
Uber (Finally) Admits It's Directly Competing with Public Transportation - Tiktaalik
https://jalopnik.com/uber-finally-admits-its-directly-competing-with-publi-1834009027
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musicale
Uber's main trick has been claiming it's not a taxi service, and that its
drivers aren't employees. Kind of like Airbnb claiming it's not a hotel
service. Or Paypal when they used to claim they weren't a bank. Or
cable/internet phone companies claiming they're not phone companies. Or game
companies claiming that buying loot boxes isn't gambling.

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mkhanga
Uber is affordable mostly for short distances. For more the 10 miles or so,
uber like any other taxi service starts to get expensive. So yes, Uber
competes with public transportation. In certain categories like short distance
Uber has an advantage. But in longer distance, public transportation has an
advantage.

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stephencoyner
It's great to see Uber finally admit this publically. I support public transit
for three reasons...

Social equity - Equalizer for everyone rich or poor (In cities with good
systems)

Economic sustainability - Most sustainable form of subsidized mobility

Improve urban living - Reduce congestion / improve mobility in urbanized areas

Uber may be able to get close to #1 by burning more and more VC / IPO $$, but
2 and 3 are much harder for them to reconcile.

