Two weeks ago, the Denver suburb of Centennial announced it would subsidize transit riders to use Uber or Lyft to or from their transit stop from or to their origin or final destination. By solving the “last-mile” problem, they hope that this will make transit more attractive to Centennial residents.
A couple of days later, the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority announced it would do the same for transit riders in Dublin and other nearby suburbs of San Francisco-Oakland.
Through such agreements, ride-sharing services are trying to persuade transit supporters that they aren’t competitors, but potential partners with transit agencies. Some of them are buying it, while others are more skeptical. The Antiplanner thinks this is just a transition phase before the complete elimination of transit in all but a few cities.
The last-mile problem is only part of the inconvenience of using transit. Transit only goes some places; it only goes a few times an hour; it only goes during some hours of the day. Using Uber or Lyft for the last mile reduces the first problem but not the other two. Transit riders will still have to wait for transit vehicles to show up. They may not get seats in the transit vehicles. They may find that transit doesn’t operate when they want to go, such as late at night or, in some cases, weekends.
Advocates of this partnership like to point to studies showing that people who use services such as Uber and Lyft own fewer cars per household. But this runs into the typical self-selection problem: people who don’t want to own as many cars are more likely to use ride-sharing services, but this doesn’t mean that offering ride sharing to others as a part of potential transit trips will reduce car ownership.
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The Antiplanner doubts that subsidizing the last mile will significantly increase transit ridership. If it doesn’t, then what is the point of subsidizing ride sharing? Taxpayers pay to subsidize transit and pay again to subsidize the last mile but even if they slightly increase ridership those subsidies won’t particularly save energy, reduce air pollution, or cut congestion, and there are better ways of accomplishing all of these things.
Since 1970, American taxpayers have spent more than half a trillion dollars subsidizing transit, and per capita transit ridership has declined from 49 trips per urban resident per year to 41. This is just another subsidy that is not likely to reverse this trend.
In the early nineteenth century, many railroads originally served as tributaries to river and canal boat traffic. By late in the century, they almost completely replaced the steamboats. Similarly, ride sharing is not going to limit itself to providing the last mile for long.
While the Antiplanner is dubious that transit subsidies to ride sharing make sense today, I’m even more dubious about claims that ride-sharing companies will be content to act as partners with transit. If Ford and other companies can keep its promises about self-driving cars, shown above, within a decade from now, ride-sharing services are going to dump transit partners and take the first, last, and every mile in-between.
a) strikes me as yet another subsidy for the well off
b) strikes me as very expensive
to skip a 45 minute walk this morning, I took an Uber for 3.11 miles ( the walk would’ve been more like 2 1/2 miles ). It cost $4.75 + $1.65 booking fee for $6.40 during the morning rush hour. It took the driver about 10 minutes to arrive. It took 10.15 to do the trip but that included me finishing up some paperwork while the driver waited.
Is Uber giving them some sort of discount? Are they restricting the cost to the first $5 or no more than a few miles? Even so, all of these $5 – $10 fares would add up fast.
Well… they could if that’s the real thing preventing people from taking transit.
Given info by prk166, I don’t see how the Uber driver can gross more than $20 per hour, net. That’s assuming 4 riders per hour, which is very optimistic for all day. Subtracting vehicle costs, that Uber driver appears to be able to make $10-$12 per hour, whoop-de-doo!
Contrary to The Antiplanner, I doubt robocars would be perhaps 1/3 cheaper–with the unscientific assumption that the damn things will actually work.
“with the unscientific assumption that the damn things will actually work.”
Hahahaha. Another luddite technophobe choo-choo train fetishist with a geography degree from Chico State who lives on Atlas Road in the middle of nowhere weighs in. He. Knows. Everything!
“Given info by prk166, I don’t see how the Uber driver can gross more than $20 per hour, net. ” ~ msetty
I’m curious too, msetty. The other day a ride from downtown Charlotte out to Kannapolis on Lyft cost…. hold on,
Sorry, I had to reinstall Lyft. I don’t have it here so I take it off my phone unless I’m traveling.
The Trust and service fee was $1.65 ( IIRC Uber has a booking fee; same thing, really). The ride with life was 19.1 mile, last 20 minutes and cost me $18.99.
IIRC Lyft’s cut is something like 20% – 25%.
Ya, I don’t know how they do it without getting in a bunch of rides. I had the same driver the day before. I’m pretty sure he just accepted the ride w/out looking at the destination both times. Not a problem when you’re in and around uptown Charlotte. But that hike out to Kannapolis meant an equal hike back down to NoDa.
https://encrypted.google.com/maps/place/NoDa,+Charlotte,+NC/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x88541fda7faccb0f:0x60b1d44ec04f5b08?sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjhwOSAkO_OAhXIWSYKHZkMDrcQ8gEIejAP
NoDa is a popular arts district in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It is located in the North Charlotte neighborhood on and around North Davidson Street and 36th Street, approximately one mile northeast of Uptown
I’m guessing that Denver metro RTD is looking to dump their expensive Call-n-Ride service and pay for Lyft shared rides instead. Go Centenial‘s free shared Lyft ride service area is identical to the Call-n-Ride‘s service area.
Not a bad thing, IMHO, privatizing the service. Yeah, taxpayers are still shelling out the money but at least we aren’t paying for ridiculous union pension plans.
Thanks. I hadn’t thought of it that way. It looks like the cities and counties are already spending quite a bit.
http://parkerchronicle.net/stories/RTD-Call-n-Ride-shuttle-saved-again,171789
Call-n-Ride allows residents to call a driver and be picked up in front of their home for short trips within a limited service area. It has been up for elimination before in the northern tier of the county, and each time public officials have stepped up to meet the financial needs of RTD, which spends around $180,000 annually for each service.
However, some have complained that Parker and Douglas County already don’t receive enough service compared to the amount of local tax money going to the transportation district.
In September, RTD asked for a 50-percent cost-sharing agreement to save the Call-n-Ride services, which is what is contained in the agreement, Matthews said.
Ah, Frank!
Still the idiot savant as always. Still buying hook, line and sinker the hype put out by unabashed technophiliacs like The Antiplanner.
Where is Atlas Road? Nothing by that name around here.