[sshconnection]

My uber bill for 2014 is almost $2000 so far, and it's only June. I know that SF is not the rest of the country, but it has absolutely changed the way I get around.

That said, think about the possibilities that could come if one of their major backers (Google) continues to push forward with self driving vehicles. They will have excellent real time traffic data reported back through each vehicle on Waze, and a super efficient dispatch system. They could run 24/7 with electric driverless vehicles with crazy low operating costs. It could turn the entire industry on its head.

The economics would shift so drastically it wouldn't just be Uber vs taxies, it would be Uber vs does it make sense at all to even own your own vehicle. The automated vehicles could have utilization figures that are unheard of today. Why would you buy your own vehicle when you could have an automated Uber pick you up in 3 minutes for dirt cheap?

I think that time will come, probably sooner than we realize. And when it does, Uber will be positioned as the default dispatch gateway.

[untog]

If you've spent $2000 in six months on Uber then, IMO, it is more of a damning indictment of SF public transit than it is a demonstration of how great Uber is.

Here in NYC I can't imagine spending that much on taxis. Thankfully, the subway system is serviceable.

[kenrikm]

Also why Google Ventures has been a huge backer unto this point.

Google's driverless cars + Uber's Dispatch..

Press a button, car arrives and takes you to a location, only cost for Google/Uber is gas/car for that time which would be very low.

Google's Driverless cars + Uber's dispatch + Google Shopping Express... Fedex and UPS should be scared.

[jonlucc]

I've wondered if Fedex and UPS would just manage the long-haul intercity transportation with either driverless trucks or something else. Then they also still staff tons of warehouses at the city hubs. From there, it could be Google/Uber (Goober?) from the warehouse to the door.

[nyrulez]

Am I the only one who thinks Uber prices are ridiculous compared to the yellow taxi ? I am fairly well to do, but am shocked by how no one flinches at the fare structure of Uber compared to yellow cab (which might be a tad bit more inconvenient in NYC but not that much to justify paying 2x-3x the price!). I feel I am really missing something here or maybe just underestimate the ability of people to spend vs. save.

If I spent $2000 on cab fare so far, I would probably freak out a bit.

[genericuser]

In Boston UberX has wound up being about 75% of Taxis I had taken the same trips with every time I have used UberX. Then again I generally tip 20% in taxis so if I were a non-tipper the prices would be much more comparable.

Admittedly I am only using it between the hours of 12:00 AM and 2:00 AM to get home from bars.

The temperament of drivers has been a welcome change with uberX vs cab, I had a cab ride in Boston which was suspiciously high once (2x what previous identical trips had been), and I questioned how it was calculated and the response was 'It is not my job to know how it is calculated' to which I said 'Actually that is your job', that time I did not tip.

[dntrkv]

In my experience, UberX is way cheaper than a cab. From my place in the Mission District to 2nd/Mission is usually like $12-13 via UberX. Cab used to cost me like $17.

In LA we took an UberX from Venice to Downtown, it was ~$35, cab was ~$55.

[eshvk]

> Am I the only one who thinks Uber prices are ridiculous compared to the yellow taxi

2X - 3X compared to UberX or Uber? If I recall correctly, Taxi + tip is approximately equal to UberX.

[brackin]

Uber is 30% less than taxi's in SF. I think in NY it is also cheaper than taxi's. Your data might be a year behind, when it used to be more expensive.

[untog]

Uber doesn't make it easy to know. Over the weekend I took an NYC taxi one way in my journey, it cost $26. I tried to get a fare estimate for an UberX for the way back and it said "$23 - $37". That's a huge window - and they're not telling me what affects it.

And we haven't even started on surge pricing. Uber sells itself as cheaper than a taxi, but in many ways (in NYC) it is not.

[nyrulez]

From all the replies it appears to me that - in SF, either UberX is very cheap or normal taxis are ridiculous. - At least in NYC, the pricing is still much higher. And the huge variance in the price adds another degree of uncertainty, where you could still end up paying huge amounts.

It would be nice for Uber to publish some comparative data in this regard. But I think that's not their main pitch.

They now have a fare calculator for NYC athttps://www.uber.com/cities/new-york. It is pretty broken as all my addresses end up getting mapped to Brooklyn or Queens for some reason.

But for the prices I saw, UberX is 30-50% higher than yellow cab. So my 2x-3x estimate is certainly out of date.

[hatred]

I beg to disagree on this atleast in NYC. UberX is 2x-3x more expensive here.

[kapkapkap]

UberX is significantly (40%-50%?) more than a NYC yellow cab. Its basically $6 base for uberX (versus $2.50 for yellow cab), $.75/minute for in-traffic in uberX (versus $.50 for yellow cab). Also uber's threshold speed for traffic is much higher than NYC's (below 11mph = traffic for uber, vs below 6mph = traffic for yellow cab), which means that more often than not you are in this (more expensive) price tier. Its hard to average over 11mph if you are going cross town in Manhattan.

[panorama]

Yep, I've spent a ton the past couple years as well, and it's by far the only tech company that I've spent more than a couple grand on. I'm not sure if OP used this but if anyone's curious to know how much they've spent/are spending on Uber rides, I wrote a small Chrome extension for that: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/uber-spender/kmjde...

[zecho]

For $5,000 I'd just ride a bad ass bicycle, keep it unlocked. When it got stolen, I'd buy another one. Would still have walking around money, too.

[dokem]

You should probably just buy a car.

[lifeformed]

It's not about a car, it's about the parking.

[grinich]

Or a bicycle.