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>>How about, we're trying to make transportation cheaper for everyone by eliminating the most expensive part of taxi cabs (human labor)? Does anyone really bel

>>How about, we're trying to make transportation cheaper for everyone by eliminating the most expensive part of taxi cabs (human labor)? Does anyone really believe that? Right now I could commute to work by taking an Uber - it costs about £10 for a one way trip. Now you're telling me that a company somewhere, would send a state of the art car equipped with incredibly advanced computers and sensors, car which they need to insure, which needs constant communication and backup emergency controls ready on standby, for which they need to cover maintenance, depreciation and other costs, and would charge me less than £10 for the priviledge? How little exactly? It's nonsense, that's what it is. Human taxis have pretty much reached the bottom of pricing through gig economy - you are hardly paying for maintenance and fuel at this point with the way rides are structured. What sort of possible margin is there for self driving taxis, which will inevitably end up being incredibly expensive assets until the technology becomes common place and cheaper?

buzzert 4y ago
That £10 trip is "artificially" cheap. Uber/Lyft are effectively tricking drivers into thinking it's a good deal to use their own cars (and thus their own fuel and pay for their own maintenance), and are partially subsidized by venture capital. This, in my opinion, is unsustainable. Soon there won't be any new "suckers" in the pipeline, and it will suddenly get a lot more expensive as these rideshare companies need to reckon with the actual cost of human labor and leasing their own cars. Investing in driverless technology, which can be replicated and will eventually become cheaper as it's mass-produced, is a very smart move. These costs will eventually get passed down to consumers as well once there's enough competition, and then everyone wins.

buzzert 4y ago

That £10 trip is "artificially" cheap. Uber/Lyft are effectively tricking drivers into thinking it's a good deal to use their own cars (and thus their own fuel and pay for their own maintenance), and are partially subsidized by venture capital. This, in my opinion, is unsustainable. Soon there won't be any new "suckers" in the pipeline, and it will suddenly get a lot more expensive as these rideshare companies need to reckon with the actual cost of human labor and leasing their own cars. Investing in driverless technology, which can be replicated and will eventually become cheaper as it's mass-produced, is a very smart move. These costs will eventually get passed down to consumers as well once there's enough competition, and then everyone wins.