4 ms·

Lower gas prices in most UberX cars is barely going to matter. They really do need to replace casual car use/ownership, but I think rather than continually dro

by abakker 12y ago

Lower gas prices in most UberX cars is barely going to matter. They really do need to replace casual car use/ownership, but I think rather than continually drop effective wages for their drivers, they need to focus on how good a deal it already is. (compare to mileage on your car, fuel, parking time, parking cost, Parking location)

vinceguidry 12y ago
Except it's really not that good of a deal in most places Uber is active. There's no amount of spin that will make spending $40+ on transportation to and from the bar be less than parking fees, gas, and mileage. All that totals up to $20 max. If I'm bar-hopping, forget it. You're cutting out certain sources of overhead but introducing others, specifically a driver and the organization managing that driver. Uber has to find a way to cut costs to the bone because humans are more expensive than machines and resources and that's not going to change anytime soon. It's even worse for commuting, because you'd have to be working for a real a-hole if you're paying parking fees at work. Uber estimates that it costs $16-22 one way for my commute. $32-40 is pretty steep to get to and from work. They have a long way to go before I'd be able to replace my car with Uber.
- ghaff 12y ago
  >because you'd have to be working for a real a-hole if you're paying parking fees at work It depends. It's pretty common in a large city not to have parking included. (And, in fact, I know of at least one city that doesn't allow employers to provide free parking.) But your basic point is entirely correct. Driving or taking commuter rail into a large city may cost $20 per day or so but then Uber/taxi is going to cost more as well. For the vast majority of people, you can't replace a personal car with a taxi for anything like the same price. It's only practical at the margins; i.e. you only marginally need a car anyway.
aetherson 12y ago
It's a bad deal on those metrics outside of some very small cases (basically, ones where you'd otherwise park for a long time in an expensive location). And you're paying the fuel and milage costs any way you look at it (in fact, you're paying for more fuel/milage, since the driver has to drive to you). I don't understand why this error constantly crops up -- surely everyone understands that car fairies don't come down from the sky and put gasoline into the tanks of UberX cars. You're the one paying for the ride, so you're paying for the gas. The fact that you aren't physically present when the gas gets put into the tank of the car has no effect on it.

by abakker 12y ago

vinceguidry 12y ago

Except it's really not that good of a deal in most places Uber is active. There's no amount of spin that will make spending $40+ on transportation to and from the bar be less than parking fees, gas, and mileage. All that totals up to $20 max. If I'm bar-hopping, forget it. You're cutting out certain sources of overhead but introducing others, specifically a driver and the organization managing that driver. Uber has to find a way to cut costs to the bone because humans are more expensive than machines and resources and that's not going to change anytime soon. It's even worse for commuting, because you'd have to be working for a real a-hole if you're paying parking fees at work. Uber estimates that it costs $16-22 one way for my commute. $32-40 is pretty steep to get to and from work. They have a long way to go before I'd be able to replace my car with Uber.

ghaff 12y ago
>because you'd have to be working for a real a-hole if you're paying parking fees at work It depends. It's pretty common in a large city not to have parking included. (And, in fact, I know of at least one city that doesn't allow employers to provide free parking.) But your basic point is entirely correct. Driving or taking commuter rail into a large city may cost $20 per day or so but then Uber/taxi is going to cost more as well. For the vast majority of people, you can't replace a personal car with a taxi for anything like the same price. It's only practical at the margins; i.e. you only marginally need a car anyway.

aetherson 12y ago

It's a bad deal on those metrics outside of some very small cases (basically, ones where you'd otherwise park for a long time in an expensive location). And you're paying the fuel and milage costs any way you look at it (in fact, you're paying for more fuel/milage, since the driver has to drive to you). I don't understand why this error constantly crops up -- surely everyone understands that car fairies don't come down from the sky and put gasoline into the tanks of UberX cars. You're the one paying for the ride, so you're paying for the gas. The fact that you aren't physically present when the gas gets put into the tank of the car has no effect on it.