How Long Can Uber Keep Stealing Riders From the Subway?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Polly Trottenberg announced an initiative that essentially makes it much more expensive to take cabs.  Come January it will be $5.80 before you even step into a cab or an Uber.  Then the minimum wage is going up for Uber drivers.  I have a meeting tonight for work and originally planned on taking the subway since I don't have anything to carry , but I decided to check anyway out of curiosity, and an Uber Pool is under $7.00!! VERY enticing that's for sure.  Now I may not bother taking the subway... I don't know how long they can eat the costs, but we'll see.  Time will tell.

[Abba]

Don’t be so intimidating by pool unless you have time to kill.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 minute ago, Abba said:

Don’t be so intimidating by pool unless you have time to kill.

I LOVE Pool. Quite frankly I've used it a few times for meetings since I had the time to spare and have yet to ride with anyone.  By comparison the same ride in a regular Uber would be around $28.00. 

[bobtehpanda]

3 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Polly Trottenberg announced an initiative that essentially makes it much more expensive to take cabs.  Come January it will be $5.80 before you even step into a cab or an Uber.  Then the minimum wage is going up for Uber drivers.  I have a meeting tonight for work and originally planned on taking the subway since I don't have anything to carry , but I decided to check anyway out of curiosity, and an Uber Pool is under $7.00!! VERY enticing that's for sure.  Now I may not bother taking the subway... I don't know how long they can eat the costs, but we'll see.  Time will tell.

Uber burned through $1.7B of money last quarter. Quite frankly, the fact that the party has gone so long for some of these "startups" (lol) is either a testament to an economic miracle, or how silly people with money can be.

[Deucey]

3 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Polly Trottenberg announced an initiative that essentially makes it much more expensive to take cabs.  Come January it will be $5.80 before you even step into a cab or an Uber.  Then the minimum wage is going up for Uber drivers.  I have a meeting tonight for work and originally planned on taking the subway since I don't have anything to carry , but I decided to check anyway out of curiosity, and an Uber Pool is under $7.00!! VERY enticing that's for sure.  Now I may not bother taking the subway... I don't know how long they can eat the costs, but we'll see.  Time will tell.

Given how quickly Uber burns through investor cash, and how irrationally investors act, you got until  starts growing ridership again.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 minute ago, Deucey said:

Given how quickly Uber burns through investor cash, and how irrationally investors act, you got until  starts growing ridership again.

Opted for the subway for my meeting and regretted it. Taking Uber back to the office afterwards. Took almost an hour to reach my meeting and my client was FREAKING out since I have to manage several people for this meeting with the City. LOL

[Lil 57]

3 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Polly Trottenberg announced an initiative that essentially makes it much more expensive to take cabs.  Come January it will be $5.80 before you even step into a cab or an Uber.  Then the minimum wage is going up for Uber drivers.  I have a meeting tonight for work and originally planned on taking the subway since I don't have anything to carry , but I decided to check anyway out of curiosity, and an Uber Pool is under $7.00!! VERY enticing that's for sure.  Now I may not bother taking the subway... I don't know how long they can eat the costs, but we'll see.  Time will tell.

So they want to make Uber more expensive but also want to CUT subway and bus service throughout the city? SMH!

[peacemak3r]

I was in the same shoes as you VG8, took the subway to the client...took Lyft back to the office. Can't really complain on taking Uber or Lyft but my company pays for Lyft so Lyft is was. (I also had nothing to carry.)

[Via Garibaldi 8]

12 minutes ago, peacemak3r said:

I was in the same shoes as you VG8, took the subway to the client...took Lyft back to the office. Can't really complain on taking Uber or Lyft but my company pays for Lyft so Lyft is was. (I also had nothing to carry.)

I just finished the meeting. I didn’t do a Pool because I didn’t feel like walking with my stuff. Had some things dropped off. It was $17.25 to have him pick me up and a four minute wait. Can’t beat that. I’ll get reimbursed next week, but man, the trips have been even cheaper than expected. I had a meeting in Brooklyn. I think it was around $20-25 for a Pool and I rode alone. With the tip it’ll still be under $25.00.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

40 minutes ago, Lil 57 said:

So they want to make Uber more expensive but also want to CUT subway and bus service throughout the city? SMH!

They’re cutting service but then trying to FORCE people to use it. It took me an HOUR from Midtown to Downtown on the  . I checked the MTA website BEFORE leaving the office, and it was “Good Service”. Got an espresso, go down to the station, and just like that, service was a mess. Had to let about FOUR  trains pass before I could get on one. 

[peacemak3r]

The only times I've decided against a cab/rideshare is when I have to go to a client in Lower Manhattan, I just take the train there to avoid headaches. The last time I took a cab into Lower Manhattan, the driver asked me if I wanted to take West Side or FDR to head back north and honestly it didn't matter since gridlock as so bad. But anywhere in Midtown or Chelsea, I'll take a cab any day.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 minute ago, peacemak3r said:

The only times I've decided against a cab/rideshare is when I have to go to a client in Lower Manhattan, I just take the train there to avoid headaches. The last time I took a cab into Lower Manhattan, the driver asked me if I wanted to take West Side or FDR to head back north and honestly it didn't matter since gridlock as so bad. But anywhere in Midtown or Chelsea, I'll take a cab any day.

It’s crazy. I almost thought about going upstairs and getting an Uber the rest of the way. Second time now coming Downtown for a short 15 minute subway ride that has turned into a fiasco. They really need more capacity. Too many people during the rush hour and the system is maxed out.

[NoHacksJustKhaks]

I generally feel these startups are still shaky in their current and future economic standing, so I'm not gonna get too accustomed to the prices for ride share I'm seeing today. But again, these are providing some good options in an area where subways and buses are losing reputation pretty fast, and not keeping up. Just today, I had to deal with an almost two hour combined ride on the subway due to horrible service in general (where it should've taken WAY less than an hour). I can't say for a certain whether or not Uber / Lyft will take over this city (still pricey for many and the economic situation as I mentioned above), but I welcome the concept of competition they provide in general to improve and diversify commuting options for many, especially when for many, it can be  or nada.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

2 minutes ago, NoHacksJustKhaks said:

I generally feel these startups are still shaky in their current and future economic standing, so I'm not gonna get too accustomed to the prices for ride share I'm seeing today. But again, these are providing some good options in an area where subways and buses are losing reputation pretty fast, and not keeping up. Just today, I had to deal with an almost two hour combined ride on the subway due to horrible service in general (where it should've taken WAY less than an hour). I can't say for a certain whether or not Uber / Lyft will take over this city (still pricey for many and the economic situation as I mentioned above), but I welcome the concept of competition they provide in general to improve and diversify commuting options for many, especially when for many, it can be  or nada.

Well even with a very generous $5.00 tip that I just gave on my card, it still beat the subway by a mile. That trip took maybe 15 minutes tops and I couldn’t do that on the subway. No way no how... Just the walk to the subway is a good 15-20 minutes alone to and from.

[Abba]

7 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I LOVE Pool. Quite frankly I've used it a few times for meetings since I had the time to spare and have yet to ride with anyone.  By comparison the same ride in a regular Uber would be around $28.00. 

It was good but now they make you wait for a car ,detours.thats just me other people might love it.

[CenSin]

Ride sharing services can only take on so many riders until their reliability tanks. They could never do what the MTA does with trains and buses. That much is physically ensured.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, CenSin said:

Ride sharing services can only take on so many riders until their reliability tanks. They could never do what the MTA does with trains and buses. That much is physically ensured.

All I know is my two rides were dirt cheap today. This ride I’m taking now from my latest meeting was $11.06. Car meeting me as I walked out of the building.

[RailRunRob]

12 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

All I know is my two rides were dirt cheap today. This ride I’m taking now from my latest meeting was $11.06. Car meeting me as I walked out of the building.

For now, this is still the honeymoon stage for rideshare. There is a tipping point for the roads.  Uber seems like they could be in it for the long haul. Their engineering arm is also pretty involved in transportation dynamics and autonomy and seem to be working on some services in that section as well. They are burning cash tho most of the rides you enjoy are fairly subsidized. There in the Debt financing period now let's see how that out works out. They Seem pretty solid tho.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

15 minutes ago, RailRunRob said:

For now, this is still the honeymoon stage for rideshare. There is a tipping point for the roads.  Uber seems like they could be in it for the long haul. Their engineering arm is also pretty involved in transportation dynamics and autonomy and seem to be working on some services in that section as well. They are burning cash tho most of the rides you enjoy are fairly subsidized. There in the Debt financing period now let's see how that out works out. They Seem pretty solid tho.

Agreed. My rides have excellent in terms of arrival times and punctuality. I walked out of my meeting last night and by the time I made it outside with what I was carrying the car just pulled up. Was tracking it on my iPad. Arrival back to my office was right on time too. They had an Uber Pool for under $4.00. lol Crazy... I went for the regular car at $11.00 since I didn’t feel like walking to a spot with what I was carrying. For two rides I spent $14.75 and $12.09 respectively. The first ride was technically just before the peak of the rush, hence the slightly higher price with the tip.

[RailRunRob]

49 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Agreed. My rides have excellent in terms of arrival times and punctuality. I walked out of my meeting last night and by the time I made it outside with what I was carrying the car just pulled up. Was tracking it on my iPad. Arrival back to my office was right on time too. They had an Uber Pool for under $4.00. lol Crazy... I went for the regular car at $11.00 since I didn’t feel like walking to a spot with what I was carrying. For two rides I spent $14.75 and $12.09 respectively. The first ride was technically just before the peak of the rush, hence the slightly higher price with the tip.

No uber is great I use it often, especially when traveling on West Coast sometimes over renting a car the rates are even cheaper in those parts. New Yorks growth plus it's street grid capacity has a limit tho ridesharing may have a little more room for growth. But at peaks hours in Manhattan your already seeing limits with added traffic. 7/10 times the subway is still the faster way in rush hour. Meetings or dinners on the UES from Downtown the  is a bullet when it's working. No uber taking the FDR or the Avenues are going to beat the train don't care how much you catch the lights. Ride-sharing and taxis are always going to be an option for the foreseeable future but they'll never be the predominant mode of transportation New York is just not built like that.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

36 minutes ago, RailRunRob said:

No uber is great I use it often, especially when traveling on West Coast sometimes over renting a car the rates are even cheaper in those parts. New Yorks growth plus it's street grid capacity has a limit tho ridesharing may have a little more room for growth. But at peaks hours in Manhattan your already seeing limits with added traffic. 7/10 times the subway is still the faster way in rush hour. Meetings or dinners on the UES from Downtown the  is a bullet when it's working. No uber taking the FDR or the Avenues are going to beat the train don't care how much you catch the lights. Ride-sharing and taxis are always going to be an option for the foreseeable future but they'll never be the predominant mode of transportation New York is just not built like that.

Well the other night the subway wasn't working. Took me an HOUR to get from Midtown to Downtown.  The  can talk about better speeds all it wants, but they are starting to have a SERIOUS capacity problem during rush hour. They simply cannot handle the ridership, which is why you have to let several trains pass before you can get on one.

[RailRunRob]

31 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Well the other night the subway wasn't working. Took me an HOUR to get from Midtown to Downtown.  The  can talk about better speeds all it wants, but they are starting to have a SERIOUS capacity problem during rush hour. They simply cannot handle the ridership, which is why you have to let several trains pass before you can get on one.

I'm with you. The  needs to get on the job for sure. I'm just speaking from a holistic perspective and what the system was designed to do. Making sure it performing as intended is something that needs to be addressed even added apon but doesn't change the limitations of cars and traffic based on planning and design that's Mathematics.  With the Growth even slowed abit were heading for a point were neither the roads or the trains will be able to handle ridership. That's my point.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 minute ago, RailRunRob said:

I'm with you. The  needs to get on the job for sure. I'm just speaking from a holistic perspective and what the system was designed to do. Making sure it performing as intended is something that needs to be addressed even added apon but doesn't change the limitations of cars and traffic based on planning and design that's Mathematics.  With the Growth even slowed abit were heading for a point were neither the roads or the trains will be able to handle ridership. That's my point.

I agree there. I have really started paying attention to the license plates of vehicles and I'm shocked how many cars I previously assumed were just personal vehicles that are actually Ubers, Lyfts and the like. It's crazy.  Often times on one block they easily make up the majority of the traffic. Any license plate that starts with a "T" is a dead give away, but there are other clues as well.  Certain stickers on the front or side of the car, and often times the make of the car (lots of black Toyotas for example).

[P3F]

4 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I agree there. I have really started paying attention to the license plates of vehicles and I'm shocked how many cars I previously assumed were just personal vehicles that are actually Ubers, Lyfts and the like. It's crazy.  Often times on one block they easily make up the majority of the traffic. Any license plate that starts with a "T" is a dead give away, but there are other clues as well.  Certain stickers on the front or side of the car, and often times the make of the car (lots of black Toyotas for example).

In New York, their license plate numbers start with T and end with C. They also read "T&LC" where "Empire State" is normally located.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

2 minutes ago, P3F said:

They also read "T&LC" where "Empire State" is normally located.

Edited just now by P3F

Right... There are others too though. I've seen Mercedes Benz that were Ubers.