The Hidden Cost of Cabs
blog.uber.com
blog.uber.com
If you live somewhere that it's hard to hail a cab, Uber cars get there more quickly. They cost more per ride, but it's worth it if you measure time in dollars per minute.
I didn't really see any "hidden cost" there except for the "time is money" argument. By that measure, I could include the hidden cost of going to places with long lines, talking to long-winded people, or anything else.
Uber has a nice service, and I've used them here in New York when cabs are changing shifts and scarce, and I have to be somewhere right now. They are much, much more expensive than cabs, and even more expensive than a call-ahead car service. That's why I only use them in very specific situations. They're convenient and expensive. That's okay. But a lot of charts and hundreds of words to say "time is money" is a rather ironic way to spend one's time.
Maybe this was an anomaly, but I told myself I'd use Uber next time.
But this article is about San Francisco only. 72% of cabs never show up? Sounds like you guys have a truly awful cab system. Thankfully for people in New York, London, Paris and other Uber markets, that isn't the case.
My personal gripe with Uber: I have no idea how much my journey will cost. I assumed that the app would give me an estimate, or even explain pricing, but it doesn't. The only option I had was to request an Uber cab to take me on a mystery ride to my destination and ding my credit card afterwards. No thank you. (Ironically, I imagine that the product works great for people like VCs)
It's weird that a company spends so much time talking about the complex math behind their product but don't use it to provide the simple figures that matter to customers.
In that context, I've found Uber pretty useful. One thing to recognize is that I hardly ever rode Uber alone -- defraying the cost over 3-4 people makes it significantly more economical.
I agree that this is a sad state of affairs for SF cabs -- having grown up in Taipei, I'm used to being able to get a cab pretty much any time, any place.
That's interesting. I'm a little unsure about all the taxi cab rideshare apps that are popping up these days because they do ignore a safety concern- I made a taxi tracking app a little while back (bias alert!) and some of the strongest feedback I got was from people (particularly women) travelling late at night that wanted to make sure someone close knew where they were at all times. Adding a stranger to the taxi cab is not too tempting, in that context.
Uber is many many many multiples more expensive than a cab. There's no "may" about it. The one time I tried them, a 5.2 mile trip cost $46.70. That was without their surge pricing which could have doubled my 5.2 mile trip as high as $93.40.
The PC+N data analysis they use is flawed by an analytical issue Uber never bother to mention: the PC+N "no-show" rates include when the customer is told there's no car available to dispatch. [0] Not only do Uber not include this data in their figures - they really can't, as their app doesn't allow a car to be requested if none is available for the current location.
Uber link to the Goldman School of Public Policy analysis of the PC+N data only in random parenthetical in the middle of the article, with a disclaimer that Uber use the PC+N analysis for the "irony." That doesn't sound very "data-driven" to me.
Waiting for a cab costs time. Therefor waiting for a cab costs money. Uber takes the money and gives you time.
Next article:
The hidden costs of long-winded blogertisments?