ergh why are we reinventing buses as an app
Honestly, the biggest change brought by Uber, AirBNB, etc. is the reputation and recourse systems. They have brought a lot of accountability to systems that historically were low on them on both sides. The newly-found accountability allowed a lot of new entrants to these markets that weren't saddled with the high levels of process that had been used in the past to impose even a little accountability on these services.
Paid service apartheid?
I realize that this is a problem for a very small number of people who really can't conform because they don't have access to showers, but how often are homeless people really riding busses, let alone uber (other than as a place to get warmth, or in being dumped in another state)?
FTFY
I see others pointing out in sub-threads that these services are better than buses because there are "no hobos, gangstas, creeps, drunkards or other people creating a nuisance for fellow travellers".
Should I break down those labels and across which lines they are dividing society? :)
Are you implying that only 'lower-class' people are "hobos, gangstas, creeps, drunkards or other people creating a nuisance"? I ride public transit daily, and there is a non-trivial number of 'high-class' people that make riding the metro a pain (The subway is full, why are you pushing and shoving to get in if there is another subway coming in 60 seconds?)
There are probably people who wouldn't want to take public transit because of the list of people strictly because they deem themselves above or as better than the "hobos, gangstas, creeps, drunkards". With no evidence to back my claim, I would argue that the majority of people who would opt for Uber over public transit do so because of lower cost, convenience, and "other people creating a nuisance for fellow travellers"
Not my experience really. I've filed at least two successful reports of harassment with local police and one complaint against a bus driver at the responsible bus organization.
Uber drivers are generally decent drivers, but they're still not as well trained as bus drivers, they're more likely to be distracted by e.g. fiddling with the uber or map apps on their phone.
Unless you have numbers specifically about uber's fleet being significantly safer than typical drivers, your claim goes against the results of recent studies finding busses and rails safer than cars.
Public transport has the downside of being public, and given the rise of homelessness and the fall of noncommercial venues where e.g. youth can hang around, it's inevitable that they end up in public transport - and create a feeling of unsafeness for other users.