Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

Re:Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a persona... by nostrademons on Tuesday January 16, 2018 @04:36PM (#16162889)

Really shows how much subsidized parking can affect the equation. I've never had to pay for parking at my residence, and the only time I had to pay for parking was a 20-month stint working in downtown Boston. Cut those out and costs go down by $4500/year, over half. I spent about $25/month on gas (for most of my career, I've worked either 2 miles away from home or 20 feet away). Insurance has consistently been about $1000/year. Maintenance was at basically zero for many years, but now that my car is 9 years old $1000/year is about right. Including the amortized cost of the car (which was $16,700 OTD new), I've spent maybe $3000/year on it. That's a generous estimate - the car still has some resale value (though I intend to run it into the ground), so it may be even less.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a persona... by s0rce on Tuesday January 16, 2018 @05:35PM (#16163404)

Same here. Park on the street free outside my house and work pays for parking (East SF bay area), although I bike pretty much every day anyways. Basically $100/yr for insurance, car is old and crap so maybe $100 for depreciation now, amortizing the cost over the age (10 years) would be a bit more but that doesn't matter anymore, maybe $1000 for maintenance. Gas for trips. Cost is pretty similiar to yours.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a persona... by revelation on Tuesday January 16, 2018 @05:27PM (#16163327)

You're still paying >$5k? for something you apparently barely use at $25 gas per month. That is a lot of dollars to soothe anxiety.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a persona... by nostrademons on Tuesday January 16, 2018 @10:36PM (#16165260)

Probably about $2.5K/year all-in, once depreciation and maintenance are included. Maybe $25K total. I don't consider that to be all that bad. My car has about 30K miles on it, which is ridiculously low for a 9-year-old car, but that's the virtue of living 2 miles away from work, biking in the summer, and walking to the grocery store.

Lyft prices in the SF/BayArea are $1.21/mile, so just on mileage, I would've paid $36K. Add in the $2/trip base fair, $5 minimum, and any surge pricing or time waiting, and it could add up to $50K very easily, double what I've spent on my car.

People look at $16K for a car or $3k/year and think "those are big numbers", but it turns out that spending $10/day on individual transportation rides adds up very quickly, such that you end up paying way over what the large capital expense would've cost. When I was working in downtown Boston, I did a hybrid car/train commute, and it easily added up to that ($5 parking at Alewife + $2.50 for the train each way) - it was still cheaper than driving, but only because parking in downtown Boston is ridiculous.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a persona... by s0rce on Tuesday January 16, 2018 @05:38PM (#16163419)

25$/month, assuming 35mpg and $2.75/gallon, is 320mi/month, that's a lot of trips to the grocery store or a trip to go skiing/vacation for a weekend. Might not be cheaper than rentals but depending on your situation it can be much more convenient and not much more expensive.

[ Parent | on HN ]