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Ride sharing tipping point vs. public transportation

1 points by akman ↗ HN
I just took my first ride this morning where Uber(Pool) was cheaper than public transportation. I live in the SF Bay area, and I just spent less than 50% of a 1-way Caltrain ticket (same zone) using Uber Pool. This is for door-to-door service. I don't see how Caltrain/Bart/bus/etc. can compete with this pricing and convenience.

Anyone else experiencing the same in other areas?

2 comments

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stephenr
I know it's the name they give themselves, but please don't refer to Uber/etc as "ride sharing".

They're a private taxi service. The driver didn't just happen to be outside your house and going where you wanted to go, s/he came to your house and picked you up and took you where you wanted to go, for money.

SilasX
Wait, what? Caltrain single-zone one-way with clipper is $3.75 [1], so that would mean your UberPool ride was less than $2. I've never seen that (after the promotions anyway).

The numbers might be close if you brought a second person with you, since you'd have to compare against two tickets vs UberPool + $1, but you say "a 1-way ticket".

[1] $3.20 with Clipper Card, but I'm erring on the side of making the numbers favorable to your claim. http://www.caltrain.com/Fares/farechart.html