done...

benatkin 8y ago

This means opening Google Maps less, and opening the Uber app more. The ability of Google Maps to show an estimated Uber price and provide a link to the Uber app is nice for Uber but it's better for Uber to have users opening their own app than to have a tiny feature in another company's app. They might be providing walking directions in the future, I think. And once it's a fully-fledged map app, having it track your location outside of the ride has the same justification as Google. Wow, I hadn't noticed but they got rid of that feature. Perhaps they'll reinstate it at some point. https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/29/16219542/uber-location-tracking-app-ios-android-privacy https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/29/16219542/uber-location-tr...

gumby 8y ago
You can still get Uber pricing directly from inside Apple Maps but Lyft abandoned this plug in. Funny, where I live Lyft was always more expensive, as was completely obvious when I used Apple Maps. Lyft is cheaper in some markets but I was so annoyed by their fear of comparison that I have stopped using them. And Uber aren't saints, so this is a missed opportunity for Lyft.
petra 8y ago
For UBER it's great - they get highly targeted access to large amount of people needing transportation - AND that are willing to sit next to other people to save money. So as a first step, they could offer those people to share their first/last mile with other passengers, in a 6-passenger minivan. The price will be cheap/cheapest, and the trip fast(the route will be optimized). That would be an easy sell. Probably viral. And it would increase transit ridership - and lead to other transportation authorities cooperating. And Google can't compete with that.
bradleyjg 8y ago
> This means opening Google Maps less, and opening the Uber app more. I have both installed on my phone. What possible reason could I have for picking the uber one to open up if I'm looking to take public transportation? Is it better in any way whatsoever?
- 8y ago

drivers99 8y ago

/r/denver discussion: https://old.reddit.com/r/Denver/comments/alsm56/uber_transit_just_went_live_in_denver/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Denver/comments/alsm56/uber_transit... RTD already has their own app for buying tickets. Transit app (or google maps) work well for planning trips. You can’t even actually buy a ticket yet on the Uber app. > Uber is aiming to increase efficiency, enhance the experience and increase equity and accessibility What does that mean?

foota 8y ago
They're trying to integrate Uber with transit. Catch a ride to a bus stop and bus the rest of the way. Edit: It doesn't look like that's their offering now, but I think they'll move towards it.
- max76 8y ago
  That's only one interpretation of what they said. Their statement was specifically vague to allow people to fill in the blanks themselves.
filoleg 8y ago
>What does that mean? It is so vague, it means absolutely anything you want to imagine, and nothing specific. I would be surprised if a variation of that specific line you quoted didn’t end up in the next season of HBO’s Silicon Valley
- woolvalley 8y ago
  efficiency: Minimum time, distance & money enhance the experience: less stressful / research required / more convenient increase equity and accessibility: make it cheaper so more people can afford it
kokokokoko 8y ago
> equity and accessibility People with disabilities(especially electric wheelchairs). Uber currently has a service in some markets: https://www.uber.com/ride/uberwav/ https://www.uber.com/ride/uberwav/ Many people with disabilities depend on municipal "paratransit". For example this is for Denver http://www.rtd-denver.com/accessARide.shtml http://www.rtd-denver.com/accessARide.shtml If you visit the page you can see the experience is less than awesome. You typically need to book your trip a day or more in advance . Considering how expensive paratransit can be for a municipality, I imagine they could see using Uber, even if only for dispatch) as a potential big win in both overall user experience and cost savings. > increase efficiency Many muncipalities prefer to do as much in the private sector as possible. Handing ticketing and payment over to 3rd party providers has the potential for cost saving if Uber and other services can do it for less money. Edit: I should add that I'm not writing this as something I think will end up being true as much as I'm clarifying the corporate speak that Uber is sending out for other decision makers in other municipalities.

dlbucci 8y ago

I thought this would be useful for purchasing tickets, since I don't always have exact change when I don't have a pass, but that's not available yet...

andy_ppp 8y ago

I would love them to add proper hacker routes where you can get from A to B via the best route and include an Uber and traffic into the mix, optimising for the shortest journey and ordering Uber’s automatically as I leave public transport.

gumby 8y ago

If shorter rides are a better deal ($/km) for Uber and the drivers I can see a win in using uber to/from transit stations, especially as in the USA train stations and the like tend to be built away from where people actually want to be. And transit lines in the USA interconnect poorly (the Bay Area is an extreme example but not the only case). For example using Uber from my house to Caltrain and from the SF Caltrain to my friend's house would be a convenient single booking. OTOH I am not sure it's true that short trips are more profitable (for Uber or drivers) in which case this is presumably a PR effort.

chrischen 8y ago

How is this better than having something like a clipper card (nfc transit card)?

ape4 8y ago

Slightly off topic. I took a Uber ride recently that took the worse route. It went thru many small streets that were full of snow. Cars could not pass each other. They had to slow down for safely. Maybe its a good shortcut in the summer.

o10449366 8y ago

I would love to see this come to more cities. I live in a major north American city where public transportation is run by the local government. They have an official transportation app, but it's a buggy mess that's just a wrapper for the phone browser. It features "real time" (their words) route tracking, but as I quickly found out, the busses that move along the map aren't actually representative of the real busses and their locations (e.g. GPS tracking). Instead, their location and arrival estimates are based entirely on where they should be at that time under ideal conditions, making them entirely useless at rush hour and in inclimate weather conditions (which is precisely when people rely on them the most). As a result, catching the bus is a complete guessing game every day. There are three possible outcomes: 1) The bus arrives 5-10 minutes early and doesn't wait around, so you have to get to your stop at least 15 minutes early. 2) The bus is late (the typical scenario), so you spend 15-60+ minutes convincing yourself you aren't crazy and the bus didn't pass before your eyes while wondering how long you can continue standing outside before getting frostbite. 3) You spend 15-30 minutes standing around in scenario (2) above before getting an "alert" from the app that your route has been cancelled. These late alerts ensure that even if you manage to find a different route to take you to your destination, you'll have to repeat the guessing game above and you'll definitely be late. Uber and Lyft have numerous problems still, but as far as I'm concerned their disruption of the transportation industry has been long overdue. My local government refuses to expose the transportation API, so even if there was a motivated individual who wanted to make a better app they wouldn't have access to the information they needed. I can't wait for more competition in this space.

Traster 8y ago
I don't know why, but this bad practice seems to be in place in so many places. Live tracking seems to be almost uniformly code for Timetable tracking in public transit. In the UK I can stand and watch the live information for the train departing from Waterloo - it'll say the train is on-time for leaving at 5:30. I can go into their own app, identify the physical train that is going to terminate at waterloo and become my train and find out that it left the last station 20 minutes late. Clearly the system is driven by timetables which are then modified by manual entries rather than some actual underlying representation of the trains (which clearly must exist for them to be able to manage their fleet of trains).

simplecomplex 8y ago

Getting into the Municipal ticketing racket won't dig Uber out of their massive money pit.

googlemike 8y ago
What do you mean "Municipal ticketing racket"? Did you read the article?
- simplecomplex 8y ago
  Yeah. You don't think that's a goal? Uber desperately needs to show additional revenue streams as the (un)reality of self-driving cars and food delivery sets in. Muni tickets is big business. Look at Cubic Transportation Systems. > Initially, the ability to purchase tickets via the Uber app won’t be available, but it’s on the horizon. The in-app ticketing portion, in partnership with Masabi, will be available in the coming weeks, Reich said.
  - googlemike 8y ago
    This seems far less like a revenue stream and far more of a way to get people to use Google Maps less. I am sure they have data showing that very many Uber trips in most major American cities starts with a comparison against local public transit.

lawrenceyan 8y ago

It's like Google Maps but perhaps slightly inferior in quality. Smart, I like the way Uber thinks. They should add Apple Maps integration next in order to improve their overall map fidelity.

foobandit 8y ago

This would be very useful if they could automatically solve the "last mile" problem for transit. For example, if I can make a single order from home to work, involving both Uber for the short distance from home to the train, and then a train ticket to work, then this could add some value.

fzn 8y ago

This website has lately been totally unusable, due to the dark-ux workflow at "https://guce.oath.com/collectConsent/partners/vendors".. https://guce.oath.com/collectConsent/partners/vendors"... I hope they're conscious of the traffic they lose. There's no obvious way to dismiss/slip through and be sure that consent has not been given to third-party data collection. Just saying, not the first time I stumble on that f*ckery. Schade!

nihonde 8y ago

I know it’s tiresome to talk about how Japan lives in the future, but this kind of thing (and more) has been available in Japan in apps like Yahoo! Transit for years: https://transit.yahoo.co.jp https://transit.yahoo.co.jp

oskkejdjdkjd 8y ago

Sort of unrelated but god do I hate the fashion of SV. The guy pictured at the top of the article looks like some kind of hyper-hipster. Everything about his clothes screams “down to earth,” “humble,” “stoic,” “thoughtful,” etc. it drives me insane because this guy is the exact opposite of that. He’s a cut-throat business person. It’s part of a broader trend in SV where people put on the appearance of wanting to improve the world, caring about social justice and all the other tired out virtue tropes. But in reality these businesses are no different than those that came before them. The dishonesty is astounding to me.

Kinnard 8y ago
Do you self-identify as a cynic?
- oskkejdjdkjd 8y ago
  Who cares? Does this have something to do with my comment?
op00to 8y ago
Maybe the dude knows he can get away with a pretty comfy sweater t-shirt jeans combo, so he does.
staz 8y ago
> Everything about his clothes screams “down to earth,” “humble,” “stoic,” “thoughtful,” etc. It's a jean and a hoodie. I think you are reading bit much into it
iwritecode 8y ago
What would the appropriate attire be?
oskkejdjdkjd 8y ago
Reading too much into it: public figures have rationalization for what they wear, and a lot more insignificant things. But yes, I’m not saying this guy in particular. I’m not reading into him. It’s about the wide-spread trend. He’s just following the trend. He’s just being comfortable: a $4000 bespoke silk suit is a lot more comfortable. And trust me this guy probably owns a few garments in that category. What should he wear: I’m not saying this guy is horrible for choosing to wear this exact garment. He’s following a negative trend, and my comment is about the trend. “God do I hate the fashion of SV,” please read stuff before replying.

uhrlocher 8y ago

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/04/why-is-silicon-valley-so-awful-to-women/517788/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/04/why-is-... https://www.newsweek.com/2016/06/17/silicon-valley-takeover-468182.html https://www.newsweek.com/2016/06/17/silicon-valley-takeover-... https://medium.com/@preethikasireddy/why-im-leaving-silicon-valley-72919edb3297 https://medium.com/@preethikasireddy/why-im-leaving-silicon-... https://getlighthouse.com/blog/silicon-valley-bad-managers/ https://getlighthouse.com/blog/silicon-valley-bad-managers/ https://www.philanthropy.com/article/A-Star-Performer-Created-a/243159 https://www.philanthropy.com/article/A-Star-Performer-Create... https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/a-valley-too-far-is-the-toxic-culture-of-the-tech-world-beyond-repair/article35610645/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/internati... https://www.geekwire.com/2018/emily-chang-brotopia-silicon-valley-companies-can-tackle-toxic-culture/ https://www.geekwire.com/2018/emily-chang-brotopia-silicon-v... https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/297481 https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/297481 https://thenextweb.com/insider/2017/03/11/bro-culture-poisoning-silicon-valley/ https://thenextweb.com/insider/2017/03/11/bro-culture-poison... https://www.quora.com/Is-the-culture-in-the-Silicon-Valley-becoming-increasingly-toxic?share=1 https://www.quora.com/Is-the-culture-in-the-Silicon-Valley-b... https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/06/ellen-pao-memoir-silicon-valley-toxic-culture https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/06/ellen-pao-memoir-sil... https://www.recode.net/2018/2/5/16972096/emily-chang-brotopia-book-bloomberg-technology-culture-silicon-valley-kara-swisher-decode-podcast https://www.recode.net/2018/2/5/16972096/emily-chang-brotopi... https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Silicon-Valley-Community-Foundation-Reviews-E331546.htm https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Silicon-Valley-Community-F... https://www.wired.com/story/everyone-hates-silicon-valley-except-its-imitators/ https://www.wired.com/story/everyone-hates-silicon-valley-ex... https://www.intelligencesquaredus.org/debates/silicon-valley-has-lost-its-soul https://www.intelligencesquaredus.org/debates/silicon-valley... https://yourstory.com/2017/07/silicon-valley-bro-culture/ https://yourstory.com/2017/07/silicon-valley-bro-culture/ https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-quiet-efforts-to-battle-silicon-valleys-bro-culture-1541943938 https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-quiet-efforts-to-battle-sil... https://thebolditalic.com/a-source-of-sorrow-in-silicon-valley-1a81ccd80ac2?gi=bc741a45779e https://thebolditalic.com/a-source-of-sorrow-in-silicon-vall... https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2019/01/25/is-silicon-valley-the-real-villain-in-the-theranos.html https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2019/01/25/is-... https://www.rawstory.com/2018/07/silicon-valley-become-next-detroit-struggles-survive-toxic-mess-created/ https://www.rawstory.com/2018/07/silicon-valley-become-next-... https://builttoadapt.io/so-you-want-to-build-a-silicon-valley-like-software-developer-culture-focus-on-the-people-809ddf4c426a?gi=af0b0c66fd4f https://builttoadapt.io/so-you-want-to-build-a-silicon-valle... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3-bMDaMhLg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3-bMDaMhLg https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/01/silicon-valley-sexual-harassment-startups https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/01/silicon-valley... https://www.indiewire.com/2018/07/silicon-valley-actress-alice-wetterlund-t-j-miller-co-stars-enabled-bullying-1201985168/# https://www.indiewire.com/2018/07/silicon-valley-actress-ali...! https://www.theneweconomy.com/technology/silicons-sexist-brogrammer-culture-is-locking-women-out-of-tech https://www.theneweconomy.com/technology/silicons-sexist-bro... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17051800 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17051800 https://www.losaltosonline.com/news/sections/schools/210-school-features/55819- https://www.losaltosonline.com/news/sections/schools/210-sch...

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

duxup 8y ago

I'm worried about tying public transpiration to companies that aren't / don't know if they're at all profitable.

shereadsthenews 8y ago
You should be much more concerned about tying transportation to a company that _is_ profitable. The point of public transportation is to provide an external benefit. Uber will just interpose itself and extract rents.
- duxup 8y ago
  I'm not sure I understand what you're saying / the benefit of using a company that is not profitable...
  - albedoa 8y ago
    There is no mention of such a benefit in the comment you are replying to. The point is that the qualifiers you applied in your original comment should be less worrisome than their opposites, which is not to say that they shouldn't be worrisome.
    - duxup 8y ago
      Why would they be less worrisome?
      - albedoa 8y ago
        Because those companies would be in less of a position to have the effects described in the original reply. I would like to help you more, but I don’t know what is confusing.
- qudat 8y ago
  What about the extraction of taxes? The government has already imposed itself and setup a coercive monopoly for transportation. They are the ultimate in extracting rents.

mattsfrey 8y ago

Uber has a very large investment in mapping technology and would surely like to expand its applicability, this could very well be the first push to start competing with google maps.

Proven 8y ago

It's incredible how much of essential services are crap and destroy the well-being of the people thanks to government management." When I see this I want unregulated telcos, transportation, banking, and more.

deanCommie 8y ago

When I heard Uber was getting into Transit I imagined something more disruptive than just aggregation of different transportation types. Consider: Public bus systems are constrained to fixed schedules and stops for obvious reasons. Neither apply in a Mobile App. Uber could sign up drivers who own mini-vans or large buses, and dynamically generate "bus routes" using on key waypoints, and both ongoing and forecasted demand (based on historical data). As a consumer, the experience is still 1) Pick a destination 2) Go to the spot where Uber asks you to go (Which already happens in places like Airports, or if you use Uber Pool which asks you to move a little closer to the route to decrease driving time 3) Get in the uber 4) Get off at a spot when the app/driver tells you which isn't exactly at your destination but close All for a much much lower price Meanwhile, as a driver, the experience is: 1) Follow the Uber app's navigation that tells you where your next 'Stop' is. 2) Drive around in a circle that changes throughout the day. It's a hard problem to solve and get perfect but it would actually justify improving an existing public service.

masonic 8y ago
This sounds a lot like the Dial-A-Ride concept that Santa Clara county Transit tried in the 1970s.
uber-employee 8y ago
Uber is already doing buses in LatAm and MENA. Most North American cities (except NYC really) just don’t have the density to make the unit economics work for a marketplace with buses. Also, Express POOL (shared ride with walking in order to make the trip more efficient) is already dirt cheap.

Angostura 8y ago

I think I’ll continue to use the excellent Citymapper

baby 8y ago

Oh my, this is would be a game changer for the US!

lazybreather 8y ago

Out of context. Why can't I read techcrunch articles on HN app? They load for the first few seconds and disappear. My Firefox app has ublock origin. Does that effect viewing on HN app as well?

yaqubms 8y ago

its have been not good for uber recent year as strike golbally. https://ridesharefeed.com/lyft-promo-code-free-first-ride-guide/ https://ridesharefeed.com/lyft-promo-code-free-first-ride-gu...