4 ms·

This is pretty much delusional. Most people are dependent on ride sharing in SF for even menial tasks.

sytelus 7y ago
Exactly. People saying this are unable to separate growth investment from core profitability. Uber or Lyft can pull out of money losing long tail markets, cut down staff to may be just 500 and would run just fine but would immediately become immensely profitable. However price to pay would be growth stagnation and robustness against future unknowns. For now they are doing the right thing to lose money to win the market share and diversity into other logistic businesses as well as prepare for future where autonomous vehicles would be the norm.
- LunaSea 7y ago
  You are generalising the case of San Francisco as if the rest of the world was payed $150K a year and was able to throw wads of cash to buy groceries in Uber cars.
  - ghaff 7y ago
    The bubble is quite amazing. Outside of a very small number of cities (and even there it's probably largely confined to the upper end of income), most locals do not routinely take taxis/Uber on a daily, weekly, or probably even monthly basis. The typical American owns a car that is probably a number of years old and drives to the grocery store to buy food which they cook at home.
  - rainyMammoth 7y ago
    It's still amazing to me to see that people don't realize the Bay Area//New York//Seattle are micro bubbles that don't represent the world or even the united states. Yes, people in those cities are mainly rich Yuppies that don't mind throwing away money. Everywhere else I always try to remember that most people (70% I think) wouldn't be able to cover a 400$ unexpected expense.
    - mav3rick 7y ago
      Most people in SF or NYC don't own an car. Unlike "yuppies" outside. For them ride-sharing is factored into monthly expenses. Please be respectful while engaging.
  - mav3rick 7y ago
    I didn't justify Uber based on SF. I just told the Uber usage patterns I see in the city
ghaff 7y ago
Do you seriously believe that the average SF resident is being chauffeured around every day?
- mav3rick 7y ago
  Yes. The price for a bus or MUNI is 2.50, if you're lucky that a station is close to you. Average Uber pool prices are around 4 for anything within a 3 mile radius.
  - rainyMammoth 7y ago
    we probably don't live in the same city. Everytime I open uber to get anywhere in the city, UberX is in the [12-30] range and UberPool in the [6-20] range. I very rarely see anything less than 6$ nowadays. So yes, taking muni for 2.50$ or using an electrical scooter for 3-4$ makes sense to me. Or even walking. If it's 2 miles that is about 20-30 minutes which ends up being the same time as a Uber.
    - mav3rick 7y ago
      Most people don't have MUNI near them. Also try riding scooters on a really windy day
      - DarthMader 7y ago
        Muni monthly pass for an adult is $85. A round trip commute pays for itself within two weeks not including any other trips. 95% of the city is covered and anything that isn't is within reasonable walking distance. Unlike any business, its nearly guaranteed cities will always subsidize the real cost. The average resident is not as dependent on Uber as you assume.
brianchu 7y ago
Yep. Obviously this is anecdotal and limited to my own social circles, but I live in the Bay Area, and almost everyone (90%+) I know in San Francisco does not own a car. The ones that do own cars only use them if they need to get out of the city (within the city they bike/scooter/walk/Uber/Lyft/transit). When I did the math, if I lived in the city it would be cheaper to use rideshare everywhere and rent cars when needed, than to own a car.

Exactly. People saying this are unable to separate growth investment from core profitability. Uber or Lyft can pull out of money losing long tail markets, cut down staff to may be just 500 and would run just fine but would immediately become immensely profitable. However price to pay would be growth stagnation and robustness against future unknowns. For now they are doing the right thing to lose money to win the market share and diversity into other logistic businesses as well as prepare for future where autonomous vehicles would be the norm.

LunaSea 7y ago
You are generalising the case of San Francisco as if the rest of the world was payed $150K a year and was able to throw wads of cash to buy groceries in Uber cars.
- ghaff 7y ago
  The bubble is quite amazing. Outside of a very small number of cities (and even there it's probably largely confined to the upper end of income), most locals do not routinely take taxis/Uber on a daily, weekly, or probably even monthly basis. The typical American owns a car that is probably a number of years old and drives to the grocery store to buy food which they cook at home.
- rainyMammoth 7y ago
  It's still amazing to me to see that people don't realize the Bay Area//New York//Seattle are micro bubbles that don't represent the world or even the united states. Yes, people in those cities are mainly rich Yuppies that don't mind throwing away money. Everywhere else I always try to remember that most people (70% I think) wouldn't be able to cover a 400$ unexpected expense.
  - mav3rick 7y ago
    Most people in SF or NYC don't own an car. Unlike "yuppies" outside. For them ride-sharing is factored into monthly expenses. Please be respectful while engaging.
- mav3rick 7y ago
  I didn't justify Uber based on SF. I just told the Uber usage patterns I see in the city

ghaff 7y ago

Do you seriously believe that the average SF resident is being chauffeured around every day?

mav3rick 7y ago
Yes. The price for a bus or MUNI is 2.50, if you're lucky that a station is close to you. Average Uber pool prices are around 4 for anything within a 3 mile radius.
- rainyMammoth 7y ago
  we probably don't live in the same city. Everytime I open uber to get anywhere in the city, UberX is in the [12-30] range and UberPool in the [6-20] range. I very rarely see anything less than 6$ nowadays. So yes, taking muni for 2.50$ or using an electrical scooter for 3-4$ makes sense to me. Or even walking. If it's 2 miles that is about 20-30 minutes which ends up being the same time as a Uber.
  - mav3rick 7y ago
    Most people don't have MUNI near them. Also try riding scooters on a really windy day
    - DarthMader 7y ago
      Muni monthly pass for an adult is $85. A round trip commute pays for itself within two weeks not including any other trips. 95% of the city is covered and anything that isn't is within reasonable walking distance. Unlike any business, its nearly guaranteed cities will always subsidize the real cost. The average resident is not as dependent on Uber as you assume.

brianchu 7y ago

Yep. Obviously this is anecdotal and limited to my own social circles, but I live in the Bay Area, and almost everyone (90%+) I know in San Francisco does not own a car. The ones that do own cars only use them if they need to get out of the city (within the city they bike/scooter/walk/Uber/Lyft/transit). When I did the math, if I lived in the city it would be cheaper to use rideshare everywhere and rent cars when needed, than to own a car.