Uber's "Route-Based Pricing" Predicts How Much You're Willing to Pay

Re:Uber's "Route-Based Pricing" Predicts How Much You're Wil... by dahdum on Friday May 19, 2017 @06:29PM (#14379808)

Uber has been profitable in most developed markets* for over a year, this is just meant to squeeze them further so they can subsidize new ones.

We are going to live in a bold new world, where getting picked up at Whole Foods costs X% more than a Grocery Outlet across the street. It's really amazing how loose they are with ethics and how willing to court controversy.

*Uber points to profits in all developed markets https://www.ft.com/content/afa1d4de-33bc-11e6-bda0-04585c31b...

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Re:Uber's "Route-Based Pricing" Predicts How Much You're Wil... by green_rover on Friday May 19, 2017 @06:59PM (#14379944)

Wouldn't this suggest that they aren't subsidizing rides to compete with Lyft except when Lyft subsidizes rides as well?

I always see people saying that Uber subsidizes rides now and that rates will rise later if they win a market, but the evidence doesn't support those claims. If they just want to gouge people as everyone speculates they would already do so in markets where there is no "competition".

Instead, it looks like even absent a direct competitor, that they still have competition in the form of car ownership. We should be celebrating their ability to keep driving costs down until it's cheaper to use Uber than to own and operate a car.

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