The question should be: for how much longer will people be able to pay a premium?

Yes, there is a market for luxury transport, but is this really a high growth market? How many more young and overpaid software engineers can there be?

Look at the real rate of unemployment, the rise of the part-time labor force, record usage of food stamps, record high student debt, national debt, etc.

Lyft and the kool-aiders claim it's a beautiful new sharing economy, but in truth it's a shitty economy, where people are willing to drive a stranger across the city for 10 bucks, or task-rabbit themselves for a fiver.

My opinion is that there simply aren't enough wealthy folk out there to justify the valuation of these companies.

> ow many more young and overpaid software engineers

Overpaid? Really?

I think that is why they are hedging their bets by offering yellow taxi service and UberX.

Classic strategy... conquer the premium market first (BMW 3,5 and 7 series) then start going more mainstream (1-Series BMW) once the brand is established and is viewed as prestigious.

It's really hard to get a cab in San Francisco and not it's not easy in New York either.

Contrast with Toronto, where it's a no brainer on major streets (and we have Hailo here, which works pretty darn well but uses regular cabs), or in Montreal where I've had cab drivers almost get into accidents fighting over who saw me first.

That makes a lot of sense. I almost missed a train in NYC due to not being able to hail a cab.

In a lot of smaller Canadian cities they take a while to arrive. But I have had ZERO bad experiences in Montreal and Toronto. The system works pretty well.

I think there are two major benefits: first is that you don't have to call or hail a cab. People don't like talking on the phone, so being able to pull up an app and press a button and have a cab pull up in less than five minutes is pretty awesome.

Second, the cars are much nicer. Fairly new black cars and large SUV's vs smelly Ford Crown Vic's.

Also all payment happens on the backend so you never exchange any cards or cash. I expense Uber rides all the time and believe that enterprise sales might end up being one of their largest markets.

In many US cities, you can get UberX for about the price of a cab, Uber about 1.25-1.5 that. However, when you call a cab, it often takes 5-20 minutes, you have no idea who is picking you up, and often times they wont even show up if you aren't at a hotel. Uber you know exactly how long and who will be picking you up, and you can track them.

> "5-20 minutes" - Sure. That does depend on where you are though.

> "You have no idea who is picking you up" - 99% of the time this is a moot point.

> "Often times they wont even show up if you aren't at a hotel" - I've never encountered this in my entire life.

I live in downtown Atlanta. Cabs are simply horrible here. I don't think I've ever called a cab that's arrived in under 30 minutes. Several times a passing cab has stopped, flat out lied and claim to be my driver, only for me to 5 minutes later get an angry cabbie calling me asking where I am. More than once this has ended up with the driver of the taxi I was in "asking" for my phone and engaging with a shouting match with the other taxi driver on my phone.

I've had cabs refuse to take me to my apartment building, saying they would only go to hotels. Others stating up front 2-3X what the meter rate would be, which of course I refuse. I've had them drive in circles, "miss" the exit to stretch out trip, and not a one seems to know where anything other than major hotels and the airport are in the city, or have GPS. Only half the time will they bother to turn the meter on. Very few will take credit cards without a fight.

Those are just some of my first hand experiences, everyone I know that uses cabs frequently in ATL has the same and/or worse stories. Cabs here basically seem to only want to ferry out of towners to and fro the airport to hotels downtown. Unsurprisingly, Uber has been a huge hit in Atlanta. You can actually get a car in 5 minutes or less some times, that's unheard of.

Mostly their logistical advancements. You can rate drivers, you can ask for a driver in advance, you can track the drivers location. They actively plot what parts of town have high traffic, and at what times. This in general leads to a significantly improved experience over cabs, or other drivers. They seem to be always there when you want them, the drivers are always nice and very knowledgeable, etc..

I was in Montreal for 4 years before moving to SF so maybe I can help a little. I've also been using uber from the moment they started and have used it in multiple cities.

Apart from the basic benefit of not having to get your wallet out, I'd say it's the option of choosing between different type of rides that I like the most. In SF via uber we can get taxis, uberx (basically Lyft, some drivers do both), black cars, and SUVs.

In Montreal I don't remember ever getting a black car, but I was student at ÉTS so maybe that's a moot point :)

For your last question, SF has a developed taxi network but it's really bad. Montréal in that regard is much better, but maybe when leaving the bar at 3AM you'd rather get a black car to take you home rather than a taxi from Hochelag, and uber would make that really easy for you.

It's true that Montreal payment is annoying. Many don't take credit cards. I know how to work the system now, but it took a bit of getting used to. Would be much more awkward for 3 AM cabs.

Uber is 15% cheaper than cabs in the market's their in. So you get your phone charged, a bottle of water, a nicer car, a lower price, no cards/cash or tips and you only wait a couple of minutes. Regardless of your location.

It also stops discrimination of location or profile (They can't say they don't go to X place or not pick you up).

> Uber is 15% cheaper than cabs in the market's their in.

This is just false in NYC. Yellow cabs are 1/3-1/2 the price.

Uber is considerably more expensive than a cab in DC and there are a variety of apps that let you request and track cabs.

The Uber cars and drivers are pretty nice though. Sometimes I'm willing to pay a premium for that.

What is your source for the 15% number? In SF, UberX costs the same as taxis per mile, has no tip but a higher minimum, and surges regularly to 1.75x or more every time there is high demand, such as on weekends

Uber drivers still discriminate on location. When I wanted an SUV near Golden Gate Park, the first driver assigned to me cancelled the trip, and the second phoned me to verbally confirm before coming that far.

I live a block from GGP and have never had this happen. (I've taken Uber a couple hundred times.)

I'm not doubting your anecdote, just adding my own. I have definitely had a handful of disappointing Uber experiences; however, 90%+ have been fantastic.