[msoad]

Taxi fare is something everyone wants to save on. Once Uber and Lyft start making big margin on their service other low key and smaller companies can compete with them. Pretty much like airfare. Price is the king and low cost companies are doing a lot of business. I'm not sure how this Uber/Lyft story will end but I'm pretty sure it's not going to end like Facebook or Google.

[brianwawok]

Unless one brings robot taxis. Lowest price and highest profits.

Right now it's just an app for taxis. But robots totally flip the market on head.

[raz32dust]

I don't see how this will fly even with robot taxis. Not for too long at least. I think self driving cars will be commoditized easily. Any new player can simply leverage the technology. The economy of scale is simply not there in this business, compared to the leverage Google and Facebook have. There is hardly any network effect, and it is still highly capital intensive even with robot cars. So while they may succeed in being and maintaining their status as multi-billion dollar companies, I am not seeing how they can go much further in the long run.

[madebylaw]

Completely disagree regarding the network effect of Uber vs. Lyft. The system is highly network dependent. Most Uber drivers would prefer to drive for Lyft because Lyft pays more (partially why they're losing more money than Uber), but in most markets Lyft doesn't have as many riders that use the service. As a driver, you want to maximize time spent with a fare vs. fare-hunting. Similarly, as a rider, you are weighing price vs. time meaning most people will pay more $ to wait less for their ride.

Most drivers I talk to drive for both and keep both on, but get more pings on Uber than on Lyft. In SF Lyft has more mind-share and it's a more even split.

FWIW I've lived in both SF and NYC since the rise of these services.

[raz32dust]

But that type of network effect is easily undermined by a service that offers cheaper fares. I saw this happen first-hand in India where Ola cabs, which was being used by almost everyone, quickly started losing users to Uber once Uber started their massive discounts and promotion series in India.

[jacquesm]

Too early. They'll run out of cash long before 'robot taxis' will save their asses.

[iiiggglll]

> But robots totally flip the market on head.

Yeah, as in people will be able to mod their existing cars to be self-driving and then rent them out AirBnB-style when they aren't using them. There's even a distributed storage system already built to handle that ... people's driveways and garages.

[peterwwillis]

Is it weird to say i'd almost start paying Taxi-level fares again if the drivers would stop sucking at driving so much? This is mainly aimed at Lyft; Uber drivers are much more professional.