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It seemed Uber's long term strategy was to rely on self-driving cars to reduce their margins. Now that we know that's a long way off I'm really not sure what th
by untog 7y ago
It seemed Uber's long term strategy was to rely on self-driving cars to reduce their margins. Now that we know that's a long way off I'm really not sure what they do.
Maybe split their focus in two: one on luxury (Uber Black already exists, after all) and on shared rides at the other end. I think Via has an interesting model here, using minivans to transport many more riders at once. Of course, the more passengers the longer your ride, but with enough demand and intelligent routing it could be worthwhile.
- ghaff 7y ago> minivans to transport many more riders at once Minivan/microbus routes are pretty common in some places outside the US. It seems as if it would be possible with existing tech to have some sort of hybrid between bus routes and a door-to-door Pool model. Obviously you need some level of density and predictability but it seems like something that could be made to work, including in areas that don't really support conventional bus routes.
- mountainofdeath 7y agoThe proper term for what you describe is a Share taxi also know as a Jitney or a Dollar Van (because a ride costs $1). They used to be popular in underserved inner-cities (e.g. East New York) and were ran on an ad-hoc basis. This model is far from new. It just has a nice mobile app frontend. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Share_taxi#Jitney https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Share_taxi#Jitney
- untog 7y agoNot quite, the Jitneys in NYC have a specified route. The Via shares are dynamically routed according to who is in it and who needs to be picked up. That has both plus sides and down sides.