Having done these calculations a while back, I was seriously thrown off by this claim:
> However, Americans who drive less than 9,481 miles in a year should seriously consider ditching their car, because UberX will be cheaper.
Well, maybe. I drive 5k miles a year and determined that it would be more expensive to shift to either UberX or Zipcar. Let's see what is up with the math:
> Costs of ownership
The largest error is here, where the author uses a constant number regardless of miles driven -- and then compares it to variable w/ miles UberX costs!. But maintenance, insurance, depreciation, and fuel costs are all costs that increase with miles driven.
Secondly, all these costs are taken from AAA numbers that are looking at 5 year depreciation of a new car. If you drive an older vehicle, your costs are nowhere near this high. (if they are to be believed, my cars' annual depreciation would be 80% of the value of my car!)
> Parking costs at $1300/year
First off, the claim on ABC is "average American family", not "average American" (http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/average-american-spends-1300...), so this is likely off by a factor of nearly 2.
Secondly, this is massively skewed by location. In dense locations (say SF), this can shoot into $2000+ a year, but in lower density places (say San Jose area), this may be well under $200.
Finally, workplace parking can be paid by pre-tax dollars which lowers this cost by another 30% or so.
> Opportunity costs
Where is the assumption that car driving is at 0% productivity and UberX riding is at 50% productivity coming from? (I definitely don't believe this empirically) Also note this is ignoring any opportunity cost of having to wait for an UberX to arrive. The real opportunity cost difference may be insignificant.
My own conclusion:
A single article won't allow anyone to make a determiniation. UberX may win in some cases over owning a car, but it is highly dependent on individual behavior.
The only way i can see the average American paying $1300 per year or $100/month is if they are including the added cost of have a parking space at home. Remember, $1300 is the average. Most Americans pay nothing for parking except for a few $10-20 parking fees when going to a big city.
I'm guessing the assumption is that if you rent a place for $1500 per month and it has a parking space, $100 of that is the cost of the parking space. Technically correct, but an odd way to look at it.
> However, Americans who drive less than 9,481 miles in a year should seriously consider ditching their car, because UberX will be cheaper.
Well, maybe. I drive 5k miles a year and determined that it would be more expensive to shift to either UberX or Zipcar. Let's see what is up with the math:
> Costs of ownership
The largest error is here, where the author uses a constant number regardless of miles driven -- and then compares it to variable w/ miles UberX costs!. But maintenance, insurance, depreciation, and fuel costs are all costs that increase with miles driven.
Secondly, all these costs are taken from AAA numbers that are looking at 5 year depreciation of a new car. If you drive an older vehicle, your costs are nowhere near this high. (if they are to be believed, my cars' annual depreciation would be 80% of the value of my car!)
> Parking costs at $1300/year
First off, the claim on ABC is "average American family", not "average American" (http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/average-american-spends-1300...), so this is likely off by a factor of nearly 2. Secondly, this is massively skewed by location. In dense locations (say SF), this can shoot into $2000+ a year, but in lower density places (say San Jose area), this may be well under $200. Finally, workplace parking can be paid by pre-tax dollars which lowers this cost by another 30% or so.
> Opportunity costs
Where is the assumption that car driving is at 0% productivity and UberX riding is at 50% productivity coming from? (I definitely don't believe this empirically) Also note this is ignoring any opportunity cost of having to wait for an UberX to arrive. The real opportunity cost difference may be insignificant.
My own conclusion: A single article won't allow anyone to make a determiniation. UberX may win in some cases over owning a car, but it is highly dependent on individual behavior.