AlexMeloche
Member
Never heard of it. Will try to see if it's useful, even if I generally take a taxi like once a year.
EDIT: Not available in my city. Meh.
EDIT: Not available in my city. Meh.
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Uber valued at $17 Billion
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For most people, getting a cab involves standing next to the road and waiting with your hand out. This is using your phone to be more efficient and get driver to customer quicker. No less human interaction in this new scenario vs. old one.
For the call-in cab services: I recently missed seeing a play in the city because I called a service and after 45 minutes and repeat calls promising to be there soon, they never showed up. Same shit happens to my GF all the time. It's frustrating and unnecessary. This shows you were the damn car actually is and how long til they reach you. No bullshit, guessing and lies from a clueless dispatcher.
In short, you don't know what you're talking about.
I love Uber. I wish it would come to Vegas.
It did, then it was banned from what I heard.
In most large cities thy are actually illegal in their operations. NYC included but the regulators look the other way.
Lagspike_exe
Member
IT startups are going to pop so hard. This valuation is absurd beyond belief, despite the fact that taxis can be a very profitable business.
Didn't we already go through this process of widely overvaluing internet tech companies in the late 90s? Wasn't there a leak last year, that the revenue share of this company was $200-300M a year? They must be expecting that number to explode in the future if the company is "worth" $17B.
Shhhhhh. Just have your money ready for those foreclosed houses in cali.
Lagspike_exe
Member
We did, but the valuations were even more extreme right now.
If we take forward 15 P/E as a benchmark, this implies that Uber is being valued at projected profits of over $1b a year. Even at higher P/E ratios due to IT being a quickly expanding field (although not at a late 90s/early 00s pace) it's still not far from having to make $1b a year in profits to fully justify the valuation. Considering the costs and the marketing, revenue would have to grow at a really rapid pace to hit that target.
Then again, in the world where WhatsApp is worth $18b anything is possible.
titiklabingapat
Member
This is a bubble, but Uber, Lyft, etc are actually real companies that make money, unlike Twitter and Facebook so they have real value even if the bubble burst. If you live where Uber and Lyft operate and have used them, you will know this. They are quickly becoming indispensable and has made not owning a car pretty much doable in many places now (LA especially).
Something similar is happening to airbnb too.
Something similar is happening to airbnb too.
Chezzymann
Member
Is it because greedy taxi companies dont want their broken business model to go away?
Lagspike_exe
Member
Yes.
Cab companies in san Francisco literally don't answer the phone.
They had this coming.
Ether_Snake
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If the company has so little to handle to keep profits high and costs low, can't it be easily end up with competition? I doubt it's worth that much under that light, it would be worth more if it was in more cities.
Twitter is one thing, but Facebook's valuation should be high. It's basically a personalized internet, you can follow anyone you want, any product (just got a message yesterday about movie being released on blu-ray soon which I have been waiting for years), etc. Facebook makes sense. Now is it worth 160B? No idea.
Twitter is one thing, but Facebook's valuation should be high. It's basically a personalized internet, you can follow anyone you want, any product (just got a message yesterday about movie being released on blu-ray soon which I have been waiting for years), etc. Facebook makes sense. Now is it worth 160B? No idea.
It's going to be worth much less once more major cities start banning and regulating it to death.
Some cities are already towing Uber cars and issuing large fines. Some cities will require Uber drivers to licensed with chauffeur license, have a chauffeur permit, and pay the same fees as taxi drivers. While other cities are considering requiring Uber to register and tax all Uber vehicles, mark them as taxis.
Some cities are already towing Uber cars and issuing large fines. Some cities will require Uber drivers to licensed with chauffeur license, have a chauffeur permit, and pay the same fees as taxi drivers. While other cities are considering requiring Uber to register and tax all Uber vehicles, mark them as taxis.
No, but they've been trying.
pelicansurf
Needs a Holiday on Gallifrey
I know I hate talking to humans over the phone.
We used to order pizza just so we can bribe the delivery man to give us a ride.
It's no wonder all those start-ups come from San Francisco.
In Seattle, before big busy nights like Halloween or New Year's I would always try to find a taxi driver who would work then, get his number and pre-negotiate the (steep) price. I've been stranded more than once waiting for a cab that may or may not come, without any way of knowing what the fuck is going on.
Cabs are shit, and they are rather exploitative industry, fuck em.
Everyone has already touched on why Uber is so great if you live in a large city. When I travel for work, I love that I can switch the payment method to my corporate card and get the receipts emailed to me instantly so I don't have to save receipts for filing expenses.
The only time it sucks is when they add the multiplier, but that's usually in a situation in which you wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell of finding a cab anyway, so it's not a bad option to have if you're willing to pay the premium.
The only time it sucks is when they add the multiplier, but that's usually in a situation in which you wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell of finding a cab anyway, so it's not a bad option to have if you're willing to pay the premium.
Shining Sunshine
Banned
Going to try it out on my trip to E3. Sounds like it's super convenient.
But I read about why they aren't in Vancouver, and it's sad that my city council made some stupid rule that shut them down.
But I read about why they aren't in Vancouver, and it's sad that my city council made some stupid rule that shut them down.
Uber combined with self driving cars will revolutionize transportation...
People can buy self driving cars with the knowledge that they can earn money with it when not using it through a service like Uber.
The additional availability of taxi hours on the road will drive down lift prices; especially because it's not coupled to labour costs.
And not requiring private ownership of vehicles will become exceedingly doable for many people.
Moreover, you can reduce parking areas - instead of the stress of driving and parking - it becomes easier to hail an uber google car and have it drop you off exactly where you need it.
It can improve the efficiency of public transportation systems as well; pick up and drop/ferry customers to major transportation hubs; assuming that end consumer cost per mile is less on the public transportation system.
People can buy self driving cars with the knowledge that they can earn money with it when not using it through a service like Uber.
The additional availability of taxi hours on the road will drive down lift prices; especially because it's not coupled to labour costs.
And not requiring private ownership of vehicles will become exceedingly doable for many people.
Moreover, you can reduce parking areas - instead of the stress of driving and parking - it becomes easier to hail an uber google car and have it drop you off exactly where you need it.
It can improve the efficiency of public transportation systems as well; pick up and drop/ferry customers to major transportation hubs; assuming that end consumer cost per mile is less on the public transportation system.
Lagspike_exe
Member
Exactly. The only issue is the rent seeking local taxi cartels.
superpickleman
Member
Uber and Lyft are great, great services. I usually go with Lyft whenever I can because their rates tend to be on the lower side but they're both solid. Just last night I used Lyft to go to a bar and only payed $8 + non obligatory tip. That type of ride would've cost somewhere between $20-25 in a regular cab.
titiklabingapat
Member
Eh, other cities are actually legalizing Lyft and Uber already. SF and Denver comes to mind.
About the multiplier, this is where competition is such a good thing. Uber has no cap on thiers while Lyft caps it at x2, which I love.
Uber is not a dispatch base in any city they operate in, skirting local regulation. From a liability point of vein they try to avoid any by Terms of Service and the "We arrange rides but do not dispatch nor employ driver angle."
Uber currently has several cases against them, currently in third. The truth is that while Uber operates exactly as a traditional cub service they only got to this size by operating outside the law in the major met areas.
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