5 ms·
> Low profit routes were pretty much impossible to get pre-Uber. In cities, that's absurd - car services existed for decades serving just this part of the mark
by subpixel 5y ago
> Low profit routes were pretty much impossible to get pre-Uber.
In cities, that's absurd - car services existed for decades serving just this part of the market, and they let you schedule in advance!
In the suburbs and exurbs, probably less so, but this is where everyone has a car as a prerequisite for living in a house with a multi-car garage.
- xeromal 5y agoSomething something rose-tinted glasses. You could schedule in advance. Now having them actually show up? That was debatable. lol
- scythe 5y agoThe first Uber I ever ordered was after I had scheduled a car with one of these services and it didn't show up.
- subpixel 5y agoHand to heart I’ve had more Ubers not show up (more than 5) than I did car services over several decades of NYC living. Worse they claimed I didn’t show up.
- xeromal 5y agoI would posit that New York city is probably the best example you could come up with in the United States. Pretty much everywhere else Uber is supreme
- ebrenes 5y agoI don't live in New York City, but when I was there Uber was the absolute best option for our use case, because they were the only option that allowed us to ask for a toddler carseat as an extra. It was a game changer and preferred that over taxis and other car services.
- idiot900 5y agoSince they aren't taxis, car services can charge enough there is no such thing as a low profit route for them. In cities, there were were either no taxis around in certain neighborhoods, or they simply would not come at all even if you called and asked the taxi company and the dispatcher told you they had sent a driver. Both of these I experienced personally.
- KingMachiavelli 5y ago> In the suburbs and exurbs, probably less so, but this is where everyone has a car as a prerequisite for living [...] Sure but that doesn't work very well for when you want to spend the weekends drinking. The cities in the US that have grown the most over the last 10 or 20 years are still very much suburban and lack good public transportation. The lack of low cost and convenient transportation services quite literally resulted in fatal accidents.