4 ms·
Smartphones didn't reduce the cost of dispatch. Look what Uber spends on app development! The big costs in taxis are maintaining the fleet, a cost which Uber ex
by mimixco 7y ago
Smartphones didn't reduce the cost of dispatch. Look what Uber spends on app development! The big costs in taxis are maintaining the fleet, a cost which Uber externalizes to its drivers, some of whom now have to sleep in their cars.
- SilasX 7y agoThey most certainly did. As expensive as that software is, it’s very little when amortized over the rides. It eliminates the overhead of finding a location and transmitting the info, and delivers higher value in that it gives real time data about where the car is, and lets you pay more conveniently. Also: while the drivers have physically taken over maintenance, Uber can’t push the economic cost on to them, because they have to pay enough that drivers want to continue to work even given those costs. If anything, maintenance is cheaper when handled by a big org. To the extent they realize a savings, it’s because they’re using the spare hours of existing vehicles and don’t have to take on all the dead ours they’d have from owning the cars not because they’re getting maintenance free in any meaningful sense.