Uber is a nightmare: They’re selling a big lie — and the New York Times keeps buying it

[FrodosPet]

http://www.salon.com/2016/04/09/uber_is_a_nightmare_theyre_selling_a_big_lie_and_the_new_york_times_keeps_buying_it/

STEVEN HILL
SATURDAY, APR 9, 2016 02:00 PM EDT

Uber has been slowly rolling out its latest “trust me, I’m saving the world” product, this one a service that allows its Uber-taxis to pick up multiple passengers in serial fashion. Much like a commercial airport shuttle, strangers share part of the same ride and pay a reduced fare for just their part of the ride. It’s called UberPool, as in carpool, and CEO Travis Kalanick touted its alleged environmental and labor positives in a recent interview with the New York Times, saying that “reducing traffic was part of Uber’s mission.” If true, this is a welcome change from the CEO whose previously stated mission was to flood the streets with Uber cars to win his war for market share with Big Taxi and ridesharing competitor Lyft.

~ snip ~

Imagine two Uber drivers each carrying a single passenger along the same route which results in a fare of $11. After Uber takes its brokerage cut as well as its “safety fee” (even though the company still has the poorest driver background checks in the taxi industry), each driver ends up with $8 each in her or his (usually his) pocket, while Uber ends up with $6, a 27% commission for Uber.

Now along comes UberPool, and these same two serial riders get picked up by a single driver. Since UberPool offers passengers a substantial discount for sharing a ride, that means each passenger now pays $6 (in this example). After Uber takes its commission, including the safety fee, the payout to the driver is $4 for each passenger, or a total of $8. So the driver makes the same amount, but Uber’s take of the overall $12 for this ride is also $4 – a 33% overall commission. So Uber makes a higher percent on UberPool rides, yet the driver makes about the same amount.

But it turns out driving passenger after passenger, picking up and dropping off in a serial fashion, is a grind. Christian Perea, a longtime Uber and Lyft driver says, “Drivers end up doing a lot more work for the money.” Experienced drivers, he says, know that pickups and drop-offs are the most stressful part of each ride, and adding in a second or third rider only compounds the difficulty. “As people get added into your ride or cancel along the way, it becomes frustrating having to change direction every few minutes while constantly checking your phone while in traffic,” he says. “It’s honestly kind of a safety hazard.”

~ snip ~

Uber is not only killing the taxi industry, Uber is starting to kill Uber.

[LisaM]

1. I have so many problems with this model.

Among other things, the drivers are being coerced into car leases by businesses that have sprung up to take advantage of this. It's like a Ponzi scheme. I heard someone call it the ubiquitous sharing economy the "sharecropping" economy, and that moniker stuck with me so much I always use it.

They are doing a lot of damage, add to which they don't care about picking up anyone who doesn't have a smart phone and their lack of accommodation for disabled people, and well, it's a nightmare.

Thank you for posting this.

[PasadenaTrudy]

2. I've heard it called

the "siphoning up" economy.

[Prism]

3. Man, that article is slanted

Uber/Lyft have their problems, but that author could not have cherry-picked his sources harder if he tried.

First, UberPool and LyftLine aren't new products. They've been on the market for about a year and a half. I've done hundreds of rides. I've never - not a single time - had a passenger complain about picking up other pool passengers. They know what they signed up for.

Personally, I don't mind pool. Keeps me busy, I tend to make a little more, and each pool passenger counts as a single ride when factoring bonuses/incentives. Last weekend, Lyft had a $250 bonus if I gave 20 rides. So, of course, I wanted to get it done as quickly as possible. I kept praying for pools.

And why do none of the drivers in this article have a spine? If someone calls a pool, it tells you how many passengers to expect. Passenger said two people and three try to get in? You cancel the ride and move on. The same as you would if five people try to get in your car. This image of drivers meekly putting up with the great burden of asshole passengers. No. It's your car. You have the say so. You cancel the ride on the spot, pocket $5, and move on.

As far as passengers interacting, well, some do and some don't. Some sit silently, lost in their phones. Others have conversations with each other. It goes about 50/50. My last pool was a group of women who discovered a shared affinity for Lena Dunham. Great for their ride experience, awful for me.

I like the horror in the article. And in San Francisco of all places. "There are people double parking!!!!" You mean like every taxi and delivery driver ever? (The complaint is hilarious if you live here. Uber and Lyft aren't some special terror when it comes to the S.F. parking problem).

I have some problems with how Uber and Lyft do business. But this article is a total, slanted mess.