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Comment by jessriedel | Hacker News Reader

True ride-sharing could also help, and sooner than self-driving cars. Uber and Lyft talked about matching departing commuters in real-time, which would greatly reduce the inflexibility that makes traditional carpooling so unpleasant. I'm not sure why that never took off.

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I'd guess because people would rather have the certainty of getting to work in 1.5 hours, rather than wait for a stranger to pick them in a semi-determined block of time (or pick up a stranger in the same) for a 1 hour commute.

Waiting and hoping that the person who promised to pick you up will actually do so seems annoying and nerve-wracking. "Sorry, boss, I know I'm late again, but a complete stranger was 30 minutes late picking me up today, and then decided to stop for donuts on the way to work."

> rather than wait for a stranger to pick them in a semi-determined block of time

I think the idea is that it's supposed to match you in real-time and give GPS updates, just like regular Uber and Lyft. That is, it's not like BlancRide in Canada (which has been struggling) where you schedule in advance, have blocks of time, etc.

https://blancride.com/

> Waiting and hoping that the person who promised to pick you up will actually do so seems annoying and nerve-wracking

Unlike most carpooling services, Lyft and Uber have strong reputation mechanisms that can greatly reduce this. You can always fall back on a taxi or normal Uber for couple times a month when the driver is flaky.

What's the incentive for people to be the driver in this scenario, other than not crapping up the commons (which in this case is the freeway?)

They get paid.

Wait, so this is just Uber where after you finish your short Uber shift, you go to work?

Sorta. Unlike a normal Uber driver, the carpool driver (1) specify their rough route, (2) can decline riders without penalty, and (3) isn't paid as much (basically enough to cover gas, I think). But yes, the pick-up/drop-off interface was supposed to be more or less the same.

Ah, thanks. I probably should have looked all of that up.

Uber doesn't let you put in a destination as a driver.

I've taken Uberpool for longish distances around LA (mostly between ~Beverly Hills and the Valley), and it suuuuucks. Having to get off the freeway and get back on to pick up people adds a ton of time to commutes that aren't that long from the LA perspective.

Ok, but note this problem lessens as more people use the system.

Agreed, and that's always very important. I'm just skeptical of how high the density of use would have to be for this to make sense; and even then, LA just may be unconducive to this kind of an infrastructure. As people have mentioned elsewhere in this thread, making the freeways necessary conduits to get anywhere in a timely manner just screws up getting around period.

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