This is interesting to me, as every time I’ve looked at Uber/Lyft prices in my area it has seemed a bit high for it to be my go-to option. Can you link me to a good discussion regarding why this is the typical Rationalist choice? (I’ve read a lot of the sequences, etc. but really don’t spend hardly any time on the blog itself)
Nothing fancy. In the Bay Area it’s lots of people’s choice:
Rail (BART) usually won’t take you the last mile or two.
Car ownership is expensive (just having somewhere to park is either expensive or your car is likely to get broken into), plus many people never learned to drive, and parking when you go places is a pain.
The buses are awful.
Uber/Lyft aren’t that expensive in this area, or weren’t when pooling with other random people.
People are too lazy to cycle. :P (also bikes getting stolen all the time)
Do you have a car? Most rationalists in Berkeley don’t, so unless it’s nearby or you’re doing one of a small set of public-transit compatible routes, Uber/Lyft are the only option.
Also note that the amortized cost of owning cars vs Lyft are moderately comparable, and if you’re not doing that much tracking Lyft / Uber comes out a lot cheaper
This is interesting to me, as every time I’ve looked at Uber/Lyft prices in my area it has seemed a bit high for it to be my go-to option. Can you link me to a good discussion regarding why this is the typical Rationalist choice? (I’ve read a lot of the sequences, etc. but really don’t spend hardly any time on the blog itself)
Nothing fancy. In the Bay Area it’s lots of people’s choice:
Rail (BART) usually won’t take you the last mile or two.
Car ownership is expensive (just having somewhere to park is either expensive or your car is likely to get broken into), plus many people never learned to drive, and parking when you go places is a pain.
The buses are awful.
Uber/Lyft aren’t that expensive in this area, or weren’t when pooling with other random people.
People are too lazy to cycle. :P (also bikes getting stolen all the time)
I think I underestimated how much of the Rationalist community was in the bay area. That fact alone resolves most of my confusion, thank you.
Do you have a car? Most rationalists in Berkeley don’t, so unless it’s nearby or you’re doing one of a small set of public-transit compatible routes, Uber/Lyft are the only option.
Also note that the amortized cost of owning cars vs Lyft are moderately comparable, and if you’re not doing that much tracking Lyft / Uber comes out a lot cheaper
Unfortunately, a car is an unavoidable cost for me, I expect that is a large part of the difference.
For sure if you have a car it doesn’t make nearly as much sense to Uber places
I do have a car, but I don’t even live in the bay area and didn’t realize how many of you were in Berkeley. Makes sense now.