Uber Suspends Pooled Rides in US, Canada To Limit Coronavirus Spread

Uber said on Tuesday that it has begun suspending shared rides on its ride-hailing platform in the United States and Canada to limit the spread of the coronavirus. From a report: The pooled option, which allows riders to book trips at lower prices by sharing the car with up to three other passengers traveling in the same direction, has been disabled for users opening the apps in the two countries. "Our goal is to help flatten the curve on community spread in the cities we serve," senior vice president Uber Rides and Platform Andrew Macdonald said in a statement. A spokesman said similar steps outside the U.S. and Canada would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Regular rides and the company's food delivery platform Uber Eats remain available, but Uber said it was in contact with local authorities to adjust operations as needed.

Suspending shared rides?

[Arthur, KBE]

Uber said on Tuesday that it has begun suspending shared rides on its ride-hailing platform in the United States and Canada to limit the spread of the coronavirus. From a report:

But they're a ride-sharing company that is suspending shared rides? Maybe they'll go into nuclear dentistry instead?

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[olsmeister]

A pandemic is the type of black swan thing that can alter / upend many types of business models. It's not the kind of thing they could have anticipated (nor really should they have). They're still better off than the cruise ship industry or the guy down the street that owns the local pub that is being forcibly shut down.

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[nospam007]

"They're still better off than the cruise ship industry or the guy down the street that owns the local pub that is being forcibly shut down."

But not the Winchester Pub?

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[DontBeAMoran]

I don't care about the Winchester Pub. I'm staying at home with my 33RPM record collection and my toilet paper. That's the only way to be sure.

WHo would even get in a Corona Cab

[goombah99]

WHy get into a confined space with a driver that has had a hundred people breath on.

I'll social distance myself on the City Bus. And if we could get all these Uber's off the road I'd feel safer to just ride my bike and do everyone else on the bus a favor too.

Moreover it's not just me. I don't want other people spreading this by getting in Corona Cabs either. All gotta pull together right now.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

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[DontBeAMoran]

...but they eill not listen.

The issue is that theu might not ve in danger, but they are a danger to millions of others.

I believe you are in danger yourself and the symptoms appeared quite rapidly. Unless you're on the MacBook with a butterfly keyboard, in which case I appppologize.

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[Gojira Shipi-Taro]

I'm disabled, I can't ride a bike. I am also avoiding the busses here as they are favored by groups that are either unable to take sick time, or homeless, and likely the primary vector for infection here. I won't do business with the cab companies. Fortunately I have no place to go, but Ubers are critical for me if I need to get somewhere in the next 30 days.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

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[slack_justyb]

The sharing economy is toast!

That may be a bit premature. These companies have multiple lines of credit, liquidity, and the vast majority of their "workers" are in limited liability. I'm not saying that "Oh yeah, they'll weather this thing like a beast". I'm just saying, they don't share the same overhead as a typical company. I think "toast" is a bit early in the game to be calling right now.

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[l0ungeb0y]

Plus in Uber's case at least they are international, so while they might take losses in the US and CA, they will be making revenue in regions that aren't as impacted Also, they still offer Uber-X, which I normally get anyway and I think most people would be willing to pay that small premium to get to where their going without sharing the backseat with strangers

There is a flaw in the logic

[cysurfer]

Does anyone else see the flaw in this logic? So no sharing, riders to get into Ubers by themselves. However, are they going to disinfect the car and driver before picking up the next rider? If not, then stopping a ride share of max 3 sharers does nothing but boost profits because they can no longer get the discounted rate it does not reduce the health risk.