[csydas]

> Right now you're spoiled with cheap and fast, which will change eventually; I'd recommend planning for this.

I think this is the big picture with Uber right now; Uber subsidizing the costs cannot continue forever, or at least it really doesn't look like they can; if public transit isn't an option for you, then you need to be prepared to accept that your costs right now are not reflective of the actual cost to provide the service.

The Uber/Lyft model is very cool and it does meet an important need for many US cities, but unfortunately what is offered now doesn't represent the full cost of supporting such a service. I really appreciate the difficulty you have with your commute - before I moved abroad, I lived in a smaller US city which had tragically experienced a catastrophe with its public transit that resulted in it being even further underfunded. An 3 hour total commute each day does take it out of you, but it's the cost of cities in the US being underfunded for public transit and for cities being designed around everyone owning a car.

You can continue to live off Uber for as long as it lasts, but if you're going to have the same commute long term, it might be better to start putting your money and effort towards trying to improve the public transit; most cities have public transit boards/committees that are happy to have people join them, and the more people they can get to assist, the more influence they can have on local and state governments to improve the situation. Being reliant on Uber pretty much means you're reliant on public transportation, so your choices are either be ready to start paying the actual cost, or work to improve the cheaper public transit alternatives.