The market you describe, in my opinion, is better served by mass transportation.
Mike
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Lyft's All-Access Subscription Plan Rolling Out Nationwide, $300/Month for 30 Rides
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Mike
I dropped more than $400 on Lyft in the past month. I flew out to Denver and didn't want to rent a car and was going to a number of beer events so driving wouldn't have been wise anyways. Additionally, I frequently take them to and from the bar. Adds up quickly. I own a car for to and from work and around town but ride sharing is a nice additional option for many of us.
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It might be for where you are but many areas don't have Car2Go (which is just as expensive as Uber/Lyft) and eScooters/bikes. There are also areas where the weather prevents them from using scooters/bikes for a good part of the year.
Don't assume your own situation fits everyone. This may not be a great deal for you but for many it's a great fit. As Lyft said, they did a lot of testing with it and found this is what people want. Where's your test results proving otherwise?
I know some people in Los Angeles who’ve gone to Lyft / Uber full time and sold their car. In the end, you’re saving.
-car payment (if applicable)
-insurance
-fuel
-maintenance (tires, oil changes, mechanical failures)
-parking
-the occasional parking ticket
-depreciation
Most don’t take depreciation into consideration. If you buy a car today for $20,000 and if you sell it in 3 years it’s probably worth $15,000 or less.
-car payment (if applicable)
-insurance
-fuel
-maintenance (tires, oil changes, mechanical failures)
-parking
-the occasional parking ticket
-depreciation
Most don’t take depreciation into consideration. If you buy a car today for $20,000 and if you sell it in 3 years it’s probably worth $15,000 or less.
Yeah, there needs to be another tier, at least in NYC. The $299 plan is great if you live in the city (Manhattan) but if you're just outside in the Queens or Brooklyn areas, a slightly higher plan or some kind of roll-over would make more sense. I live in DT Brooklyn and just off of the bridges but it's $20 to get to the East Village. The trains have been so jacked lately, more people are taking cars in. And the L train shutting down for 1 year for repairs, a lot of the hipster kids, I can see them taking this option.
This isn't bad for the B&T crowd to take to the park & ride of the LIRR or Metro North though.
This is really good for business people who travel a lot assuming this isn't restricted to your home location. If this option had been available when I was working in LA for an extended time, I would have loved to do this rather than renting a car.
I also live in the Midwest and public transportation in the nearest ‘big’ city isn’t very practical. Limited routes, limited hours, and they only have busses.
Big is a very relative term. I live a little over 10 miles north of the largest city in the state. The population of the entire state is about 1.5 to 1.6 million people. Big does not mean here what it means on the east or west coasts.
Hmm good idea, however the target audience should have been for the weekend... No DUI.
I mean sign-up for minim $200/100 and monthly $25. would make more sense.... No need to worry about ride/fare limit and have an option for auto-renewal that Lyft give you another $10/25.
I mean sign-up for minim $200/100 and monthly $25. would make more sense.... No need to worry about ride/fare limit and have an option for auto-renewal that Lyft give you another $10/25.
Depreciation is not really a valid factor here, though. The residual value of a purchased Lift ride is zero.
59% savings over car ownership? Maybe for some who buy cars they can’t afford and live in cities who charge for parking. But for me?
- My EV $0 (paid off $6,250 for a 2013 Smart ED, 3yrs off lease with 2900 miles)
- Electricity used $0 (free solar and city charging)
- Insurance $66/month for 300k liability
- Maintenance $0 (haven’t seen a mechanic in 2 yrs)
- Parking $0 (city supports free parking)
My savings are probably at 95% over others, haha.
- My EV $0 (paid off $6,250 for a 2013 Smart ED, 3yrs off lease with 2900 miles)
- Electricity used $0 (free solar and city charging)
- Insurance $66/month for 300k liability
- Maintenance $0 (haven’t seen a mechanic in 2 yrs)
- Parking $0 (city supports free parking)
My savings are probably at 95% over others, haha.
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You’re making the wrong assumption that everyone has to drive to work. People live and work downtown, others work from home, others have their own businesses. The workforce isn’t the 9-5 commute back and forth of the 1950’s anymore.
I get around in a combination of walking, bike sharing, public transit, car rentals and ride sharing. I walk mostly but if I’m going farther, I might hop on the streetcar or subway. If I’m working out of the city or if have to carry equipment, I’ll rent a ZipCar. If I’m going out with friends or on a date, I’ll get an Uber.
This deal doesn’t seem all that great but I would get on board if the membership were a commitment of $99/mo to get a discounted rate that would start paying off after about 20 rides per month.
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A Smart EV is $23,000.00. Any other EV is going to be $30,000.00 or more by time that you buy some of the basic options that you are going to buy. It’s probably pretty easy to pump that up to $40,000.00 without going crazy on features, although I haven’t priced EV’s lately.
Most places of work don’t have charging stations. Most cities not along a highway or Interstate don’t have them in 2/3rds of the country. Most cities don’t have free solar or any other means of free plug in facilities. Even cities that may have them don’t have them every couple of blocks. I don’t know but I suspect that there aren’t many public parking garages in New York with chargers and none that are free and I bet it’s not easy to reliably get such a EV stall without being a pay by the month customer.
California, Seattle, some East Coast cities and maybe Denver probably have a much more EV friendly situation, and although that’s a lot of people it’s nowhere near most of the US population.
You can still be arrested for drunk driving the same as in a gasoline powered vehicle.
So how is this a viable alternative for most people instead of Lyft , or a taxi or public transport?
Depeciation factors heavily into new cars, but for used cars it's negligible. Gas, insurance, maintenance, and (optional) parking fees are amortized with use, so there's no way a typical used car owner is paying anything like $10 per ride. They're probably making 10 round trips per week, not 10 single trips per month.
Let me know where I can get a free car ... paid off doesn't mean it's free. You spent $X and after a few years that value is doing to be less. Personally, I don't think you'll get savings going with a ride sharing vs buying your own, but there are still some benefits that different people will place different values on (like not having to park, dealing with traffic, waiting for maintenance, and though you didn't have to do that yet, you will eventually).
Hehe....here we go.
1. I paid $6250 for my 2013 Smart ED, 3yrs off-lease, 2900 miles on it, mint condition in 12/16.
2. The chargers where I live are 100% free in rural Tennessee, whether private or government owned. In fact, there’s only 2 stations capable of charging and its turned off. Everywhere else is just ClipperCreek’s on a wall in a free city parking garage, or the 20+ chargers free for use down at the global headquarters for a Fortune 500 chemical company. I don’t pay for charging, or parking at any location within the 90ish mile range of my car. I have access to around 40 locations with probably above 120 chargers overall at $0.
3. If you drink enough to require a Lyft ride 30 times a month, you may need to seek the assistance of a rehabilitation clinic and/or your nearest AA meeting group.
So for me in my specific situation, this provides no value. Especially since they don’t roll over. That’s extremely unfair if say, your off work a week for vacation, out of town, etc.
I live in NYC, specially Brooklyn, and this is a great deal here. Parking is very limited and all the good places its basically possible to find. Car insurance is expensive and then gas and maintaince on top of that is an issue.
Worst of all is the MTA, which is our public transportation system. The MTA is getting worse and worse. Buses are so slow and what you could take a car to in 10 minutes the bus will take 30 minutes. The subway is down more often and on the weekend is unpredictable .
This deal seems great for anyone living in the city. No car payments, no insirance, no maintaince, no gas, and no reliance on public transportation .
Edit: Wait I saw that it's only 30 rides thought it was 60 . Never mind not as good deal as I thought.
Worst of all is the MTA, which is our public transportation system. The MTA is getting worse and worse. Buses are so slow and what you could take a car to in 10 minutes the bus will take 30 minutes. The subway is down more often and on the weekend is unpredictable .
This deal seems great for anyone living in the city. No car payments, no insirance, no maintaince, no gas, and no reliance on public transportation .
Edit: Wait I saw that it's only 30 rides thought it was 60 . Never mind not as good deal as I thought.
Would you pay the throw up/cleaning up fee too?
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Use Uber for any ride below $15. Problem solved.
Hehe....here we go.
1. I paid $6250 for my 2013 Smart ED, 3yrs off-lease, 2900 miles on it, mint condition in 12/16.
2. The chargers where I live are 100% free in rural Tennessee, whether private or government owned. In fact, there’s only 2 stations capable of charging and its turned off. Everywhere else is just ClipperCreek’s on a wall in a free city parking garage, or the 20+ chargers free for use down at the global headquarters for a Fortune 500 chemical company. I don’t pay for charging, or parking at any location within the 90ish mile range of my car. I have access to around 40 locations with probably above 120 chargers overall at $0.
3. If you drink enough to require a Lyft ride 30 times a month, you may need to seek the assistance of a rehabilitation clinic and/or your nearest AA meeting group.
So for me in my specific situation, this provides no value. Especially since they don’t roll over. That’s extremely unfair if say, your off work a week for vacation, out of town, etc.
I don’t drink (alcohol) at all, and never have. But I business travel and drinking is very common with co-workers and clients. Very very common.
I have owned a 2005 Prius since the Model 4 was released in 2004. I still drive it and it’s probably the most trouble free vehicle I’ve ever owned. We have over 250,000 miles on it. Tires have probably been my biggest mechanical cost. Still on the original battery, and getting about 45 MPG.
Looked into EV’s a couple of years ago. There weren’t many in my state even if the brand had a model or two. The nearest TESLA dealer is 240 miles away in another state. Going across Nebraska, there are 5 cities with charging stations, all on the interstate. Omaha has 4 or 5 locations but some are private, or only available during certain hours.
There are state senators trying to stop wind energy farms from going in and they may succeed. They have stopped most Solar farms until Facebook wanted to build a server farm south east of Omaha but wanted the restrictions lifted, and they were a big enough company that the power company relented.
I am willing to bet that this level of “support” for EV’s is common in a lot of western states until you get close to California/Oregon/Washington. With isolated areas around bigger cities along the way.
Speaking as a teetotaler I am happy about any service like Lyft or Uber that helps people who drink because just because I’m sober doesn’t mean that the guy who hits me will be. And I am on the road for work quite a bit.
I do. I easily go over 30 rides a month. Some are $8 some are $25. I can see myself using this, for any ride below $10 or so I can use Uber. I will use up the 30 rides without a doubt within the month.
You save $150 after you use them all, sounds good for my use of these apps.
I think this is a bad deal. If you commute using public transportation, you'll need at least 60 rides per month. So that eliminates this package unless you're willing to pay $300 + $450. If you use this for doing chores or general transportation in your city, you first have to make sure your ride is $15 or more and then you have to make sure you use all 30 rides per month. I suspect a decent number of people will sign up and then churn quickly after underutilizing either the ride price or the number of rides. I don't own a car and have been waiting for a decent Uber or Lyft subscription (SF MUNI is pretty terrible) but both haven't produced an attractive option yet.
I’d assume the people that get this deal won’t tip.
Not sure what this means for a driver.