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FTA: Like Uber, BlaBlaCar takes a cut of the fare, but crucially, prevents its drivers from trying to turn this into a job. In each of the countries it operate

by gmisra 12y ago

FTA: Like Uber, BlaBlaCar takes a cut of the fare, but crucially, prevents its drivers from trying to turn this into a job. In each of the countries it operates in, BlaBlaCar uses government guidelines on driving costs to set a cap on the fare. These calculations account for fuel costs, insurance and tax. The rule helps to avoid giving the impression that the app poses a challenge to cab drivers' livelihood. "Because they don't make a profit, BlaBlaCar drivers aren't classed as professionals," says Nicolas Brusson, the co-founder and chief operating officer at BlaBlaCar. "They don't require special insurance or a special license."

baddox 12y ago
Yeah, I read that. I don't see how that makes the BlaBlaCar sharing any more actual than the Uber sharing.
- potatolicious 12y ago
  The typical notion of the sharing economy is that you're allowing more efficient usage of activity that would exist with or without your interference. For example, car pooling is part of the sharing economy - the car was already going in that direction anyways, but now you've saved a bunch of gas by putting multiple people in the same car. Without your carpool, that driver would still be going that way - like BlaBlaCar. Ditto if you and your neighbors got together and shared a lawnmower. You were all going to buy one anyways, but in this scheme you get to save money, and the lawn mower is sitting idle a lot less. Good of the environment, good for you, and maybe you can afford a better mower as a group. Score. Uber isn't part of the sharing economy, since the drivers are only on the road because of you. It's a pretty typical merchant-client relationship that doesn't fit any common notion of the word "sharing", unless you consider your coffee shop to be "sharing" their coffee with you. In Uber/Lyft's case, the supply (rides) wouldn't exist without you. The key tenet of the sharing economy is that you're piggy-backing on activity that would be happening regardless. I think it's a pretty tough case to argue that all these Ubers and Lyfts would be on the road anyways if it weren't for the people hailing them. This is true for (most of) AirBnb as well. If you're renting out your apartment while you're away, that's a part of the sharing economy, since you'd own the space even if AirBnb didn't exist - it would just be sitting empty. If you're maintaining a room or apartment strictly for the purpose of renting out, it really isn't, and now you're looking at a much more traditional merchant-client relationship.
  - baddox 12y ago
    > Uber isn't part of the sharing economy, since the drivers are only on the road because of you. But most are using their personal cars (at least for Lyft and Sidecar, which are the ones I use), which they would own either way. It's not the driver's time and gas being "shared" under your definition, it's the car itself, which would otherwise be sitting in a garage and replaced with another taxi or rental car. Also, I don't see how the person not making a profit somehow makes the service qualify under your definition of "sharing economy."
    - lazylizard 12y ago
      if its just sharing the car, then there's already carpools? uber is a way for people without a cab license to operate a cab service?
      - baddox 12y ago
        Of course there are already carpools. Those generally imply that driver and passengers were already taking the same route, and they all usually know one another. Ridesharing services extend that to rides the driver would not otherwise be taking. Again, what's being shared is the car itself.
        lazylizard 12y ago
        ah. so its like zipcar but for individual car owners.
        deleted 12y ago
        [deleted]

by gmisra 12y ago

baddox 12y ago

Yeah, I read that. I don't see how that makes the BlaBlaCar sharing any more actual than the Uber sharing.

potatolicious 12y ago
The typical notion of the sharing economy is that you're allowing more efficient usage of activity that would exist with or without your interference. For example, car pooling is part of the sharing economy - the car was already going in that direction anyways, but now you've saved a bunch of gas by putting multiple people in the same car. Without your carpool, that driver would still be going that way - like BlaBlaCar. Ditto if you and your neighbors got together and shared a lawnmower. You were all going to buy one anyways, but in this scheme you get to save money, and the lawn mower is sitting idle a lot less. Good of the environment, good for you, and maybe you can afford a better mower as a group. Score. Uber isn't part of the sharing economy, since the drivers are only on the road because of you. It's a pretty typical merchant-client relationship that doesn't fit any common notion of the word "sharing", unless you consider your coffee shop to be "sharing" their coffee with you. In Uber/Lyft's case, the supply (rides) wouldn't exist without you. The key tenet of the sharing economy is that you're piggy-backing on activity that would be happening regardless. I think it's a pretty tough case to argue that all these Ubers and Lyfts would be on the road anyways if it weren't for the people hailing them. This is true for (most of) AirBnb as well. If you're renting out your apartment while you're away, that's a part of the sharing economy, since you'd own the space even if AirBnb didn't exist - it would just be sitting empty. If you're maintaining a room or apartment strictly for the purpose of renting out, it really isn't, and now you're looking at a much more traditional merchant-client relationship.
- baddox 12y ago
  > Uber isn't part of the sharing economy, since the drivers are only on the road because of you. But most are using their personal cars (at least for Lyft and Sidecar, which are the ones I use), which they would own either way. It's not the driver's time and gas being "shared" under your definition, it's the car itself, which would otherwise be sitting in a garage and replaced with another taxi or rental car. Also, I don't see how the person not making a profit somehow makes the service qualify under your definition of "sharing economy."
  - lazylizard 12y ago
    if its just sharing the car, then there's already carpools? uber is a way for people without a cab license to operate a cab service?
    - baddox 12y ago
      Of course there are already carpools. Those generally imply that driver and passengers were already taking the same route, and they all usually know one another. Ridesharing services extend that to rides the driver would not otherwise be taking. Again, what's being shared is the car itself.
      - lazylizard 12y ago
        ah. so its like zipcar but for individual car owners.
      - deleted 12y ago
        [deleted]