Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads:
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- • TfL bidding to run Buenos Aires Metro (Guardian)
- • London black cabs to take on Uber (Wired)
- • Montréal’s iconic old Métro cars becoming creative spaces (NextCity)
- • How I learned to stop worrying and love electric scooters (NYTimes)
- • San Francisco bridge toll hike to fund BART railcars (ProgressiveRailroading)
- • The key forces that shape cities (CityLab)
- • The little-known behavioural scientist who transformed the world’s cities (FastCoDesign)
- • The Dutch Yachtaqueduct (AtlasObscura)
- • Cruise ships eyed for 2020 Tokyo Olympics accommodations (JapanNews)
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The Wired article – new cabs vs Uber
The new petrol-electric hybrid cab seems like a decent vehicle – a cabbie I’ve talked to was extremely impressed with it when he borrowed one for a day.
But I find this to be a confused article. To my reading, the content of the article does not justify the heading / conclusions that they come up with. Does this new vehicle really do much to change the Uber vs black cab dynamic?
Analysis in the various pieces published on this site has suggested that much of Uber’s strength so far has been a very convenient booking app and lower prices than black cabs – albeit probably unsustainable low prices given the losses Uber is incurring and the regulatory issues it faces. Whilst many of us contributing here do worry about the pollution spilling about out of the existing black cab fleet, is the type of vehicle provided actually a factor that affects journey choices for those types who do use taxis and/or private hire to get around?
I struggle to see how a new (very expensive) black cab does anything significant to change the Uber vs black cab dynamic.
I believe that Uber makes money in London – the losses come from emerging markets.
The primary reason to believe that Uber’s pricing is unsustainable is because individual drivers are basing decisions on marginal costs, not fully loaded costs.
I.e. once the depreciation on their vehicle is factored in they aren’t making much (or even making a loss).
How long it’ll take drivers to notice and stop driving is an interesting question.
The question of whether Uber makes money in London was addressed in an LR article, and at the time it rather looked as if they didn’t – though for various reasons one could not be at all certain.
But the question as to whether it is financially worthwhile for drivers is also interesting, as you say.
If a driver has already decided, for other reasons, to own and run that car, then it may be rational for that driver to disregard the time-based part of the car’s depreciation when considering whether to uber. They will still need to take account of all the other costs, though.
It’s all about the App. The ease of hailing and paying are the only reasons I ever use Uber. I’ve tried Hailo, as I would prefer to use a black cab, but it’s not as dependable. I presume that this is because black cabs have other sources of hires.