[michaelvkpdx]

Trying to charge people for carpooling, something we've traditionally done for free. The "sharing economy" isn't about sharing- it's about monetizing free things and taking a cut.

This is not in any way improving humanity. It's a step backwards.

[jaibot]

We also give food and shelter to guests for free, but restaurants and hotels are still a thing. People do favors for people, and employment is still a thing. People look after each others' kids, but daycare is still a thing.

You probably know fewer than 200 people. Sometimes you can't ask any of them for a favor. Sometimes you don't want to impose on your friends. Sometimes someone would happily do something for you in exchange for some amount of money, and you'll both be better off.

The sharing economy expands the pool of people you can ask to do things for you; is also expands the pool of people who are willing to give you money for doing things. It does not replace friendship and socialability.

[grimtrigger]

> we've traditionally done for free

I don't have stats, but my guess is that most people don't carpool. So traditionally we haven't done it at all.

[seizethecheese]

This is especially true about carpooling with a stranger. Generally, carpooling now happens with neighbors/coworkers, which isn't exactly the same use-case as this.

[Brian-Puccio]

I live on on the south shore Long Island in the suburbs of NYC. My community is a fairly dense, walkable community, but most jobs are located in office parks in the burbs or a commuter rail ride away in the city (or possibly Brooklyn/Queens).

After seeing the same cars every morning drive the same stretches of highway for a while, I thought I'd have a brilliant idea. Create a website where people can post their commutes to possibly look for people to share with. The site would have been free to use (it would be a portfolio piece but I wouldn't turn down a donation here or there) and wouldn't encourage or prohibit any financial exchange between users.

Turns out NYS already has a site for that:

http://www.511ny.org/rideshare/

So I guess if the site exists and no one is using it (and I didn't know about it until I started thinking about attempting to make my own) the issue is publicity. So I posted flyers around town, at the commuter rail station, at the farmers' market.

I'm not sure if there was an uptick in rideshares, but you're right, Michael (of Portland?). Here's something that's been done for a while, for free, with the state even trying to encourage it. Most cars are still empty.

If Lyft can, but offering a financial incentive, get this to take off, maybe it is an improvement. I think it's possible that:

free ride sharing > monetized ride sharing > no ride sharing

Maybe there's some pitfalls I haven't thought of though ...

[prostoalex]

Lyft actually had its start as ZimRide, a carpool posting service that would live on top of Facebook http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/29/6000-words-about-a-pink-mus...

[timjahn]

From the post: "Nearly 80% of commuters currently drive to work alone."

Anecdotally in Chicago: Look at the Kennedy any day during morning or evening rush hour. Easily 8/10 cars have a driver and nobody else in the car.

I see this effort as more bringing the idea to the masses. Yes, carpooling has always been an option, but clearly nobody chooses to do so (for a myriad of reasons I'm sure, like logistics, coordinating, communicating with strangers, etc). Maybe things like this will help those solo commuters reduce the number of cars on the road.

Certainly can't hurt.

[sbashyal]

I believe this argument is flawed. Carpooling has been free only with friends in most cases which limits the number of possible carpools as it only works when people you know are heading same direction.

This opens up doors to higher number of carpools which would be a big boon for big metros like Los Angeles where rush hour traffic is a nightmare. Reducing traffic will be a big win for humanity.

[baddox]

Presumably this would increase the supply and convenience of finding someone to carpool with, and presumably repeat carpoolers share at least fuel costs. I don't see this as a step backwards.

[lcusack]

I think it's more about incentivizing sharing. Part of that is money but you're not going to make a lot carpooling to work.

[findjashua]

Usually the person getting a ride pitches in for gas/parking/tolls etc, so it's not entirely free. Also, I'd be more comfortable giving rides to strangers if I knew they've been cleared through a background check.

[akman]

You're implying that stasis = we're all car pooling already. The reality of stasis is that we're NOT leveraging the car pooling opportunities there are, and so Lyft is helping to resolve that. That's a step forward.

[ajkjk]

Pfft, no, the world doesn't get better through goodwill in any way that scales.

Seems to me like it usually gets better when it makes economic sense for it to get better. It's on people to set up those economic situations.

[jeangenie]

This is a great point. In some circles we would refer to this as commoditization (clichéd but effective). It seems to be a consequence of continued profit-seeking outside established and competitive marketplaces.

[snowwrestler]

Nothing is forcing people to pay for carpooling; if you find a neighbor who usually goes the same way, you can just do it. No need to pay Lyft in that situation.

Think of this as paying for the discovery of carpool companions.

[Igglyboo]

Lyft is handling all the logistics and that isn't free, paying a small fee to reduce congestion in the city is "going forward" in my book.

[marssaxman]

Who has done it for free? Pretty much nobody, in my experience. Creating a market which connects willing riders with willing drivers is a good thing.

[gerry_shaw]

I would be inclined to pick up passengers knowing they are sharing the cost of the benefit all the passengers are receiving.

[kazinator]

I agree with you; this needs to be a FOSS application, with a "parasite free" network of peer-to-peer nodes to connect users.