Today my former editor, Carolyn Said, published this interesting story in The San Francisco Chronicle: “Uber, Lyft, Sidecar try carpool service.”
The jist of the story is that these ride sharing services, which are typically slightly more expensive than cabs, are rolling out a lower-cost service in which riders could opt to share their ride with another passenger. Some rides within San Francisco could cost as little as $5.
That sounds good to me. I haven’t tried any of these services yet, because I have a cantankerous phone that doesn’t want me to install any new apps and a reliable taxi company that I usually call when I need a ride. But if the cost worked out to be significantly cheaper than cabs, I would totally try it out.
The story sparked a Facebook discussion on whether folks would consider getting rid of their cars if such low-cost rides were available in our area. As you might predict, people who are already car-free said the services sound great, and those who still have cars said they would not be able to get rid of their cars no matter what. The reasons for keeping cars included family grocery runs — with stores too far away, loads to loarge and schedule too constrained to bike — and pets.
Oh well — we need some people to keep their cars for ride sharing services to work, right?
The Miles Mom 