[mattlondon]

Its the availability that is the killer for these sorts of services, as one of the people interviewed in the article says.

I don't see how these services can compare with a private car without totally saturating the neighborhood with lots of idle vehicles sitting around to cover the spikes in demand without suffering infuriating unavailability when you need to get somewhere. Its already annoying seeing all the dock-less bikes and stuff left all over the streets - it'll be much worse when they are dumping cars as well as bikes/scooters.

Having to wait 5+ minutes for Uber to accept your ride and then arrive (complete with the little car icon doing seemingly pointless loop-the-loops on the map) while you are left impatiently tapping your foot is fine every now and then. But having to do that everytime I want to get anywhere? Really? Its not for me - I value having a car sitting idle just so that it is immediately ready for me to use at the precise moment I need it so I can just jump in an go.

Would you sell your car and rely on a service where they might one day just not have any drivers available? I am sure many of us have been in situations pre-ride-hailing apps where we'd be on a night out and call someone for a cab only to be told there is a 2+ hour waiting list. Better start walking home then I guess ...

One-way trips or if I am drunk is where ride-hailing shines - I dont think it'll ever replace car ownership for anyone apart from those people living in the absolute centre of cities who only need to get to work and bars (and in those situations walking is a viable option if you have the time)

[ihaveajob]

On the flip side, consider the time you spend looking for parking. Depending on where you live, that's also a big time sink. I'd rather be checking Twitter on the sidewalk than cursing the parking gods looping around, but that's just me.

[mattlondon]

Yeah that is true - it can be useful in those situations where they can just drop you off (often - at least in the UK - where parking is bad, public transport is usually fairly functional though so that is an option too - that said it also helps to fill in gaps in the public transport - e.g. instead of going from A->B then B->C on a train, you can just go direct A->C etc)

Of course, a car-sharing application also suffers from the parking issue though.

Personally for me I use my cars most where parking is not a problem (e.g. driving to friends & family, to the shops, vacations etc). I fail to see how ride-hailing is going to make this sort of use of a car obsolete.

[icebraining]

that said it also helps to fill in gaps in the public transport

But that's exactly it - when 95% of your transportation needs are better solved by a tapestry of buses, trains, boats, bicycles, delivery services, etc, keeping a car just for those 5% becomes an expensive and often inconvenient luxury. It's like buying an apartment in every place you visit, rather than using an hotel or equivalent. I don't think ride-hailing/taxis will ever become a default, but it's an important part of the whole system.

[sandworm101]

>> On the flip side, consider the time you spend looking for parking.

A short-term problem. By the end of this year I will own a driverless car. It can just drive around in circles until I'm ready. Or go home for a quick recharge before heading back to pick me up.

[Jommi]

Which one?

[brylie]

You might be interested in a UX talk given by Apaar Tuli, lead designer of Whim, called The MaaSive Future of Transport:

https://interaction18.ixda.org/program/talk-the-maasive-futu...

Disclosure: I work at MaaS Global

[alistairSH]

I don't see how these services can compare with a private car without totally saturating the neighborhood with lots of idle vehicles sitting around

Are there not giant parking lots and over-capacity street parking in your city? I live in the US suburbs, own a car, and it sits idle the vast majority of the time. Individual car ownership literally leads to the problem you claim MaaS creates.

[mattlondon]

Absolute opposite - minimal parking lots and severe under-capacity for street parking. Off-street parking for 1 maybe 2 cars can reach prices of over £600,000 (approx $1 million) [1] in central areas.

1 - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4048546/Garages-gold...