Will Lyft and Uber's Shared-Ride Service Hurt Public Transit?

An anonymous reader writes Lyft and Uber have already undercut the price of a taxi in most markets, but with this new service, both are now taking aim at public transit systems. By attempting to offer a viable alternative to the bus and metro, Lyft and Uber are offering new options to consumers in a space where few existed before. As Timothy Lee writes at Vox, "Until recently, there weren't many services in this 'in between' category. If you were going to the airport, you could get a shared-ride van. And some urban areas had dollar vans. But these were limited services in niche markets." If you're traveling with multiple people over short distances, Lyft Line and UberPool can be quite affordable, but it's still not cheap enough.

Comments

No.

[xevioso]

It will not. It's much cheaper to take public transportation in most cities; the only time it would make sense would be on longer trips, because you are saving alot of time by taking Lyft or Uber, but you sure the hell aren't saving money.

And it's much easier to find a cab in San Francisco nowadays, not only because they are having to compete with rideshares, but they actually will notice you now when you wave a hand. So why not take a cab instead of Uber and Lyft?

No

[Anonymous Coward]

Let me know when either of these can get me from the Chicago Surbs to Downtown Chicago (45 miles) for under $10.

Or from the far north part of the city to the south part (25-30 miles) with 4 lights per mile for $2.50

Wrong Question

[Anonymous Coward]

The only question that matters: Will they improve transportation?

Competition is a bitch; a government never likes it.

It's only worth it

[Anonymous Coward]

This is not at all universal. Some cities have quite nice and convenient public transit, and it can be even better if you live and work in the right places. I own a car and can afford to drive to work, but I typically take light-rail. It takes maybe 30 minutes as opposed to 25 by car, but I get 15 minutes of walking and fresh air and I can read while in transit, and I don't have to experience daily driver-rage-stress. I actually rather like taking the train to work.

Not Sharing

[jklovanc]

Can we please stop calling it "ride sharing"? It is no more ride sharing that a grocery store is "food sharing".

should be banned or regulated

[goombah99]

Lyft and Uber drivers should have to follow the same not-free regs as taxi drivers. things like displaying a hack lic, certification of insurance or bonding, and penalties for systematic race discrimination are things that taxi drivers and their companies are required to follow. Undercutting these is not a good idea.

Re:should be banned or regulated

[stephanruby]

Lyft and Uber drivers should have to follow the same not-free regs as taxi drivers. things like displaying a hack lic, certification of insurance or bonding, and penalties for systematic race discrimination are things that taxi drivers and their companies are required to follow. Undercutting these is not a good idea.

Uber's insurance is explained here, and its legalese can be found here. I haven't looked for Lyft's policy, but I assume that Lyft's policy can be just as easily found.

penalties for systematic race discrimination are things that taxi drivers and their companies are required to follow.

And yet despite all those penalties, racial discrimination still happens systematically during peak hours. During peak hours, taxi drivers can easily pretend not to have seen someone hailing them down if they know they can easily pick up someone else just as easily.

And in a way, Uber and Lyft's processes nicely solve that problem, since for them, they're not allowed to pick up people who are hailing them visually. They can only pick up the people that have hailed them electronically through a mobile app. So choosing your customer based on skin color is much less of a possibility for Uber and Lyft drivers, because now there is an electronic paper trail if a driver suddenly decides not to pick up a potential customer he has agreed to pick up electronically.

The electronic process of ordering rides through a mobile app also solves the problem of displaying a license. By ordering a ride through Uber, you see the picture, you see the id, and you see the rating of who's going pick you up before they do pick you up. Just try to get that level of information the next time you call for a Yellow cab, you won't get it.

Not only that but in a few big cities, where the number of medaillons stays stagnant despite the desperate need of additional taxis on the road during peak hours, Uber and Lyft are serving the needs of an underserved market. Because I can tell you, in my personal experience, it's not just black people that can't find a cab sometimes. As a white person who sometimes really needs a cab in San Francisco during peak hours, I've simply given up trying to find one. I can only assume that only customers from five star hotels and hot supermodels can catch cabs during those hours, because I see many cabs during those times, and I've used my phone to call cab companies as well, but those cabs are certainly not stopping for me, or they have the light on signaling that they're on their way to pick up someone else.

If I really need a car after work for some reason, I'll drive my car in, clogging up the system even more, and I'll risk paying insane parking fees for the entire day (despite the fact that I might only need the car for a fraction of that time, to go somewhere after 5 PM, that's not easily reached with public transportation).

Re:should be banned or regulated

[jbengt]

You are not correct.
My home insurance will cover accidents that visitors have on my property, but will not cover customers if I'm using it as a place of business - that'd be a whole different level of risk for the insurance company.
Similarly, insuring a taxi driver is a much larger risk for an insurance company than insuring a private driver, even for the same number of miles.
Why should I, as a private driver, pay for the same insurance that covers the larger risks of taxi drivers?

Re:It's only worth it

[mysidia]

Some cities have quite nice and convenient public transit, and it can be even better if you live and work in the right places.

Yes, and they're all outside the United States. :-)

No!

[superdude72]

Threads like these always leave me flabbergasted at how people who have never lived in a big city just really, really don't get how cities work.

Re:It's only worth it

[mister_playboy]

I have read that half of the USA's total daily public transportation ridership is found in a single city... New York City

This one factoid portrays our public transport situation very well...

Your ancient rules make little sense

[SuperKendall]

things like displaying a hack lic,

This makes no sense. Remember they are not sitting there waiting for you to get in - you summon them via app which automatically means they have been vetted by the service, and you have info about them beforehand before you even selected them.

Perhaps taxi drivers should start with regulations requiring you to be able to see reviews from past customers?

certification of insurance or bonding

Again - all taken care of or else they would not be on the service.

penalties for systematic race discrimination

They come and pick you up. It's funny you bring this up with zero evidence of this being a problem, while we know cabs do this from time to time. If you've not solved it for cabs forget about solving it for Uber.

Undercutting these is not a good idea.

None of that is undercut. Only price, convenience, shiftiness of drivers, and car quality are undercut (or enhanced).

Re:It's only worth it

[Slashdot Parent]

I don't know anyone who takes public transportation if they don't have to.

It really depends on the individual situation.

For me, I live near a suburban train station and my office is near a downtown station on the same line. My commute is about 5 minutes shorter if I drive, but traffic can be frustrating in the city. On the train, I can relax and read and let someone else do the driving. So while I can perfectly well afford to commute by car, I typically take the train because it's less stressful.

If I truly had to spend 3 hours on a smelly bus, then you'd be right, there is no way in hell that I would tolerate that shit at my age. All I'm saying is that if the public transport option is reasonably pleasant, people will use it even if they can afford to drive.