I’m not particularly fond of Uber’s bussiness practices but if it is well integrated then it might encourage people who use Uber anyway to take a train instead of a car
It’s not going to be well integrated. They will provide services only on profitable routes. All companies providing services on not profitable connections will lose out until the whole system is worse than before uber joined
That’s relatively standard for start-ups and not awful on its face.
But its not clear from the ad copy whether they’re actually offering any kind of independent service, or whether they’re just doing the middleman bullshit, where they charge you a convenience fee to buy a ticket you could have just as easily obtained directly from Amtrak.
If this is just Ticketmaster For Trains, then its arguably even worse. The last thing we need is more privatized transaction clearing services.
Yeah, seems like having the option to go for ebikes, trains and other stuff than cars in the same app would be a good thing. Someone might go for those options since they’re right there.
If this meant that Uber was actually investing in the U.S. passenger rail system, then I’d cheer them on. It doesn’t, though, so Uber can continue to suck my ass.
If these people had any leverage or unity they would get what they want. When these “fighters” are weak and unable to bargain for the wages and conditions they want all they have is whining about “uber bad”.
Hard to union when they are contractors with no direct way to communicate. Not to mention the company “contracting” them can just stop servicing the areas where the union talks are cropping up.
Is it possible? Yes. But extremely unlikely unless a major player in the union world steps up and pours in a shit ton of effort.
This is such a fucking boring take. It masquerades as anti-capitalist but it’s just plain anti-labor. Go do literally anything substantive without any labor, I’ll wait.
Uber is an awful company, but rideshare as a whole is beneficial in the terms of getting less cars sold and used.
There is some attempt somewhere in the US to do a coop out of Uber, where there is no middleman public company and drivers get all the fares. I hope that works out.
As a general concept, I don’t think you’re wrong. However, Uber in particular is problematic. They’re greedy, exploit their workers, and threaten municipalities that try to regulate them.
Odd that so many people here are implicitly defending all other companies like Nike, Apple and McDonald’s… as long as it’s not Uber exploitation is ok or something?
Seriously though cars are here to stay in some capacity. Trains aren’t good ambulances.
When people push such absurd idealism all it does is make the more sensible approaches to sustainable trasit systems harder to argue for because everyone has already written it off after seeing people getting wild
Best I can figure is the train companies are using Uber as a system to sell tickets, instead of or in addition to their own system. Can anyone comment?
To be fair, Trainline started up years ago as a middle man that charge the same for tickets as train operators do (the price is regulated by National Rail) but with a surplus for a service that doesn’t convey any extra value, and they’re still quite popular.
They eventually started getting commissions from train operating companies (TOCs) for selling tickets, which I believe the TOCs in turn used as justification for raising ticket prices above inflation. I used to work for a TOC that at the time refused to work with Trainline, because it meant having to install special ticket machines at loss only to make more loss on ticket revenue, but according to a mate of mine who still works there, they now accept the tickets because it’s such a headache for staff when people come in having spent money for an invalid ticket.
So it’s just shit for everyone except Trainline, and quite a stark example of how unsuited for public infrastructure a free market model is. Imagine if some company came along and said you could pay your gas bill through them for cheaper and it just wasn’t true but everyone believes it so gas is just dearer now. Fucking bananas.
I figured out what you meant but my initial mental image for “automatically chain together” was a long line of Hondas and Teslas connected by short tow straps.
no no, you might be onto something there. what if we traded the wheels and roads for steel rather than rubber and asphalt, to decrease the rolling resistance, and increase the durability… yeah, I can see it now… you might be a genius!
I can’t help but imagine actually using Uber to call for a train and when it arrives, it’s just some old-timey blind guy on one of those old-timey hand-carts singing prophetic songs about what your day is gonna be like.
Fuck gig economy reform, intimidate your way to disability justice in the workplace via ominous clairvoyance and getting absolutely fucking yoked enough to suplex a train like it’s Final Fantasy VI
Or we could just ignore the corrupt alliance of industry colluding to eliminate other transportation options and wax poetic about the Free Market and Rugged Individualism, right?
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