[grandridge]

Except when Uber and Lyft were kicked out of Austin, ride austin was up in a matter of weeks

[steveklabnik]

Ride Austin is wonderful, but does not do the same thing that Uber and Lyft do. Namely: they're only in Austin.

Additionally, from their own site: http://www.rideaustin.com/faq

> How much has it cost to build RideAustin?

> The tech community contributed technology to power the app that costs millions to develop - but it also took over $7 million in cash donations and significant in-kind services donations to make RideAustin what it is today.

That is non-trivial.

[varjag]

When a taxi company here contracted to build their own hailing app, it was done to the tune of €500-600K. Every bit as good as the big rideshare apps.