
UberHop: More people in fewer cars - edward
https://newsroom.uber.com/seattle/2015/12/more-people-in-fewer-cars/
======
achow
For the people who are confused (I was) between uberPOOL, uberHOP and
uberCOMMUTE:

uberPOOL most will know matches a rider real-time with another one heading in
the same direction. The riders split the cost between them.

uberHOP is like a bus service - uses designated pickup locations and matches
people going on similar routes. It costs riders a flat fee of $5 for each
ride. Difference between uberHOP & uberPOOL - uberPOOL does not require riders
to walk to pre-determined locations, instead having drivers pick up passengers
at their exact location. The cost is variable and not a flat fee. For uberHOP
riders have to walk to a predetermined spot (something like a bus stop).

uberCOMMUTE is less formal than the other two carpooling options and is
designed for everyday people (ex. an office goer) that want to share space in
their car. In other words, one temporarily becomes an uber driver when they
are driving to their office. On their way to office a person can pickup
passengers and gets compensated for that. For passengers, it’s Uber as usual.
They simply input their destination and then uber matches them with a driver
going the same way.

~~~
dmix
Comparative descriptions like this are a great way to describe products. It's
too bad most companies publish new products with a presumption the reader is
closely familiar with the existing products/business to make their own
comparison.

They really should start with how the new products fits into the greater
scheme of the companies offerings, so we can all have a clear mental-model of
why it makes sense and when I might want to use it.

Curse-of-knowledge and last-minute rushed blog posts after a product launch is
probably why it's so common. Or maybe making the assumption since it's being
posted on the company blog that the average blog reader is better informed
than the homepage - which is rarely the case.

~~~
SilasX
>Comparative descriptions like this are a great way to describe products. It's
too bad most companies publish new products with a presumption the reader is
closely familiar with the existing products/business to make their own
comparison.

I tend to read this behavior oppositely: they're not assuming you have the
knowledge, they're hoping you don't, and obscuring the similarity to existing
products that they might seem inferior to when framed as competitors for the
same use case.

"Hey, UberHOP is just Lyft Lines + hotspots with an extra requirement that
they hit more stops off my route..."

------
johnrob
The ride sharing industry is finally offering ride sharing! Seriously though,
I never understood why we've been calling them 'ride sharing' apps, when
they've essentially been drivers-for-hire.

~~~
jonawesomegreen
They claim to be ride sharing apps so that they are not blatantly breaking
laws that protect taxi monopolies. Its a backdoor they have been using to try
to open up this industry.

~~~
stonogo
Those laws that protect taxi monopolies are also the laws that enforce
consumer rights in this space, so let's maybe scale back the editorializing a
bit?

~~~
chiaro
Arguably more important than the consumer rights are the rights of the
workers. There's no need to pay healthcare if you call your workers
contractors, despite failing most of the IRS's tests for what role they fill.

~~~
aianus
You don't have to pay healthcare for employees in general in the US, do you?

~~~
seanmcdirmid
If they aren't contractors, they do if they work more than 30 hours a week.

~~~
elliottcarlson
Companies with fewer than 50 full-time employees do not have to provide
health-insurance (though there are tax incentives and credits to do so).

------
hardtke
The casual carpools in the East Bay save a lot of time going into San
Francisco because of the carpool lane. Very few people use them in the reverse
direction (people take the bus instead) since there is no time saving. AC
Transit hates this since they need to buy more buses for the evening commute.
Curious to see if the same asymmetry happens with UberCommute.

~~~
samstave
Wait until uber starts bus services. That will be great.

~~~
aikah
> Wait until uber starts bus services. That will be great.

lol, but why wouldn't they try? they'll have to set up their own bus stops
though. I wonder if it would be "legal".

~~~
smackfu
Someone tried, it didn't go so well:
[http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/09/san-franciscos-
luxur...](http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/09/san-franciscos-luxury-bus-
startup-finally-folds-selling-off-last-3-vehicles/)

------
Apocryphon
Isn't this pretty similar to Lyft Carpool?
[https://www.lyft.com/carpool](https://www.lyft.com/carpool)

~~~
mmahemoff
The Lyft page doesn't make it clear if the route is fixed. That's what's new
here, otherwise Carpool would be the same as what Uber has already been
running with UberPOOL.

In any event, all these services are converging on the same thing, a kind of
replacement for public transportation on a fine-grained scale. Car pooling,
fixed routes, and eventually self-driving vehicles are all table stakes for
any ride-sharing operation that wants to approximate the economics of a local
bus service (but with added convenience and service).

------
spooningtamarin
What this means is that Uber doesn't have an efficient enough algorithm for
ride sharing and they currently are giving us a solution that will optimize
the routes upfront.

This will give them enough competitive data to figure out the live on-line
algorithm. And of course, lowering the prices still, but it won't work for
those of us who want the routes now, not planned upfront.

Way to go free datasets.

Although it's nice to know that researchers at Uber still haven't figured it
out, makes the competition a bit happier.

It's quite funny how a company raises so much money, and then, after you have
it you go solve the hard problems, or at least that's how Uber works.

~~~
badusername
What you said doesn't make much sense. Much more important than the algorithm
is the market that the algorithm operates in. Uber couldn't unleash a magical
algorithm and solve commuting inefficiencies for every user if there isn't a
sufficient density of both riders and drivers (i.e. the main inputs to the
algorithm in this case).

~~~
spooningtamarin
That doesn't seem to be a problem for the competition. Prices are the problem,
and Uber is trying really hard to lower the prices and profit, that's why the
algorithm IS most important.

I really do not understand why almost everyone thinks that "network effect" is
the best thing Uber has, when it obviously isn't.

~~~
badusername
It is. I get an uber where I live within 2-3 minutes. And sometimes I've
gotten uberPool matches essentially going to the same destination picked up
within a block. These are only achievable with considerable penetration into a
local market.

~~~
spooningtamarin
For smaller towns this effect is negligible, and there are more smaller towns
than big ones.

------
metanoia
Anyone notice this statement? "We will be piloting a new program for drivers
who want to share their commute and ___recoup the cost of the trip._ __"
(emphasis mine)

If we go with what is implied by this, I don't see how this is much different
than using the destination filter, except for possibly paying the driver
"costs" instead of the typical fare.

~~~
ZainRiz
Good catch.

This means the driver is no longer an employee of Uber (not even a freelance
one) so he wouldn't be eligible to unionize or receive worker's rights

~~~
chrisseaton
What would stop the driver starting or joining a union? You can be self
employed and still be in a union. You can even be unemployed or a student and
still be in a union. (May be UK-speficic)

~~~
cyan_atrus
certain powers of unions are protected by the government -- i.e., by default
you can't band together with a bunch of people and set a minimum wage you'll
all work for (that's price fixing).

------
GnarfGnarf
Great idea. It's just like the colectivo system used in Lima, Peru and other
Latin American cities since the 60's and earlier. Colectivos are taxis
traveling a fixed route and shared by a carful of people. You stand by the
side of the road, waive one down and he takes you downtown real cheap.

~~~
acjohnson55
These exist pretty much everywhere, by dozens of names:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Share_taxi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Share_taxi)

~~~
bloat
Also known as a bus!

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus)
[http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/dec/09/uber-
uberh...](http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/dec/09/uber-uberhop-bus)

------
tlrobinson
Watch out, Chariot
([https://www.ridechariot.com/](https://www.ridechariot.com/)) and Scoop
([https://www.takescoop.com/](https://www.takescoop.com/))

~~~
calvinbhai
And [http://bridj.com](http://bridj.com) and
[http://split.us](http://split.us)

------
serge2k
UberCommute sounds like a decent idea, but also something I don't particularly
want to give a middle man a cut for.

~~~
cyan_atrus
Certainly matching you with a commuter going in the same direction is a
service worth paying for?

Plus integrating payments, trust, safety, and all the other things you get
with the uber app.

------
hotgoldminer
Might as well collect as much interchange as possible between now and the
Alphabet self-driving service.

------
burkemw3
Do uberCOMMUTE drivers get 1099s?

Assuming so, I'm not sure the hassle of doing more taxes and actually paying
those taxes would be worth it to me.

~~~
bosdev
If they get paid more than $600, I assume they do. I imagine a big chunk of
them won't hit the $600 threshold though.

------
newman314
This seems interesting as a commute option but I would still like to see Uber
adopt a stance where they get rid of rider route history after X months or at
least give people the option to opt out.

------
suhastech
> It’s estimated that the average American commuter spends 42 hours a year
> stuck in traffic.

I'm reading this as Indian (specifically Bangalore) and it brings a smile on
my face.

------
singingwolfboy
Congratulations, Uber, you just reinvented the bus.

~~~
mikeash
I've never seen a bus that dynamically picks a point-to-point route based on
the needs of the passengers on it at the moment.

~~~
bryanlarsen
Most private buses in the third world will do this.

~~~
superuser2
For the passengers who are onboard, sure, but what about pickups?

~~~
bryanlarsen
Call their cell. It's written on the bus.

------
altonzheng
So how does Uber benefit from pairing you with another commuter? Will you
negotiate a price and then Uber takes a cut?

~~~
bosdev
I believe Uber will charge you for the trip (but less than the cost of a
normal ride), and give a chunk of the money to the driver (just as they do
normally).

------
gt565k
Are there any restrictions on the model year of the car for UberHop /
UberCommute?

------
adamwong246
huzzah! Another step closer to the dream of fully autonomous automobiles!
Though human uber drivers must know that they are, at max, 5 years away from
obsolescence?

~~~
kcarter80
"human uber drivers must know that they are, at max, 5 years away from
obsolescence"

Care to place a friendly wager on that? I'll even forgive the "uber drivers
must know" part of your crazy statement since that obviously isn't correct.

Ubiquitous driverless cars are coming. 5 years is an incredibly aggressive
time frame.

~~~
adamwong246
Ok, maybe it's too optimistic but I'd totally make a wager. I say it will take
5 years for the Bay, 10 for major cities and highways, 15 for the rest of the
country and by 2050, human driving will be illegal on public roads.

any takers?

~~~
kcarter80
To be clear: you want to bet that in 5 years human driving will be illegal on
public roads in "the Bay"?

~~~
adamwong246
no, I don't think we'll outlaw human driving for several decades. It will take
a while for the old holdouts to die off- those individuals who'll stop driving
when you pry the steering wheel from their "cold dead hands."

But I do think that the legalization of auto-automobiles will start in San
Fransisco and the surrounding area.

~~~
ascorbic
Probably fewer and fewer people will go to the effort of learning to drive and
passing the test, particularly in places where it's difficult and expensive.

