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> I know everyone thinks this is a bus It's not a bus. It's an ordinary Uber driver with their own car, with multiple customers and a different, confusing pric

> I know everyone thinks this is a bus It's not a bus. It's an ordinary Uber driver with their own car, with multiple customers and a different, confusing pricing scheme. It's not Uber buying and operating their own fleet of branded vans, like SuperShuttle.[1] How does the driver get paid? If it's a regular route, with regular times, it ought to be a regular job paid by the hour, regardless of whether the vehicle is empty or full. But that wouldn't be Uber's gig slavery system. [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/janetwburns/2020/12/30/rip-supershuttle-first-2020-casualty-big-tech/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/janetwburns/2020/12/30/rip-supe...

JumpCrisscross 1y ago
> How does the driver get paid? Ideally these routes wouldn’t need a driver for long. Waymo could offer this, for example. They don’t because they need not compete on price. More practically: in many states where this has been announced, Uber drivers get a minimum wage.
- eek2121 1y ago
  In CA they do, what other states? In response to those laws, Uber has taken even more money from drivers. The last number I heard was that drivers only get 53% of cash per ride. Don’t misunderstand me, Uber is a cancer that needs to die and I am about to be at the point where I make a platform that will do just that. My point is that those laws aren’t helping. More needs to be done.
pinkmuffinere 1y ago
I just want to point out that your criticism is not disagreeing with the parent post. You can both be right — this can be better than a bus, and uber can be illegally claiming workers as contractors.
pj_mukh 1y ago
Is squeezing into the 7th seat in the trunk of an Uber-XL SUV worth the faux-instantaneous nature of this product? Get the Transit app folks [1], great GPS tracking of the right bus for you, advocate for an efficient well-funded bus/train service in your city and a municipal DOT that doesn't have to host 5 community meetings for every small change in routes. [1]: https://transitapp.com https://transitapp.com P.S: I'm an Uber One member, it certainly has its place in a car-less life. But this ain't it Chief.
- guywithahat 1y ago
  I think the real remarkable part of all this is how bad city buses are. Everyone knows about them, we’ve all been forced to take one, but cities are so consistently bad at managing them it’s not an option for most people, even if they live near a stop.
  - _DeadFred_ 1y ago
    If you look at it through the lense of buses need to work well enough that poor people can get to work but not so well that they can be easily roaming the city it starts to make more sense.
  - mjevans 1y ago
    It's a problem that intersects with the national issues related to... under-served and poorly integrated people in the population. National policy needs to do much better on an array of issues that contribute to 'poor public transit experiences'. Issues like "mentally unbalanced passengers", inebriated, smelly (includes smokers!), overcrowded busses. I know they are rigged for standing room, but that should NOT be the expectation for a ride longer than 10 min outside of extreme crunches like sports games overflow! Aside from running the correct busses to the places people need to get from and to: I want the modern version of Star Trek utopia. * American Dream (home ownership, vaguely near the jobs / family) within reach. * Jobs that are a good match for worker's skills / family time needs. * 'Child Care Assistance' - more than just schools, facilities that can help take care of children while parents work, are unexpectedly sick, etc. Daycare+++ * 'Employment Assistance' - connect workers with the best jobs that want them * Diversion programs to help people with 'issues' that prevent access to jobs overcome VARIOUS issues such as: lack of stable food, lack of stable housing, supplies to keep clean and healthy. * Recognizing people that aren't helped by current medical technology and social programs and assisting them with possibly contributing in unconventional ways, or simply being taken care of properly if they are cursed very beyond medical help. Every last bit of that is more than just fixing a transit system. Society as a whole system needs an approach that remedies and modifies the entire problem from all angles. Including the ones that change where people need to go for jobs and housing.
ensignavenger 1y ago
Unless the Uber driver gets to determine the route, stops, and schedule, and preferably price. Then they are, in my opioniin, more than enough of a freelancer. But I have no odea how this product works in actuality.
tptacek 1y ago
Is it all that confusing? It's UberX, with a steep discount if you get a ride along a fixed route/schedule.
pkaeding 1y ago
Cramming multiple unrelated people who are going a similar way into a regular uber vehicle sounds like uber pool, which has existed for a long time (unless they stopped it, and this is the reintroduction?).

JumpCrisscross 1y ago

> How does the driver get paid? Ideally these routes wouldn’t need a driver for long. Waymo could offer this, for example. They don’t because they need not compete on price. More practically: in many states where this has been announced, Uber drivers get a minimum wage.

eek2121 1y ago
In CA they do, what other states? In response to those laws, Uber has taken even more money from drivers. The last number I heard was that drivers only get 53% of cash per ride. Don’t misunderstand me, Uber is a cancer that needs to die and I am about to be at the point where I make a platform that will do just that. My point is that those laws aren’t helping. More needs to be done.

pinkmuffinere 1y ago

I just want to point out that your criticism is not disagreeing with the parent post. You can both be right — this can be better than a bus, and uber can be illegally claiming workers as contractors.

pj_mukh 1y ago

Is squeezing into the 7th seat in the trunk of an Uber-XL SUV worth the faux-instantaneous nature of this product? Get the Transit app folks [1], great GPS tracking of the right bus for you, advocate for an efficient well-funded bus/train service in your city and a municipal DOT that doesn't have to host 5 community meetings for every small change in routes. [1]: https://transitapp.com https://transitapp.com P.S: I'm an Uber One member, it certainly has its place in a car-less life. But this ain't it Chief.

guywithahat 1y ago
I think the real remarkable part of all this is how bad city buses are. Everyone knows about them, we’ve all been forced to take one, but cities are so consistently bad at managing them it’s not an option for most people, even if they live near a stop.
- _DeadFred_ 1y ago
  If you look at it through the lense of buses need to work well enough that poor people can get to work but not so well that they can be easily roaming the city it starts to make more sense.
- mjevans 1y ago
  It's a problem that intersects with the national issues related to... under-served and poorly integrated people in the population. National policy needs to do much better on an array of issues that contribute to 'poor public transit experiences'. Issues like "mentally unbalanced passengers", inebriated, smelly (includes smokers!), overcrowded busses. I know they are rigged for standing room, but that should NOT be the expectation for a ride longer than 10 min outside of extreme crunches like sports games overflow! Aside from running the correct busses to the places people need to get from and to: I want the modern version of Star Trek utopia. * American Dream (home ownership, vaguely near the jobs / family) within reach. * Jobs that are a good match for worker's skills / family time needs. * 'Child Care Assistance' - more than just schools, facilities that can help take care of children while parents work, are unexpectedly sick, etc. Daycare+++ * 'Employment Assistance' - connect workers with the best jobs that want them * Diversion programs to help people with 'issues' that prevent access to jobs overcome VARIOUS issues such as: lack of stable food, lack of stable housing, supplies to keep clean and healthy. * Recognizing people that aren't helped by current medical technology and social programs and assisting them with possibly contributing in unconventional ways, or simply being taken care of properly if they are cursed very beyond medical help. Every last bit of that is more than just fixing a transit system. Society as a whole system needs an approach that remedies and modifies the entire problem from all angles. Including the ones that change where people need to go for jobs and housing.

ensignavenger 1y ago

Unless the Uber driver gets to determine the route, stops, and schedule, and preferably price. Then they are, in my opioniin, more than enough of a freelancer. But I have no odea how this product works in actuality.

tptacek 1y ago

Is it all that confusing? It's UberX, with a steep discount if you get a ride along a fixed route/schedule.

pkaeding 1y ago

Cramming multiple unrelated people who are going a similar way into a regular uber vehicle sounds like uber pool, which has existed for a long time (unless they stopped it, and this is the reintroduction?).