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Comment by usaar333 | Hacker News Reader

This absolutely hurts people who need to go to A->B in suburban areas where public transit is abysmal (due to everyone driving, not using Uber). e.g. a family member of mine frequently helps with picking my kid up at school (by using Uber as she can't drive).

Public transit is so slow (an hour vs. 10 minutes driving) that it isn't possible to use it schedule-wise - we'll just be taking the pricing hit. Others might be less able to absorb the pricing hit and will just suffer (it's either pay more or lose job).

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Yes, if you really need to get from A > B, your "willingness to pay" can afford the price hike. Sure, you'd rather pay less money for what you buy, but that goes for everything in life. Point is you still buy it.

If you didn't really need that uber, you get back to walking, biking, or busing. Or decide not to take the trip.

Well, yes, but the question is whether it is good or bad for society to add regulations that lead to driving up the cost of "taxi" services and people potentially being unable to get places.

You might be helping the small segment of low income drivers, but hurting plenty of other low income users who may have difficulty paying higher prices. I have no idea what the net effect is, but what worries me is the state (as far as I'm aware) didn't run such an analysis before passing such far reaching laws.

My mom is on social security. She makes roughly $15k a year. She cannot legally drive.

She constantly tells me uber saved her life. Because her usual $20 vab ride to the pharmacy was now $4

This law is literally going to destroy the life of many seniors.

What did these people do before Uber?

suffered. underemployed. Uber is really a 10x+ life improvement if you live in suburbia and cannot drive.

I know people who use rideshares to get to the job, and wouldn't have a job without that possibility. They'd probably had another one - but probably worse one due to restricted choices.

No question - for elderly uber has been a godsend. I don't think people realize the change. My area has uber assist as well which can be nice.

yes - there is paratransit - but we are talking schedule 2 days in advance, long bumpy van ride etc etc and hit or miss in a lot of other ways.

I usually just didn't go whereever I am going now - like to a social outing which involves drinking, because I don't want DUI, getting there by public transit sucks and finding a cab while drunk sucks too. Or paid through the nose, if it's a necessary trip, or driven full hour super-tired after a 10 hour flight (not illegal, unlike DUI, but almost as dangerous, sigh). As every quality of life improvement, Uber is not strictly necessary - people lived millenia without it, right? It just... well, improves the quality of life.

How does it hurt them? Instead of a seeing a fixed price, they'll now see a range, and decide if the upper amount of that range is something they're willing to pay.

For the 10-minute ride in your example, the upper and lower ranges aren't going to be very far apart.

I'm referring to the comment above that prices are going to go up. I don't know whether this particular change will actually lead to price increases.

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