Re:Can Uber ever make money?
by bobthepanda on Saturday April 27, 2019 @12:48PM
(#19766403)
That‘s not what an economy of scale is, that‘s branding. An economy of scale would be Uber saving a portion pf costs as it gets bigger, but that‘s not really possible because the per unit cost of a ride is tied to a driver, and they‘re not pushing drivers into driving buses or other vehicles that can carry more shared trips.
You could achieve the same thing Uber achieved with branding with a franchise; McDonalds maintains quality across franchises despite not being involved in the day to day operation. And McDonald‘s certainly doesn‘t lose money on every patty sold.
Everyone I know uses Uber exclusively for taxis now and it's partly because whenever they travel Uber works great, but using local taxis is a pain. The "taxis are local" argument is right some of the time but many people use taxis primarily when travelling, and that's a market that really only Uber and Lyft can automate with any degree of success. I don't want 50 half-baked taxi apps on my phone.