[dshep]

These discussions always remind me of this MMM blog about his experience being an Uber driver:

https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2017/11/22/mr-money-mustache...

This is one of my favorite quotes:

"Imagine developing a company specifically to take advantage of people’s ignorance of how expensive it really is to drive their own car. What would this company look like?" (the answer is of course that it would look like very much like Uber or any other ridesharing company)

[paxys]

Good post, but I'm inclined to take all the stated numbers with a grain of salt. Not because he is lying, but because so many drivers have so many different experiences. Some are paying off their car, some aren't. Some of their cars get 15 MPG, some 35. Some drive in rush-hour traffic, others on airport or suburban trips. Some drive a few hours a week during surge pricing and if they get lucky can make more than what they do in their day jobs. Even the standard IRS vehicle deprecation rate is wildly inaccurate in most cases.

To me that highlights a more important problem - Uber/Lyft are enjoying the benefits of a massive data asymmetry. Neither customers nor drivers can make the right economic decision because we have a very, very tiny slice of the whole picture.

Maybe one quick way to start solving the rideshare problem is force them to publish this data publicly?