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Dang. That's really unfortunate. I live in SF and don't own a car. I can't say I've had appreciably better/worse experiences with Uber vs Lyft, but I am very fe

Dang. That's really unfortunate. I live in SF and don't own a car. I can't say I've had appreciably better/worse experiences with Uber vs Lyft, but I am very fearful to live in an Uber-only world. I feel like their strategy since Day 1 has been "First, take over the world. Second, raise prices." and if their primary competition gives up the chase then I'm going to be between a rock and a hard place. I really value the convenience and confidence I get by using apps vs calling a taxi service, but I have to assume Uber knows that, too, and are going to push quite a premium for it once unfettered.

jacurtis 3y ago
Lyft is still around. They aren't going out of business. They are just consolidating their workforce. Remember that Uber has had 2 rounds of layoffs already I think. One was for 16% of their workforce and another was for 5-6%. So it isn't a whole lot different. I wouldn't expect anything to change. Facebook has had 4-5 rounds of layoffs and Instagram and Facebook aren't going anywhere.
- SeanAnderson 3y ago
  I appreciate the optimism! I am not as confident. It's true that Uber has laid off people, but, according to layoffs.fyi, all of their post-covid layoffs have occurred either outside of the U.S. or applied to Uber Freight. Uber had two rounds of layoffs in SF during 2020 for 14% and 13% of their workforce. Nothing since. (source: https://i.imgur.com/MqNYdhT.png https://i.imgur.com/MqNYdhT.png) In contrast, SF Lyft has gone through four rounds of layoffs: 17% in 2020, 2% + 13% in 2022, and 26% in 2023. If Uber cuts their SF workforce by 25% in the next month or so then I'll feel better about the mutual competition. Otherwise, my stance remains that they're entering into the winner-take-all phase of their strategy.
kelnos 3y ago
> I feel like their strategy since Day 1 has been "First, take over the world. Second, raise prices." I'm not sure it's as nefarious as you present it. The "raise prices" portion is more like "raise prices to what it actually costs to provide the ride". They'd been pricing rides at a loss for years to get traction and customers. Anecdotally, though, I haven't found Lyft to be much better. Even with Lyft Pink (and no Uber One or whatever it's called), Uber is usually fairly competitive with Lyft, at least where I live.
- SeanAnderson 3y ago
  That's fair. I guess I just really like the golden period where I get discounted services off the back of VC funding. I also sort of thought that Uber's end-game strategy was to eliminate drivers with their self-driving division, and that they were willing to take on greater operational inefficiencies along the way to gain ground. Since they dropped their self-driving division it makes me fearful that their operational inefficiencies will result in significantly higher prices than taxi services which, I assume, run leaner (but I have no proof here)

jacurtis 3y ago

Lyft is still around. They aren't going out of business. They are just consolidating their workforce. Remember that Uber has had 2 rounds of layoffs already I think. One was for 16% of their workforce and another was for 5-6%. So it isn't a whole lot different. I wouldn't expect anything to change. Facebook has had 4-5 rounds of layoffs and Instagram and Facebook aren't going anywhere.

SeanAnderson 3y ago
I appreciate the optimism! I am not as confident. It's true that Uber has laid off people, but, according to layoffs.fyi, all of their post-covid layoffs have occurred either outside of the U.S. or applied to Uber Freight. Uber had two rounds of layoffs in SF during 2020 for 14% and 13% of their workforce. Nothing since. (source: https://i.imgur.com/MqNYdhT.png https://i.imgur.com/MqNYdhT.png) In contrast, SF Lyft has gone through four rounds of layoffs: 17% in 2020, 2% + 13% in 2022, and 26% in 2023. If Uber cuts their SF workforce by 25% in the next month or so then I'll feel better about the mutual competition. Otherwise, my stance remains that they're entering into the winner-take-all phase of their strategy.

kelnos 3y ago

> I feel like their strategy since Day 1 has been "First, take over the world. Second, raise prices." I'm not sure it's as nefarious as you present it. The "raise prices" portion is more like "raise prices to what it actually costs to provide the ride". They'd been pricing rides at a loss for years to get traction and customers. Anecdotally, though, I haven't found Lyft to be much better. Even with Lyft Pink (and no Uber One or whatever it's called), Uber is usually fairly competitive with Lyft, at least where I live.

SeanAnderson 3y ago
That's fair. I guess I just really like the golden period where I get discounted services off the back of VC funding. I also sort of thought that Uber's end-game strategy was to eliminate drivers with their self-driving division, and that they were willing to take on greater operational inefficiencies along the way to gain ground. Since they dropped their self-driving division it makes me fearful that their operational inefficiencies will result in significantly higher prices than taxi services which, I assume, run leaner (but I have no proof here)