Uber Launches 'Express Pool' To Get More Riders To Share Rides (recode.net) 63
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Recode: Uber is beginning to roll out a cheaper version of its ride-sharing UberPool service, called Express Pool. The service, which was being tested in Boston and San Francisco, is now available in Los Angeles, San Diego and Denver, and will launch in Miami, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., tomorrow. The idea is that Express Pool, which requires riders to walk a little to meet their driver -- and then again to their destination after being dropped off -- will make shared rides more efficient. If it works, it should both increase the number of rides that drivers can give and also make those shared trips faster for passengers. The new service tests a thesis Uber has long had: Lower prices means higher utilization, and higher utilization means more money -- both for drivers and for Uber. Also that road congestion is bad and the solution is to share more rides. Those are the same theories that sparked the creation of the original UberPool service, which requires a little less walking. But the hope is that this will make it easier to match more passengers and therefore lose less money on each shared ride.
Isn't that (Score:1)
What a bus does?
Re: Isn't that (Score:1)
Not always true. I've ridden plenty of busses in major cities and they don't always smell nor are they always filled with people that smell.
Some do. But. So do some taxis and uber cars.
Only in the USA, and not *yet*. (Score:1)
Buses and subway in Europe generally aren't nasty and dangerous as in the US. Because everyone uses them, even the politicians and the fatcats, so there is a lot of focus in them. (Parking usually is a giant hassle, with tiny streets and barely any parking spaces. Often you only find a spot far away.)
In the US, they are nasty, because cities are designed for cars and everyone who can, has a car. So you end up with only those who can't, bad lines with a low frequency, and often compartively empty vehicles. A
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theft etc is more of a problem.
Citation?
In 2002, theft in America was about the same as in the EU [nationmaster.com]. In America, 10% were victims, vs 9.57% for the G7 average. That is an insignificant difference. Do you have more recent statistics that say otherwise?
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Neither is this. Its "walk to the pickup point", "wait for the other riders", "get dropped off after stopping for the other riders to get let off"
Might get some traction but (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: Bus (Score:2)
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There, of course, are, but they refuse to implement a thing known as a "schedule." I live near a bus stop where the buses run "every 10 minutes" and I've seen - and I'm not kidding here - three buses show up a half hour after I arrived at the stop. I guess that's technically an average of one bus every 10 minutes, but - c'mon.
The reason Uber's plan could work when buses (at least in the US) wouldn't is because of crap like that. The bus routes are also incredibly stupid, with basically no "hub" routes, mean
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Not having to interact with anyone is worth some cash.
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People use Uber for convenience; if walking two blocks to streamline the driver's flow they reduce their own cost, time lag, and overall congestion, it is a net benefit.
The challenge I would expect though is moving enough seats in a single vehicle along a mutually beneficial path. I am sure they have the data to say that it would work in the places they are starting it.
A bus has the downside of a fixed route, schedule and frequency, limited flexibility for maximizing utilization for changing traffic vector
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Buses run on loose schedules so you can stand for 10 minutes or risk waiting 30 for the next one. As to walking part of the way, if you know your trip you can plan it out: walk past nasty traffic, get picked up, drop off early if there's nasty traffic: drop me off here please.
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Except buses aren't on demand often infrequent and even more often stop at many other places you're not interested in going detouring from a far more efficient route.
Comparing car pooling to catching a bus is silly.
newsflash!!! (Score:1)
"cheaper version of its ride-sharing UberPool service"
this has nothing to do with making the service cheaper. it's all about raising the price of the more premium product.
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Exactly. It's like me showing up at work at 10 am, doing half the work and telling the boss this is my new, lower cost labor service. If he would like to continue enjoying the same old labor service, the new price is 20% more than the old price.
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Exactly. It's like me showing up at work at 10 am, doing half the work and telling the boss this is my new, lower cost labor service. If he would like to continue enjoying the same old labor service, the new price is 20% more than the old price.
Uber is going to have to do this at some point. They can't take a 40% loss on every ride forever. Either the price will have to go up, or the costs will have to go down. They already squeeze their drivers to the point that it's barely worth it to drive for them. I know they are supposedly going to go to self-driving cars. But let's be realistic; those are at least a decade away from actually replacing human drivers. I am interested to see if Uber will be as attractive to people if the price increases
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I suspect they will be able to get away with at least a 25% price hike because they already vary prices. I don't think I've paid a consistent price for the same ride from my house to the airport. Some some aspect of a price increase, especially over a period of months will just be invisible unless you're a real regular off-peak Uber rider.
I also think the utility value of ordering up a ride and actually getting it within about 10 minutes is as valuable as the ride itself. Before Uber, calling an actual
Happy to share rides, could get weird (Score:1)
Half of my fun on these rides is talking gender politics with the drivers. They have to speak English well enough. They tend to be less east-coast college liberal than my work colleagues, and their much closer relationship with reality and having a real job is.... well, it's refreshing. And the foreign drivers from poorer countries, working essentially as refugees, are just *amazed* at the things Americans get up to.
And the Brazilians are great. They just wonder why we worry so much about it: here, they're
Please stop calling it "Ride Sharing" (Score:5, Insightful)
Uber is a taxi service plain and simple. Unless you, the driver and fellow passengers are actually splitting the cost of the trip equally it is not ride sharing....it's hiring a driver to take you somewhere.
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http://actweb.org/public_polic... [actweb.org]
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it's hiring a driver to take you somewhere.
Yes it is. But that doesn't make it a taxi. It makes it a private car for hire, which is not regulated the same as a taxi. It should be regulated like limos.
Re: Please stop calling it "Ride Sharing" (Score:2)
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You can't hail an Uber: not a taxi. You can book an Uber: basically a low cost limo.
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It won't work (Score:2)
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The ones that pay you to travel for business reasons? Going to/from the airport, travelling to/from hotel at the destination. The commenter above is not talking about commuting.
Congratulations, Uber! (Score:5, Interesting)
So... a bus. (Score:2)
The difference is, it's funded by venture capital rather than taxes! (Until the venture capital runs out)
Ride that requires walking is DOOMED TO FAIL (Score:1)
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I only care a little bit because I think all the Fred Flintstones pedaling their way through their lives are just wasting their short time on this planet. Cars are stupid and pointless. Work from home. Ride a bike. Get some fresh air. Stop wasting hours of your life everyday staring at tail lights.
You need a better car. Mine has super-comfy seats, climate control, a nice stereo, great handling and a powerful engine. It works in all weather, keeps me warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and dry on rainy days. It runs on only my schedule, and it's fun to drive.
I think cars are one of the greatest inventions ever. They provide fast, comfortable, convenient transport whenever I want it. Sure, I sit in traffic sometimes (okay, they aren't always fast). But like I said, my car is quite pleasant to
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"and a powerful engine"
Really...? You should dig deep into your psyche and try and figure out what that powerful engine really means in relation to whats missing in your life.
And if your engine is rated in HP and not kw then you should leave slashdot.
Heh, the powerful engine fills one of the things that was missing from my life: the exhilaration of being shoved back in my seat as the car launches forward. Have you ever driven a sports car? Feeling the tires grip the road as you exit a corner and apply power is just a blast. I actually enjoy the handling more than the power. The car just goes right where I point it. It's the joy of using a precise machine. I'm not sure why you assume driving a fast car indicates I'm compensating for something. Wha
I think they're in trouble... (Score:2)
Bleeding cash, and in some areas having to stop UberPop since people have (finally) realized they can't make money doing it.
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/b... [swissinfo.ch]
I don't believe the BS from the boss recently that they could somehow magically "tweak the knobs" and turn an annual cash burn of billions into profit. Launching another "even lower cost" service; how's that gonna help?
Note to boss: stop throwing away cash on self-driving cars that Google & others will do certainly do better, and strip your costs t
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They have no choice. As you state: "How many people does it take to run the cloud service?" If they are not doing something to lay a path beyond just a cloud service that is easy relatively easy to replicate they will stop getting investments and their whole little house of cards will fall apart.
For now they need the dog and pony show to go on to keep money coming in to allow them to continue to buy market share by subsidizing rides below cost (despite awful net wages for the drivers).
I give them about 12
Anchorage, Palmer, and Wasilla Alaska (Score:1)
This would work great up here in Alaska. No real competition and a huge pool of potential users.
What a great idea! (Score:1)
And, and, maybe they can get the Uber drivers to get really large vans; and paint them in striking color schemes to make them easier to spot; and maybe run on a circular route on a schedule so people wouldn't have to book the Uber ride ahead of time, but just get on and pay.
Oh Wait.....