[sharemywin]

Do more drivers lead to shorter pickup times or more drivers without a passenger.

Also, I did some math and it takes n^2 drivers to half the distance between drivers areas.

Also, I think as the food delivery companies get bigger it all starts to merge into one industry. Imagine some kind of loyalty program were if free ride or delivery after so many meals delivered.

If you had the drivers out delivering flyers for the local food companies they could make money while waiting on a fare.

ebay and amazon have network effects because it has so many different items for sale, not just drivers.

[lpolovets]

> Do more drivers lead to shorter pick-up times or more drivers without a passenger.

That's an interesting question. I think in this case it's shorter pick-up times because the system can somewhat self-correct in real-time:

1) If a someone is thinking about going out and driving, they check the app, see that there are lots of drivers out and not many passengers, so they might decide not to go out at that moment.

2) If there are too many requests and not enough drivers, Uber increases surge pricing. The greater the increase, the more drivers come out and the more requests get withdrawn until an equilibrium is reestablished.

Finally, there's some data at https://newsroom.uber.com/uber-expectations-as-we-grow/ that shows that the longer Uber is in a city, the more pick-up times drop and passengers expect shorter pick-up times.

I agree with you about food companies: at some point they might become competitive with Uber, or they might outsource logistics to Uber while they handle the food ordering and preparation aspects.