Comment by itchyjunk | Hacker News Reader

Comment by itchyjunk | Hacker News Reader

Hmm, the study [0] credits over all reduction of drunk driving accidents to Uber. If ride sharing is the source of reduction, shouldn't ride sharing in general be credited? Maybe Uber was the only ride-share available during the study though since it's data from 1989-2013.

"A recent increase in the ease and availability of alternative rides for intoxicated passengers partially explains the steep decrease in alcohol-related collisions in New York City since 2011.I examine the specific case of Uber’s car service launch in New York Cityin May 2011, a unique example of a sudden increase in cab availability for intoxicated passengers.7This study draws on a dataset of all New York State alcohol-related collisions maintained by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles from 1989 through 2013. My inference is based on the variation in Uber access across New York State counties over time and the careful choice of New York State counties that provide an appropriate control group for New York City’s drunk- driving behavior"

Edit:

Fair enough, looks like lyft only came to NYC around 2014[1]. But does anyone know if the ride share prices in NYC from 2011 [2] to now has significantly changed? I vaguely remember a lot of people using it initially because of dirt cheap prices during the first few month of introduction but I don't trust my memory over facts if someone has some.

-----------

[0]http://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=10...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyft#History

[2] https://techcrunch.com/2011/04/06/i-just-rode-in-an-uber-car...

Study credits Uber because specificity > vagueness. From 2011 - present Uber was responsible for vast the majority of ride-share rides: https://www.thestreet.com/story/13536061/1/uber-now-more-pop...

Living in New York for 2012-2015: it felt like there was about a 50:50 split on Lyft vs Uber.

Lyft doesn't seem to have even near that sort of penetration in other cities from what I've experienced.

SF probably 60% Uber, 40% Lyft. Although to be honest, I'd argue Lyft is becoming a bit more common.

My feeling is that statistics figures based on feelings are probably at least 60% wrong.

Lyft has a decent presence in Los Angeles and a number of people, including myself, find it to be consistently cheaper.

What gave you the impression that Lyft has 50%? Thats certainly not been my experience.

50-50 seems unlikely: http://toddwschneider.com/posts/taxi-uber-lyft-usage-new-yor...

It's not just about dirt cheap. You know that you're not going to get screwed by an uber driver, even if you're drunk. Can't say the same about cab drivers, who've definitely tried to pull things when they see drunk people. Not to mention the ones that'll just pass you by over and over, or won't come to your location at a certain time, or just not answer the phone. Cabs in general have been horrible.

I've been taken advantage of by Uber drivers while drunk.

That said, when I woke up the next day^Wmonth and saw the charges and the loop-de-loops they took to get me home, I complained and Uber refunded me the whole fare, which I didn't even ask for. If this was a cab and even with a credit card charge (forget about cash) I would have just written it off.

Uber has done that for me a couple times, either whole or in part, when the driver get very lost and it takes double the time and distance.

Well if you didn't end up paying for it then they didn't really take advantage. They just attempted to and were stopped by the feedback loop ride sharing systems offer.

Yes, that's the parent poster's point.

Exactly. My experience as a tourist in the US has been horrible. Even drunk I still realize that the driver makes considerable detours on the way. With Uber that will either not happen or I can complain and get a refund.

I sound like a tourist (Brit in NYC) and cabs will often take random detours hoping I don't notice. Ride shares are better than the yellow cabs. I've found that audibly turning on my GPS when I get into a cab seems to curb it.

> Fair enough, looks like lyft only came to NYC around 2014[1]. But does anyone know if the ride share prices in NYC from 2011 [2] to now has significantly changed?

You would have to look at how the ride sharing services came about in different cities around the world.

The two most popular ways to measure those effects in economics are differences-in-differences (basically a clinical trial -- you need some very similar placebo city to compare it to) or regression discontinuity design (you need a fairly immediate effect, so assuming people learn to use uber this is out of the question).

Convenient that PR timing for Uber as well.

Only if the introduction of other ride-sharing services happened at the same time - I have no idea of the timeline in NY, but the author send to be using the sudden introduction as a natural experiment.

Of course, the results are probably applicable to other ride-sharing schemes.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com