Re:Chicago taxi industry sliding towards collapse
by weberc2 on Friday June 09, 2017 @09:35PM
(#14525738)
The original comment referred to price gouging due to lack of competition. VC money might subsidize the rides (or more likely find ongoing development?), but Uber and Lyft are bound to be cheaper than taxis for as long as they can remain less entangled with governments (less artificial price inflation).
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:Chicago taxi industry sliding towards collapse
by clock_tower on Friday June 09, 2017 @10:19PM
(#14525848)
The problem is that Uber loses money on every ride, so they'll have to raise their rates as soon as they stop being subsidized by VCs -- unless they have self-driving taxis by then.
Re:Chicago taxi industry sliding towards collapse
by PacketPaul on Saturday June 10, 2017 @08:26AM
(#14527087)
How are they losing money on each ride? They are not managing fleets of cars, employees, etc. It's an app.
Re:Chicago taxi industry sliding towards collapse
by xigency on Saturday June 10, 2017 @01:58PM
(#14528341)
That is exactly the question you should be asking, thank you.
Answer is they provide great rates for passengers - see all of the anecdotal evidence here - and great pay for drivers.
It literally is "too good to be true."
It's just an app--with a $20B valuation and about as much in free cash.