News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:End of the Line for Uber by mtalantikite on Monday August 16, 2021 @10:14AM (#28198344)
This comment has been made before, but here in NYC the Uber prices lately are just ridiculous at this point. Saturday night I was thinking of meeting some friends in Park Slope, and the Uber quote was $72 (I'm in Williamsburg). This was a ride that pre-Uber I could just call Areceibo or Northside car services, get a car at my door in 5 minutes, and it would cost around $20.

The weekend prior I was at a friend's art opening at south street seaport and the Uber home was $50+, something I in the past could just put my hand up on the street and hail a yellow cab for at least half that price. Not that it was perfect before -- they'd often stop, roll down the window, and if they didn't like where you'd be going they'd take off -- but now I feel like yellow cabs don't even stop for you anymore.

Took the subway instead, it was $2.75.

Edit to also say: I was just having memories of all the great music I'd hear in NYC cabs back in the day. Everyone is from everywhere here, so you'd hear music from all over the world when someone picked you up. Salsa, cumbia, bollywood, ghazals, high life, etc etc. After Uber everyone just plays generic American pop music, so as to not offend their millennial American passengers and get a bad rating (or as a friend would say, SV just makes apps to snitch on people). I once found out a driver was from the same town in Algeria that my father grew up in because he was playing Chaabi music. Miss when things weren't so sterile.

Re:End of the Line for Uber by tharne on Monday August 16, 2021 @01:11PM (#28200403)
> ...SV just makes apps to snitch on people

Love that line. I'm filing it away for future use :)

Re:End of the Line for Uber by a3n on Monday August 16, 2021 @02:13PM (#28201072)
> the Uber quote was $72 (I'm in Williamsburg). This was a ride that pre-Uber I could just call Areceibo or Northside car services, get a car at my door in 5 minutes, and it would cost around $20.

Not disputing, just curious ...

How much would that ride from those two services cost today?

Re:End of the Line for Uber by mtalantikite on Monday August 16, 2021 @02:46PM (#28201419)
It's a perfectly reasonable question, but I'm actually unsure since I haven't called them in years. The one thing they do advertise are their airport rates, which Northside says is $42 to JFK from Williamsburg. Earlier this summer I had to fly, hadn't really noticed yet that Uber/Lyft prices have gotten absurd, and because I was running late took a $100 Lyft to the airport. I just checked Uber right now and it is saying $73. I'll definitely be reverting back to just using the local car company for airport rides in the future (but let's not get me started on how absurd it is NYC has no easy, fast public transit to the airports).
Re:End of the Line for Uber by jareklupinski on Monday August 16, 2021 @05:04PM (#28202958)
I've re-downloaded the Curb app and started hailing yellow cabs again.

I think it's a combo of the heat and the tourists coming back; I took a Lyft at 8AM a few days ago from uptown to downtown for $18 + tip, and an hour later the same route back up was priced at $45. I hailed a cab and got back for $22.

They still play music if you ask when you're getting in :) "hey what were you listening to"

Re:End of the Line for Uber by BrandoElFollito on Monday August 16, 2021 @05:41PM (#28203319)
A trip from Versailles to the main Paris airport is 60€ with Uber, and 130-200% of that with anything else.

So at least here Uber is very competitive.