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I only like uber/lyft for one very important reason. Drinking. I truly believe its saved a ton of lives thanks to its ease of use. I'm in college right now, an

by kart23 7y ago

I only like uber/lyft for one very important reason. Drinking. I truly believe its saved a ton of lives thanks to its ease of use. I'm in college right now, and I couldn't even imagine trying to get home without lyft or uber in many circumstances. Its made it so convenient to get a ride at any time, anywhere, that nobody even thinks about driving home anymore. Public transport simply isnt an option at 2am where I live, and the area is not very dense either.

burkaman 7y ago
Evidence is mixed: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/business/uber-drunk-driving-prevention.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/business/uber-drunk-drivi... Most people who drive drunk aren't doing it because they're desperate and have no other option, they're doing it because they're drunk assholes. They will still do it even when they could get a Lyft for $8. They're drunk. > I couldn't even imagine trying to get home without lyft or uber in many circumstances. Ok, but people must have managed it somehow 10 years ago, right? Your college and your city have not changed very much in that time. It truly is not that hard to take turns with your friends staying sober once in a while, or just stay over at a friend's place and then leave in the morning.
- kart23 7y ago
  I agree with you on the drunk driving part, but it just makes a lot of situations way easier. A group of 4 friends can go out without having a car, have fun, and not have any anxiety about how they are gonna get home at the end of the night. My college and the city actually has changed a lot in the past 10 years, it's seen acceptance rates go down 20%, 2 deaths in Greek life, tuition rise by $10,000, and major companies move into the area. My school also has developed a parking shortage, so many students living on campus are not allowed to bring cars. Uber/Lyft is a godsend for many students.
  - burkaman 7y ago
    I agree that it makes things easier for people who use it. I used it a lot in college because my school basically told us that if we walked more than 3 blocks outside campus we would get shot. My point is that it's a marginal improvement, and there are so many downsides. In my city, 8% of cars on the road are Ubers and Lyfts, and half of them are just drivers cruising around looking for passengers. [1] That's terrible for traffic, terrible for the environment, and terrible for anyone who wants to bike through a square without a clueless Uber swerving into them to drop someone off. Also, the backstop of Uber makes it much less likely for people to push for real sustainable public transport. In 5 years, when Uber is dead or so expensive that most people won't use it regularly, we're going to look around and wonder why the buses and trains seem to have stagnated for 15 years. It's a tough sell to shut down a few streets to expand a subway line right now when that disrupts all this essential Uber traffic. Finally, think about the opportunity cost. The hundreds of billions of dollars that could have gone to real infrastructure [2], or startups that aren't going to fire all of their definitely-not-employees in a couple years. [1] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FIUskVkj9lsAnWJQ6kLhAhNoVLjfFdx3/view https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FIUskVkj9lsAnWJQ6kLhAhNoVLj..., https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2019/08/uber-lyft-traffic-congestion-ride-hailing-cities-drivers-vmt/595393/ https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2019/08/uber-lyft-tra... [2] https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1157456628532170752 https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1157456628532170752
    - kart23 7y ago
      I agree. You bring up some great points. It's kind of ironic, at my school we have a great (all electric!) bus system transporting people around campus, and half the time when the bus pulls up to the cutlet, there's an uber there either waiting or dropping off a passenger. Which then slows down the bus while it honks at the clueless driver who doesn't even know there's a bus stop there.

by kart23 7y ago

burkaman 7y ago

Evidence is mixed: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/business/uber-drunk-driving-prevention.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/business/uber-drunk-drivi... Most people who drive drunk aren't doing it because they're desperate and have no other option, they're doing it because they're drunk assholes. They will still do it even when they could get a Lyft for $8. They're drunk. > I couldn't even imagine trying to get home without lyft or uber in many circumstances. Ok, but people must have managed it somehow 10 years ago, right? Your college and your city have not changed very much in that time. It truly is not that hard to take turns with your friends staying sober once in a while, or just stay over at a friend's place and then leave in the morning.

kart23 7y ago
I agree with you on the drunk driving part, but it just makes a lot of situations way easier. A group of 4 friends can go out without having a car, have fun, and not have any anxiety about how they are gonna get home at the end of the night. My college and the city actually has changed a lot in the past 10 years, it's seen acceptance rates go down 20%, 2 deaths in Greek life, tuition rise by $10,000, and major companies move into the area. My school also has developed a parking shortage, so many students living on campus are not allowed to bring cars. Uber/Lyft is a godsend for many students.
- burkaman 7y ago
  I agree that it makes things easier for people who use it. I used it a lot in college because my school basically told us that if we walked more than 3 blocks outside campus we would get shot. My point is that it's a marginal improvement, and there are so many downsides. In my city, 8% of cars on the road are Ubers and Lyfts, and half of them are just drivers cruising around looking for passengers. [1] That's terrible for traffic, terrible for the environment, and terrible for anyone who wants to bike through a square without a clueless Uber swerving into them to drop someone off. Also, the backstop of Uber makes it much less likely for people to push for real sustainable public transport. In 5 years, when Uber is dead or so expensive that most people won't use it regularly, we're going to look around and wonder why the buses and trains seem to have stagnated for 15 years. It's a tough sell to shut down a few streets to expand a subway line right now when that disrupts all this essential Uber traffic. Finally, think about the opportunity cost. The hundreds of billions of dollars that could have gone to real infrastructure [2], or startups that aren't going to fire all of their definitely-not-employees in a couple years. [1] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FIUskVkj9lsAnWJQ6kLhAhNoVLjfFdx3/view https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FIUskVkj9lsAnWJQ6kLhAhNoVLj..., https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2019/08/uber-lyft-traffic-congestion-ride-hailing-cities-drivers-vmt/595393/ https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2019/08/uber-lyft-tra... [2] https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1157456628532170752 https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1157456628532170752
  - kart23 7y ago
    I agree. You bring up some great points. It's kind of ironic, at my school we have a great (all electric!) bus system transporting people around campus, and half the time when the bus pulls up to the cutlet, there's an uber there either waiting or dropping off a passenger. Which then slows down the bus while it honks at the clueless driver who doesn't even know there's a bus stop there.