Uber to Resume in Calgary December 6 2016

[heep223]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

The more I read about Uber the more I hate them.

Sacca is an investor and this "drunk driving" #### is getting old.

https://twitter.com/sacca/status/729757869726302208

He's not wrong.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by heep223

He's not wrong.

Not wrong about what? All he did was somehow insinuate that implementing safety checks was protectionist, and would lead to drink driving accidents. And then later her responded to a couple of comments with some non sequiturs.

Without digging in further, is it protectionist in some way? My reading seemed to suggest that cab drivers also had to submit to the same screening, and that it was a vote by the citizens of Austin.

[Weitz]

So Tappcar has started up in Calgary. Reviews are not very good (from online and by some friends who tried to use it).

Price Breakdown:

TappCar:
Cost of a 10KM trip as calculated on the app $21.04

Associated Cab:
Cost of a 10KM trip $17.22

Calgary United Cab:
Cost of a 10KM trip $16.21

Checker Yellow Cab:
Cost of a 10KM trip $17.22

Delta Cabs:
Cost of a 10KM trip $17.22

Mayfair Taxi:
Cost of a 10KM trip $17.22

http://www.metronews.ca/news/calgary...y-tuesday.html

[Fuzz]

But I was told people didn't care what Uber costs, as long as they could get a ride through a cool app and not have to take a filthy cab with horrible drivers....could it be people are just cheap?

[Weitz]

Well my friend who tried to use it despite cost couldn't even get a driver.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by Weitz

So Tappcar has started up in Calgary. Reviews are not very good (from online and by some friends who tried to use it).



http://www.metronews.ca/news/calgary...y-tuesday.html

Wonder where they are getting their numbers from. I took a cab ride last weekend that cost me 30 bucks with united aka the cheapest option they list, tappcar estimate was $24 including a 10% tip.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Well my friend who tried to use it despite cost couldn't even get a driver.

This is precisely the reason Uber and Lyft won't be here, the requirements/costs to get licensed to drive will prevent them from being able to get a critical mass of drivers to ensure you're able to consistently get a ride on the app.

[Resolute 14]

Uber in a nutshell: basic insurance, safety and inspection requirements are enough to undermine their business model.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by Dan02

Wonder where they are getting their numbers from. I took a cab ride last weekend that cost me 30 bucks with united aka the cheapest option they list, tappcar estimate was $24 including a 10% tip.

Tappcar came to Calgary on Tuesday, so maybe you downloaded the wrong app?

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Tappcar came to Calgary on Tuesday, so maybe you downloaded the wrong app?

Your post confuses me, I took a cab last weekend with United cab, the cheapest one on metros list, it cost me $30. I downloaded the tappcar app today and it estimated the fare at $24 including a 10% tip. I hope that clarifies it more for you.

[peter12]

Just to clarify my earlier position, I am all in favour of a ride-share program that pays its drivers a fare wage, and adheres to basic regulations that allow multiple services to thrive.

I don't support a labour-exploiting, regulation-flouting, monopoly wanna-be.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by Dan02

Your post confuses me, I took a cab last weekend with United cab, the cheapest one on metros list, it cost me $30. I downloaded the tappcar app today and it estimated the fare at $24 including a 10% tip. I hope that clarifies it more for you.

Ok that makes sense but United cab can't drive to the same place for the same price every time. Was there lots of traffic? Did they stop at every red light? Did the driver purposely take a longer route? All these would lead to a higher fare. And Tappcar is just an estimate if I'm not mistaken so none of these are accurate readings.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Ok that makes sense but United cab can't drive to the same place for the same price every time. Was there lots of traffic? Did they stop at every red light? Did the driver purposely take a longer route? All these would lead to a higher fare. And Tappcar is just an estimate if I'm not mistaken so none of these are accurate readings.

It was late at night there was no traffic and we only hit one light breifly. Did the exact same route in reverse the next day with united again and it was a couple dollars more on account of traffic/lights.

[GGG]

Here's a neat article with average Uber driver income per hour as a full time job

https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolineodo...pBg#.fog3B7W6L

Better than I thought it would be as they appear to make minimum wage in all markets.

[Fuzz]

Interesting, though the assumptions at the bottom:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/jsvine/meth...6Dr#.ldNQ8b2pq
are a bit suspect. I'd expect maintenance costs to be a lot higher if you are driving 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year. $3000 seams way to low when you include tires, brakes, oil changes, car washes, insurance and all the other unexpected issues and regular maintenance items.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Interesting, though the assumptions at the bottom:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/jsvine/meth...6Dr#.ldNQ8b2pq
are a bit suspect. I'd expect maintenance costs to be a lot higher if you are driving 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year. $3000 seams way to low when you include tires, brakes, oil changes, car washes, insurance and all the other unexpected issues and regular maintenance items.

I read through those. Subtracting say 1k for insurance, I don't see 2k per year for maintenance as too low once you consider US labour rates in those markets. And increasing those as you like for each $1000 in additional maintenance costs the driver 50 cents per hour.

I think the 16k car assumption with no lease is the faulty assumption and the no between pick up costs.

[Fuzz]

I guess it's tough to know without knowing how many km's they drive in a year, but city driving is hard on vehicles.

[Resolute 14]

They are assuming those cars have a 400,000 km lifetime? First, how many cars actually make it that far? Second, how many could make it that far and still meet Uber's quality demands?

Second, Gas Buddy is not showing a single state in the US where gas is below $2 per gallon, so Buzzfeed's $1.75 figure is comically optimistic. In Detroit, for instance, the cost of a gallon of gas has been over $2.75 for as long as it has been under $1.75 over the last calendar year, and currently sits at around $2.50.

Third, Detroit has the highest insurance rates in the US. In that market, at least, I would bet that people with the kind of cars Uber wants are paying most of that $3000 in insurance alone.

[GGG]

Check the odometer on cabs when you are in them 400k seems reasonable. Time is as damaging to vehicles as miles.

The Detroit maintenance number from the article was $6000. So likely accounts for the higher rates

These aren't buzzfeeds numbers. There internal uber numbers from a few months ago so gas prices were likely those rates at that time.

[Resolute 14]

Buzzfeed said that Uber's internal calculations did not include 'hard numbers on expenses' - that is why they were making assumptions. I am saying those assumptions are laughable.

Incidentally, I would also be hesitant to treat Uber's 'internal calculations' as reliable.