# UBER / Lyft



## Road Guy (Apr 7, 2017)

So I was at a transportation conference and one of the less boring speakers had done some research on the effect of uber vehicles on the road. I will  summarize without any links cause I don't have them but it was pretty interesting.  The "study" was from some recent phd's who also drove as uber drivers for a year while they did some of their research.

These were Denver Numbers:

Average Drivers are making (gross) $15 an hour in Metro Area. After you factor in wear and tear on your vehicle, gas, etc they are making $7.50 / hour (less than Colorado minimum wage). Like a lot of people they are not factoring in the true cost they are experiencing.

Uber is converting trips that used to be walking / biking / transit trips to vehicle trips resulting in increased traffic on roads.

Basically the study said the main people benefiting from uber are people out to drink, people not wanting to drive to places where parking is expensive / dangerous, or for trips to the airport...

look for the transit police to kill these companies of soon


----------



## P-E (Apr 7, 2017)

Road Guy said:


> So I was at a transportation conference and one of the less boring speakers had done some research on the effect of uber vehicles on the road. I will  summarize without any links cause I don't have them but it was pretty interesting.  The "study" was from some recent phd's who also drove as uber drivers for a year while they did some of their research.
> 
> These were Denver Numbers:
> 
> ...


Absolutely correct.   My neighbors and I use uber all the time to go out for beers.   I use uber to get to the airport all the time other than day trips.


----------



## Road Guy (Apr 7, 2017)

I was kind of surprised how little money these drivers are making. I know a lot of people do it as a part time job but it just doesn't seem worth your trouble, considering both my kids are working part time jobs for $10 an hour with almost the least amount of responsibility possible!


----------



## P-E (Apr 7, 2017)

Road Guy said:


> I was kind of surprised how little money these drivers are making. I know a lot of people do it as a part time job but it just doesn't seem worth your trouble, considering both my kids are working part time jobs for $10 an hour with almost the least amount of responsibility possible!


That's why I always tip them even though you're not require to.


----------



## Road Guy (Apr 7, 2017)

&amp; this guys "research" said the numbers they posted included tips!


----------



## P-E (Apr 7, 2017)

Road Guy said:


> &amp; this guys "research" said the numbers they posted included tips!


Ouch


----------



## leggo PE (Apr 7, 2017)

Ouch indeed!

I use exclusively Lyft (used Uber in the past, but stopped using them long before they found themselves in the news). Most of my Lyft usage are to go out to dinner or drinking, or to go somewhere where I know parking is nearly impossible. Occasionally, I do it to get home from appointments when there is no good way to bike, drive, or take Muni there.

I can't say I'm really that surprised that they are making so little money, though. I wonder how these numbers would compare to other parts of the country.


----------



## Dexman PE PMP (Apr 9, 2017)

Several of the guys here use Uber instead of Taxi's because they're half the cost. For me to get to the project site (one way), it's either a 30-min walk, a $15 taxi ride, or a $7 Uber. The company has a couple of pool cars, but they're always booked. We're actually encouraged to use Uber or Taxis instead of getting another pool vehicle.


----------



## Supe (Apr 10, 2017)

I just used Uber everywhere in Miami and loved it.  After a taxi was late, my coworker ordered up an Uber and the Uber arrived a minute or two before the cab did, which we had been waiting 25+ minutes for after calling it in an hour ahead.  After some soup-nazi style motherf*cking for "wasting his time" from the useless cab driver, we enjoyed a trip to dinner in a plush Infiniti SUV for less than half the cost of the taxi.  We drank heavily the rest of the week and used Uber for all of it.  And not having to wait for them to swipe the company credit card and handle paper receipts was the bees knees.


----------



## engineergurl (Apr 10, 2017)

Uber has pretty much failed here.  The majority of the people who would use it are on post and they have declared the policy that uber drivers must register like the taxis to get on post.  Of course a retiree, spouse or active duty could skirt that system by using their ID card anyway, but non-military related people would have to pay like $300 a year for the pass to get on post.


----------



## csb (Apr 10, 2017)

We have a friend in the Berkley area who just quit his part time job to drive for Uber exclusively. Apparently if you go full time there are perks that aren't seen at the part-time level. He's still looking for an actual full time job, but in the meantime full time in the SF area is paying the bills. 

I can imagine why Denver isn't great. We were in LoDo on a Wednesday two weeks ago and the pedicab guys were working for tips. It was dead. 

Also, I just read an article in ITE or some jazz about Uber/Lyft are increasing traffic on the road in a substantial way. It is true- trips that would have been taken by transit or other modes are now being done by passenger vehicle.


----------



## kevo_55 (Apr 10, 2017)

^^ East Bay cost of living &lt;&lt;&lt;&lt; West Bay cost of living. Even in Berkeley.

Still, I am with RG. Cities will start to take their share when they realize what is going on.


----------



## Road Guy (Apr 10, 2017)

I imagine the money the drivers are making is the same for most decent sized cities. From what little I have used UBER it seems like there are more drivers than customers.  &amp; I do prefer to use uber over a cab, I just think uber is keeping the fares lower to be the obvious choice compared to a cab ride &amp; eventually people will come to realize they are not really making as much money when the factor in the cost of the wear and tear on their vehicle.

But say I take uber to the airport instead of driving their myself and paying for parking. This saves me money but instead of 1 trip to the airport now its 2 trips to the airport.


----------



## MA_PE (Apr 10, 2017)

Road Guy said:


> I imagine the money the drivers are making is the same for most decent sized cities. From what little I have used UBER it seems like there are more drivers than customers.  &amp; I do prefer to use uber over a cab, I just think uber is keeping the fares lower to be the obvious choice compared to a cab ride &amp; eventually people will come to realize they are not really making as much money when the factor in the cost of the wear and tear on their vehicle.
> 
> But say I take uber to the airport instead of driving their myself and paying for parking. This saves me money but instead of 1 trip to the airport now its 2 trips to the airport.


but parking at Logan is $29/day, so if you'r going for several days even a cab is cheaper than driving yourself and leaving the car at the airport.


----------



## Supe (Apr 10, 2017)

MA_PE said:


> but parking at Logan is $29/day, so if you'r going for several days even a cab is cheaper than driving yourself and leaving the car at the airport.


Holy crap!  Charlotte is cheaper even if you park in the hourly deck for a full day!


----------



## Road Guy (Apr 10, 2017)

I was going for the "more cars on the road' versus the cost angle...

there is a guy in our subdivision who ferry's people back and forth to the airport for $30 bucks. He is basically offering an unlicensed taxi service


----------



## csb (Apr 10, 2017)

There's also a fee paid to the airport by taxi and shuttle services. It's part of the FAA's mandate for funding sources. That's why a "real" cab cost more than an Uber driver to go to the airport.


----------



## snickerd3 (Apr 10, 2017)

csb said:


> There's also a fee paid to the airport by taxi and shuttle services. It's part of the FAA's mandate for funding sources. That's why a "real" cab cost more than an Uber driver to go to the airport.


I never understood how Uber and the like got away without paying those.  some cities have the same thing just to operate in the limits but then comes in uber and they don't have to pay..


----------



## Supe (Apr 10, 2017)

snickerd3 said:


> I never understood how Uber and the like got away without paying those.  some cities have the same thing just to operate in the limits but then comes in uber and they don't have to pay..


I think its just a case of the law not having caught up yet.


----------



## engineergurl (Apr 10, 2017)

Supe said:


> I think its just a case of the law not having caught up yet.


It's starting to catch up, just hard to charge the fees when there aren't access control gates.


----------



## leggo PE (Apr 26, 2017)

In other Uber news...

http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/25/technology/uber-flying-car/index.html?iid=ob_homepage_deskrecommended_pool


----------



## willsee (Apr 26, 2017)

snickerd3 said:


> I never understood how Uber and the like got away without paying those.  some cities have the same thing just to operate in the limits but then comes in uber and they don't have to pay..


I thought certain airports wouldn't allow Uber or Lyft?


----------



## Dexman PE PMP (Apr 26, 2017)

How would an airport be able to enforce the ban? To anyone curbside, they don't look anything different than a friend picking up or dropping off...


----------



## Audi Driver P.E. (Apr 26, 2017)

I thought part of the point of Uber was you would offer a ride to someone who was going the same direction/time as you.  If you're going anyway, isn't the full $15 money in the bank?


----------



## Road Guy (Apr 26, 2017)

Most are using it as a job / supplemental income and not as a "ride share" - If you check out the app you will see there are tons of these drivers just hanging out waiting to give you a ride, probably idling and further polluting the environment. We should be thankful the unions are standing up to these rebels!


----------



## MA_PE (Apr 27, 2017)

The local news had an item on how Uber is now partnering with restaurants to deliver take out orders.  The Uber app would allow the user to have a driver pickup their food from participating restaurants.


----------



## knight1fox3 (Apr 27, 2017)

MA_PE said:


> The local news had an item on how Uber is now partnering with restaurants to deliver take out orders.  The Uber app would allow the user to have a driver pickup their food from participating restaurants.


Could Uber pick up food, swing by the local tavern, pick you up, and then bring you home with food???   EPIC


----------



## MA_PE (Apr 27, 2017)

I suspect Uber drivers will do anything for a fee


----------



## leggo PE (Apr 27, 2017)

knight1fox3 said:


> Could Uber pick up food, swing by the local tavern, pick you up, and then bring you home with food???   EPIC


This is extremely possible around these parts!


----------



## Dexman PE PMP (Apr 27, 2017)

I've seen several people post that they'll walk into a restaurant (like Dominoes), order delivery to their own house, then hitch a ride with the driver.


----------



## Road Guy (Feb 17, 2020)

Uber / Lyft Making traffic worse not better...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-ride-hail-utopia-that-got-stuck-in-traffic-11581742802


----------



## jeb6294 (Feb 18, 2020)

I can see that, people taking an Uber because they think they're 'too good' to take the bus so you end up with 10 cars instead of 1 bus.

With the new job downtown, I take the bus every day and it's great.  Park-and-ride is 2.5 mile from the house and there are 2 different express routes with stops right across the street from the Federal Building.  Throw in the fact that the Gov't will pay for your public transportation makes it a no brainer.


----------



## Road Guy (Feb 18, 2020)

I think that the only real benefit of uber is the significant reduction in DUI's and the deaths they cause, which is probably enough, but I think eventually people will look back and think how underpaid the drivers were and how it didnt actually help reduce trips (increased traffic)


----------



## jeb6294 (Feb 18, 2020)

Cincinnati does an event every couple years, Blink, that has hundreds of thousands of people coming downtown. Downtown was so crowded that Uber had a designated spot a couple blocks over where people had to go to get picked up.  Wonder how many of those people who were streaming to that street corner could have buddied up with other people and shared an Uber? (I've never used it, but I'm assuming there's no 'carpooling' option)


----------



## leggo PE (Feb 18, 2020)

jeb6294 said:


> Cincinnati does an event every couple years, Blink, that has hundreds of thousands of people coming downtown. Downtown was so crowded that Uber had a designated spot a couple blocks over where people had to go to get picked up.  Wonder how many of those people who were streaming to that street corner could have buddied up with other people and shared an Uber? (I've never used it, but I'm assuming there's no 'carpooling' option)


Actually, you can request Uber Pools or Shared Lyfts to match you with other random riders in a shared car so long as your trip is at least in part matching with some or all of the other riders' trips, that will drop off each of the riders (and sometimes, pick up more riders) in a designated order based on where the end destinations are.

You can also share an Uber/Lyft with your friends and add in additional stops (for an additional fee) after the ride starts.


----------

