Quote: (08-26-2014 10:24 AM)Basil Ransom Wrote:
It's great to see MADD lining up with Uber, that should be a great boon: http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/BL-DGB-37344
Uber claims that its services have reduced drunk driving and I agree. They should fund an independent survey of its users asking if the price and convenience of uber has led them to use uber instead of driving for going out.
From what I can tell, I see a looot more ubers driving people to bars than I did see of cabs several years ago. A buddy of mine lives in a prime spot and he takes Ubers to bars all the time. When I asked him if he'd have taken a cab instead if Uber had never come about, he said no way, that he'd simply drive.
Or Uber could survey the owners of parking lots and ask them about usage, or see if parking prices have gone down. Some hotels will charge $30 a night for parking, that's a pretty big incentive to ditch renting a car when traveling.
Personally I use Lyft instead of Uber because Uber has some shady tactics, but Uber is protecting the industry from being shut down, no doubt.
For me, its an economics thing. As an example, using Taxis, it cost me $30-35 (plus tip) to get from my place to Hermosa Beach.
Using Uber/Lyft, it cost me $15-16. You figure in round trip fares, and a night of drinking's transportation could either be $70+ or $30-35 which is a huge gap in nightly expenditures. At some point you'll think "Its just better to drive, I won't drink too much". But then again there are these "Buzzed driving is Drunk Driving campaigns".
The convenience of Uber/Lyft has also made me go out a lot more. Whereas, if I were to drive, I'd just simply stay home and do nothing. With Uber/Lyft, I go out whenever, multiple times per week. If the plugged was pulled and we were only left with Taxis, I don't think I'd use them still. The experience and cost suck.