Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/04/19/opacity-n-gouging.html
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That makes me glad I live somewhere I can get to the airport for a $2.25 on the subway.
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that means they get to fuck everybody over.
No, they don’t. They can’t charge me a penny. The cool thing about capitalism is that I don’t have to use Uber. In fact, if I thought they were a ripoff, I have the right to start… I dunno, BoundegarBuber or something.
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Sounds like a scam just about.
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Can i pay you in cookies?
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If they’re really really good.
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This feels like when studios say a movie with hundreds of millions of dollars in box office lost them millions but they’ve immediately green lighted a sequel. It feels like something fishy is going on in the ledgers. Or is the legal and expansion overhead killing them?
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So with 7 hours on our hands at LA airport this winter, we looked for something to do. A helpful agent suggested a well-liked restaurant nearby. App-based fares for my family were in the $30-80 range, and that’s after I’d gone to the bother of downloading the app over sketchy airport wifi. Taxi fare should have been $5-8 for the distance in question (it’s been pointed out I’ve missed the “tourist tax” a.k.a. “airport surcharge”), if even, but could I find one?
Walking… um… distance was feasible but … yeah … LA …
I found myself longing for the days of the regulated taxi industry.
‘LibreTaxi’ … would I let my daughter take one by herself? No. A regulated taxi? Yes. We’ve seen that movie before, albeit it was in black-and-white and before talkies.
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The past 2 companies I worked with have travel policies that specifically requires employees to use Uber or Lyft over traditional taxi or rental cars where possible in order to save money.
I wonder if the finance teams realized or thought about the extent of the subsidies involved and the possibility of rapid and dramatic fare increases and how that would impact the travel budget by codifying it into policy? We might see a sudden reversal once the rideshare fares start to equal or exceed taxis.
I don’t mind Uber and will use them when it’s not my money I’m spending. One one hand I like not having to carry cash with me and forced tipping but on the other hand I sometimes just like getting in the back of a cab and not having to carry on a conversation with my driver.
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I have always wondered why Uber/Lyft drivers don’t do themselves a kindness and start their own employee owned ride share service. I wouldn’t go near Uber but a fair employee owned service I would be more than happy to pay for.
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On our recent family vacation, we used three different Ubers in Phoenix. I’ve been seeing a lot about how badly those drivers are exploited, so I asked each driver if they liked driving for Uber. All three said they love it and don’t want to do anything else. BUT, one was a retiree driving to stay busy and earn some blow money (but driving 30+ hrs per wk). One was a late middle-aged divorcee with grown children driving 50+ hrs/wk to fund the lifestyle he found desirable. And one was a middle-aged woman with no children, but a niece for whom she is part-time caregiver, and a part-time job as some type of counselor. That woman worked 40+ hrs driving, plus another 10-20 hrs in her other job. All three drivers reported feeling empowered by this job where they choose the hours.
Obviously my limited experiences don’t make any difference to the larger narrative, but I think it’s worth noting that some folks are having positive experiences with this job. I would imagine driving for Uber or Lyft is crushingly stressful for single parents, or people who aren’t already financially stable.
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But…but…disruption is supposed to be good, right? It gets rid of all those pesky regulations and safety standards, while shaking up whole industries to create new ways of shaking down customers and exploiting workersdelivering products and services!
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I feel the same way. It’s also possible to request an investigation into their status, which seems to be employees when Uber wants employees, but independent contractors when they don’t. Maybe not under the current administration.
There’s a long, thoughtful article about alternative rideshare services written by one … … “Cory Doctorow” … that talks about some of the obstacles to creating such a solution.
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I still don’t understand how Uber are losing money. Almost half the cost of a ride goes to them, not the drivers. They’ve externalized almost all their costs by making their actual workers (the drivers) not employees and made them responsible for all car-related expenses. (To the point where long-time drivers find themselves in a position where they’re now working for Uber just to make enough money to pay for all the wear-and-tear done to their vehicles previously working for Uber.) They’re running some servers and have a tiny (and decreasing) number of support staff for drivers. That shouldn’t cost very much. So where’s the money going? Research on self-driving cars?
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Unless they’ve destroyed alternative means of transportation (e.g. public buses) which, increasingly, they have.
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Coke and hookers. Executive Excellence Bonus and Retention Fund?
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Because it’s a scam designed to line the pockets of a select few?
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Well, that’s a given, but it seems like it would be a better scam if they weren’t losing money. But maybe the loses make them like a Nigerian prince scam - they’re selecting for suckers.
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So, what you’re telling me is that, when you remove subsidies and require the business model to turn a profit, the pricing ends up not that different from a traditional taxi, but because you removed all labor protections and regulations the drivers get screwed?
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