4 ms·

Lyft and Uber suspending California rides at midnight

34 points by smohnot 6y ago

zepto 6y ago
This is going to have knock on effects on other small businesses. For example, now that it is out of warranty I get my car serviced at an independent garage and use Lyft when I drop it off and pick it up. Public transport would turn the 30 minutes that takes into into 2.5 hours. The alternative is to use the dealership, who charge more and I don’t want to support, but provide a courtesy car so I don’t waste much of a day on the process. There must be thousands of routine interactions like this where people bake the availability of ride share into their decision making.
- jdashg 6y ago
  Not rideshare per se, but cheap, quality taxis. We'll see if competitors flourish in the absence of giant incumbents.
  - noetic_techy 6y ago
    You can't be a "taxi" without buying a medallion. They used to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars since they were scarce enough. Again, bad government policy creating unnecessary hurdles.
  - smsm42 6y ago
    Did it flourish before Uber/Lyft existed? It's not like human history started in 2010...
  - zepto 6y ago
    I’d expect the opposite. Taxis are just as regulated as they always were, and new rideshare services have the same higher barrier to entry as Lyft and Uber. How can a cheap Taxi service arise?
  - thatfrenchguy 6y ago
    easy to see a startup with an app and employee drivers eating Lyft and Uber's lunch there.
- apta 6y ago
  It's shocking how shortsighted and out of touch with reality the CA government is.
- ac29 6y ago
  Isnt the alternative for most people to get a ride from a friend, family member, or coworker? I get not everyone has someone they can rely on for that, but most people do.
afinlayson 6y ago
This is a giant transfer of wealth, LA, SF, SJ will all see their housing prices tank, as people who can't afford cars are expected to move to suburbs where they can park a car.
- smsm42 6y ago
  In SJ pretty much everyone who can afford it has a car now. Maybe not literally everyone but vast majority. It's very hard to live in SJ without a car. Public transportation exists but is next to useless unless you go between select very small number of points, and SJ is pretty big, especially the residential part. So I don't foresee much effect on SJ prices-wise - SJ is already suburbs anyway (there's downtown but it's tiny). SF OTOH has been pretty navigable with public transport plus Uber/Lyft. I try not to go there lately, for obvious reasons, but when I did I could get around there without a car without too much trouble. Having no flexible option (and taxis sucked before Uber rose and I'm sure will continue to suck after) would make it much worse, but I expect SF prices to drop anyway - people are finally realizing they don't have to pay 3.5K/month for a studio just to work remotely anyway. Golden Gate park is nice but not that nice.
- blueplanet200 6y ago
  Uber and Lyft didn't exist before, and folks managed fine without owning cars. Also wait and see what they do post election. The outcome of Prop 22 will decide what their true response is, until then this is just grandstanding to force voters to vote yes.
  - aeternum 6y ago
    Because before people owned cars. SF especially can no longer support the level of per-capita car ownership it had pre-uber/lyft.
- qppo 6y ago
  LA already mandates 1.5 parking spots per unit of housing or something along those lines. And anyone that can afford a car probably has one, and anyone who can afford to move to the suburbs and live with the hellish commutes already has. I don't think this changes anything about transit in LA.
smsm42 6y ago
I wonder how thankful Lyft/Uber drivers are now that California lawmakers helped them to increase their earnings and benefits.
zalkota 6y ago
Good, socialism is garbage. Free markets will win in the end.
- Solocomplex 6y ago
  How constructive.
- apta 6y ago
  Them forcing Uber and Lyft to close down is socialism.
java_script 6y ago
Since the old, crufty, established incumbents aren’t agile enough to meet the new requirements, seems like there’s a hole in the market for a disrupter.
xiaolingxiao 6y ago
Does anyone know if Uber/Lyft is actually profitable in California currently due to Covid? That is to say, is there a minimum volume threshold, such that below which ride-share is not profitable?
smsm42 6y ago
Another discussion on the same: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24224882 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24224882
bassman9000 6y ago
SF Mayors: Democrats since 1968 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_San_Francisco#List https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_San_Francisco#List SJ Mayors: Democrats since 1967 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_San_Jose#List https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_San_Jose#List LA Mayors: Only 2 Republican terms since 1961 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Los_Angeles#List_of_Mayors_of_Los_Angeles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Los_Angeles#List_of_M... Edit: 2 last CA governors are Democrats too https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_California https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_Californi... I don't get the downvotes: everyone needs to remember why do we get into these situations.
- jjcm 6y ago
  "I don't get the downvotes: everyone needs to remember why do we get into these situations." If you want to politicize it across party lines, then it's also worth considering that the primary reason drivers are seeking employment is to get healthcare. This type of situation wouldn't even come up in Australia or the UK, yet republicans have fought against universal healthcare for decades. Just posting stats of governors in Cali is dramatically simplifying the issue.
  - bassman9000 6y ago
    You have to start somewhere, and you start with your local representatives, which have been overwhelmingly democrats. For all data science in HN, this is a pattern we surely don't want to see.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

34 points by smohnot 6y ago

This is going to have knock on effects on other small businesses. For example, now that it is out of warranty I get my car serviced at an independent garage and use Lyft when I drop it off and pick it up. Public transport would turn the 30 minutes that takes into into 2.5 hours. The alternative is to use the dealership, who charge more and I don’t want to support, but provide a courtesy car so I don’t waste much of a day on the process. There must be thousands of routine interactions like this where people bake the availability of ride share into their decision making.

jdashg 6y ago
Not rideshare per se, but cheap, quality taxis. We'll see if competitors flourish in the absence of giant incumbents.
- noetic_techy 6y ago
  You can't be a "taxi" without buying a medallion. They used to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars since they were scarce enough. Again, bad government policy creating unnecessary hurdles.
- smsm42 6y ago
  Did it flourish before Uber/Lyft existed? It's not like human history started in 2010...
- zepto 6y ago
  I’d expect the opposite. Taxis are just as regulated as they always were, and new rideshare services have the same higher barrier to entry as Lyft and Uber. How can a cheap Taxi service arise?
- thatfrenchguy 6y ago
  easy to see a startup with an app and employee drivers eating Lyft and Uber's lunch there.
apta 6y ago
It's shocking how shortsighted and out of touch with reality the CA government is.
ac29 6y ago
Isnt the alternative for most people to get a ride from a friend, family member, or coworker? I get not everyone has someone they can rely on for that, but most people do.

afinlayson 6y ago

This is a giant transfer of wealth, LA, SF, SJ will all see their housing prices tank, as people who can't afford cars are expected to move to suburbs where they can park a car.

smsm42 6y ago
In SJ pretty much everyone who can afford it has a car now. Maybe not literally everyone but vast majority. It's very hard to live in SJ without a car. Public transportation exists but is next to useless unless you go between select very small number of points, and SJ is pretty big, especially the residential part. So I don't foresee much effect on SJ prices-wise - SJ is already suburbs anyway (there's downtown but it's tiny). SF OTOH has been pretty navigable with public transport plus Uber/Lyft. I try not to go there lately, for obvious reasons, but when I did I could get around there without a car without too much trouble. Having no flexible option (and taxis sucked before Uber rose and I'm sure will continue to suck after) would make it much worse, but I expect SF prices to drop anyway - people are finally realizing they don't have to pay 3.5K/month for a studio just to work remotely anyway. Golden Gate park is nice but not that nice.
blueplanet200 6y ago
Uber and Lyft didn't exist before, and folks managed fine without owning cars. Also wait and see what they do post election. The outcome of Prop 22 will decide what their true response is, until then this is just grandstanding to force voters to vote yes.
- aeternum 6y ago
  Because before people owned cars. SF especially can no longer support the level of per-capita car ownership it had pre-uber/lyft.
qppo 6y ago
LA already mandates 1.5 parking spots per unit of housing or something along those lines. And anyone that can afford a car probably has one, and anyone who can afford to move to the suburbs and live with the hellish commutes already has. I don't think this changes anything about transit in LA.

smsm42 6y ago

I wonder how thankful Lyft/Uber drivers are now that California lawmakers helped them to increase their earnings and benefits.

zalkota 6y ago

Good, socialism is garbage. Free markets will win in the end.

Solocomplex 6y ago
How constructive.
apta 6y ago
Them forcing Uber and Lyft to close down is socialism.

java_script 6y ago

Since the old, crufty, established incumbents aren’t agile enough to meet the new requirements, seems like there’s a hole in the market for a disrupter.

xiaolingxiao 6y ago

Does anyone know if Uber/Lyft is actually profitable in California currently due to Covid? That is to say, is there a minimum volume threshold, such that below which ride-share is not profitable?

smsm42 6y ago

Another discussion on the same: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24224882 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24224882

bassman9000 6y ago

SF Mayors: Democrats since 1968 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_San_Francisco#List https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_San_Francisco#List SJ Mayors: Democrats since 1967 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_San_Jose#List https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_San_Jose#List LA Mayors: Only 2 Republican terms since 1961 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Los_Angeles#List_of_Mayors_of_Los_Angeles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Los_Angeles#List_of_M... Edit: 2 last CA governors are Democrats too https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_California https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_Californi... I don't get the downvotes: everyone needs to remember why do we get into these situations.

jjcm 6y ago
"I don't get the downvotes: everyone needs to remember why do we get into these situations." If you want to politicize it across party lines, then it's also worth considering that the primary reason drivers are seeking employment is to get healthcare. This type of situation wouldn't even come up in Australia or the UK, yet republicans have fought against universal healthcare for decades. Just posting stats of governors in Cali is dramatically simplifying the issue.
- bassman9000 6y ago
  You have to start somewhere, and you start with your local representatives, which have been overwhelmingly democrats. For all data science in HN, this is a pattern we surely don't want to see.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]