There have been Taxi Hacks* for the longest time.
*independent drivers that use a privately owned car.
*independent drivers that use a privately owned car.
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If Uber/Lyft go bankrupt, how will society react?
- Thread starter g23
- Start date
The potential for having the name brand and the future of an automated fleet of electric vehicles with no overhead cost is far too great to say no to.
Something else would pop up. They were banned in Austin for a bit and a lot of alternatives came out. It was annoying to have to get new apps, but it wasn't that big of a deal. The actual concept is too ingrained now to not exist in some capacity for the foreseeable future.
NYC would probably implement their own version in order to streamline the current taxi industry and do away with medallions that cost upwards to a million dollars, make is city controlled, and make hella more money.
They just sold Uber Eats in India last month. They are selling off non-profitable venues and trying to refocus itself on their core bussiness, but in general now the expansion is through costly mergers like with Careem (for Middle East)
They also fired quite a bit of people last year.
Fuck Uber and the like. We need a strong public tranport system if we want to tackle global warming.
Thanks for the more recent article. I was reading about uber ceding tough-to-crack markets in Shanghai and Russia but that was 3-4 years ago. I think investors had enough and wanted the company to make deals instead of trying for world domination.
Yeah, but they are still projecting revenue growth and profitability, which is a sign that they are doing well. Even after their earnings their stock has risen.
I drive myself 99% of time and I only use taxi when I am going to somewhere I know I will drink, that's it.
A new taxi substitute will arise. Myself and many, many, many other city folks will exhaust every last option before settling on taxis again.
Interesting.. reads more like they are selling in places where they failed to capture the market.. while overall still heavily expanding though.
Buying Space X for the potential Mars tourism would be a safer bet at the rate full driverless is going for Uber and Lyft.
Uber will probably scale back to major cities where they are most profitable, stop delivering food, and double down on their freight business (the only part that makes any money). Lyft will probably not exist in a decade as they are entirely dependent on ride shares.
Wall Street has completely lost faith in these companies and the only reason they aren't dead yet is because SoftBank is trying to not look stupid to the Saudis.
For the concept to be too good not to die, it would need to be sustainable able.So far, the evidence points precisely towards it being something destined to die.
Man, some of y'all have clearly never lived in places without taxis. Uber may be shitty, but there was literally no alternative prior. It was either have a friend drive you, try to drive yourself, or dont go at all.
They are now trying to project profitability close, as a response for their pretty bad IPO, and avoid some of the core issues other "non fully tech but initially valued as tech" companies had last year. To do that they are continuing abandoning some of the underperforming markets. The expansion tho is much more costly now as it is mostly done through mergers (and their most profitable markets are likely to see heavy regulation soon). The stock rose because they got less loss than expected and still projected to slim down to reach profitability soon.
Most people here are american, and there are few things more ubiquitous to them than having a car. It's like the "why people don't use SMS/I don't need that, I use SMS" that you hear in every single messaging app thread.
I'm sure another rideshare company would step in to replace them at this point.
I could even see something like Craigslist But For Rideshares happening, where someone makes the app and maybe the option to make a Paypal (etc) payment but absolves themselves of any responsibility beyond that and it's up to the driver and customer to sort it out from there.
If not, well, I guess everyone around here will go back to driving themselves around, or getting a rental car if they flew in from out of town. (I don't live in a city like everyone else in this thread apparently does, so just "simply" switching "back" to a regular taxi isn't a viable option, and I think we are fortunate enough to have an entire bus route, but don't ask me where it goes or when it runs.)
I could even see something like Craigslist But For Rideshares happening, where someone makes the app and maybe the option to make a Paypal (etc) payment but absolves themselves of any responsibility beyond that and it's up to the driver and customer to sort it out from there.
If not, well, I guess everyone around here will go back to driving themselves around, or getting a rental car if they flew in from out of town. (I don't live in a city like everyone else in this thread apparently does, so just "simply" switching "back" to a regular taxi isn't a viable option, and I think we are fortunate enough to have an entire bus route, but don't ask me where it goes or when it runs.)
Yep.
Hell, I am American, I just live in Michigan where public transportation all but doesnt exist.
"Just use taxis"
As I wait 45 minutes for a taxi
"Use public transportation"
where the public transportation stops working at midnight or has a stop area 8 blocks from where my grandmother needs to go.
UBER/LYFT have shown us there is a necessity and a market. Its going to be rough.
As I wait 45 minutes for a taxi
"Use public transportation"
where the public transportation stops working at midnight or has a stop area 8 blocks from where my grandmother needs to go.
UBER/LYFT have shown us there is a necessity and a market. Its going to be rough.
Confused. I would assume its more popular INSIDE city limits rather than outside. At least in the US where its suburbs and everyone has a vehicle to drive anywhere.
How? These companies do not make money as they've grown and are only profitable in a relative handful of cities.
Sure LA and NYC will probably have Uber or an equivalent but smaller cities and suburbia sure won't. These companies are certain to shrink as the decade goes on.
Yup, if i use Illinois as example. Can get from North Suburb like McHenry all the way down to Naperville (50 miles) for a fare of $72. Only time ive seen people using it in suburbs was to get to a venue or leave a venue after a concert (cheaper vs parking fee) or if they are too drunk to drive home
It's amazing how the cornerstones of the New Economy are all losing money
Netflix still hasn't turned a profit yet either.
Netflix still hasn't turned a profit yet either.
Uber is just an illegal/unregulated taxi company with a good tech platform.
Taxi companies are now starting to have apps and that's more then adequate at replacing Uber even if it costs more (Due to paying workers fairly)
What happens when they decide they need to make a profit and the cost of ride sharing goes way up? We are basically getting subsidized rideshare from investors. This is in some ways similar to Moviepass (on a smaller scale) just subsidizing everyone's movie tickets.
Amazon barely/didn't make a profit for the first 9 years / 7 years after they became public.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
I know this sounds crazy, but there is a world that exists outside of New York City. I know, I've been there. I have brought back tales of vast plains and western coasts and even other continents across the great blue seas!
Get a lift with your local Amazon Delivery Driver! They can't *directly* drive to your location but hey feel free to jump out anytime during their route.
They can't go on being unprofitable forever, there is no doubt about that, but they can sustain losses for a long time if the business model shows potential. Airlines went decades losing money. Supply will constrain and fares will rise. It'll definitely get more expensive.
This is my feelings as well and why don't think Uber/Lyft will ever truly go away. If those companies bust other companies will come and replace.
Even funnier to think about bitcoin (and dogecoin and others) making people millionaires from nothing because uh..
why?
That's the issue. For now, it's simply not a profitable venture at price points people will entertain so they have to subsidize it to keep it afloat. Eventually that either has to stop, or people need to be willing to pay significantly more to use the service. It could honestly become a more high end luxury-ish thing Like you already have with car services that people only use if they're rich or really really need the ride.
What they charge now is simply not a viable long term pricing structure (until driverless cars of course, which is Uber's long term dream)