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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 aro

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.

kenrikm 12y ago
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 12y ago
  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.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
- brk 12y ago
  $24,000 a year is not a bill most Americans can afford. Where are you getting $24,000 from? The parent to your comment said he has spent $2,000 so far this year, extrapolating that out says he might spend ~$5,000 on Uber by year end. I think the average American easily spends $5,000 on a vehicle annually. I probably spend at least half that amount just on gas.
  - viscanti 12y ago
    In fact, that $5k is probably close to what you'd spend just on parking and insurance in a major city like SF (i.e. your costs if you never used the vehicle but already owned it). If you add in car payments, gas, maintenance there is likely a significant savings from using Uber vs owning a car.
    - aetherson 12y ago
      Come on guys, think about this critically for just a few minutes. First of all, what kind of insane person pays $5k for parking and insurance? I have a new car with fairly high rates and pay about $1,100 in insurance. My parking expenditure (yes, I live in SF) is maybe $10 a week -- we'd need to imagine a parking expenditure of about $80 a week to get my total parking plus insurance to come out to $5,000 a year. I'm sure some people pay $5k for parking and insurance -- but those people are self-evidently not cost-sensitive. As to gas and maintenance, you obviously pay those for an Uber car just like you pay for it for your own car -- in fact, you pay more for these mileage-related costs, since the car has to drive over to you as well as drive you wherever you go. Unless the driver is operating at a loss, your fare obviously more than covers the gas and maintenance fees, ergo you're paying it. Just because you don't personally stand at the pump does not mean you aren't paying for it. You also, just as obviously, pay the insurance costs for a ride-for-hire vehicle that you're in. Indeed, the insurance costs are probably inherently higher than the ones for your personal vehicle.
      - Aqua_Geek 12y ago
        Several garages nearby (downtown SF) are $300+/mo. That's $3600/year. Add in $1000/year for insurance and you're pretty close.
dokem 12y ago
You should probably just buy a car.
- grinich 12y ago
  Or a bicycle.
- lifeformed 12y ago
  It's not about a car, it's about the parking.
nyrulez 12y ago
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.
- eshvk 12y ago
  > 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 12y ago
  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 12y ago
    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.
  - hatred 12y ago
    I beg to disagree on this atleast in NYC. UberX is 2x-3x more expensive here.
  - nyrulez 12y ago
    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 https://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.
untog 12y ago
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.
zecho 12y ago
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.
panorama 12y ago
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/kmjdennpcjbjegppilmcjidjojhknghf https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/uber-spender/kmjde...

kenrikm 12y ago

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 12y ago
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.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

brk 12y ago
$24,000 a year is not a bill most Americans can afford. Where are you getting $24,000 from? The parent to your comment said he has spent $2,000 so far this year, extrapolating that out says he might spend ~$5,000 on Uber by year end. I think the average American easily spends $5,000 on a vehicle annually. I probably spend at least half that amount just on gas.
- viscanti 12y ago
  In fact, that $5k is probably close to what you'd spend just on parking and insurance in a major city like SF (i.e. your costs if you never used the vehicle but already owned it). If you add in car payments, gas, maintenance there is likely a significant savings from using Uber vs owning a car.
  - aetherson 12y ago
    Come on guys, think about this critically for just a few minutes. First of all, what kind of insane person pays $5k for parking and insurance? I have a new car with fairly high rates and pay about $1,100 in insurance. My parking expenditure (yes, I live in SF) is maybe $10 a week -- we'd need to imagine a parking expenditure of about $80 a week to get my total parking plus insurance to come out to $5,000 a year. I'm sure some people pay $5k for parking and insurance -- but those people are self-evidently not cost-sensitive. As to gas and maintenance, you obviously pay those for an Uber car just like you pay for it for your own car -- in fact, you pay more for these mileage-related costs, since the car has to drive over to you as well as drive you wherever you go. Unless the driver is operating at a loss, your fare obviously more than covers the gas and maintenance fees, ergo you're paying it. Just because you don't personally stand at the pump does not mean you aren't paying for it. You also, just as obviously, pay the insurance costs for a ride-for-hire vehicle that you're in. Indeed, the insurance costs are probably inherently higher than the ones for your personal vehicle.
    - Aqua_Geek 12y ago
      Several garages nearby (downtown SF) are $300+/mo. That's $3600/year. Add in $1000/year for insurance and you're pretty close.

dokem 12y ago

You should probably just buy a car.

grinich 12y ago
Or a bicycle.
lifeformed 12y ago
It's not about a car, it's about the parking.

nyrulez 12y ago

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.

eshvk 12y ago
> 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 12y ago
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 12y ago
  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.
- hatred 12y ago
  I beg to disagree on this atleast in NYC. UberX is 2x-3x more expensive here.
- nyrulez 12y ago
  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 https://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.

untog 12y ago

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.

zecho 12y ago

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.

panorama 12y ago

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/kmjdennpcjbjegppilmcjidjojhknghf https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/uber-spender/kmjde...