Uber CEO balks after a reporter tells him the cost of his 2.9-mile Uber ride: ‘Oh my God. Wow.’::undefined

  • Ducks@ducks.dev
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    2 years ago

    Actually I live in NYC and often public transportation, especially bikes, are faster to get around Manhattan than car services. Outer boroughs need more infrastructure though. Places like Queens and Brooklyn as you get away from the city become harder to navigate without a car or car service and taxis can be rarer

    • Tweegyjambo@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      As someone from rural Scotland, hearing Brooklyn described as ‘getting away from the city’ is unintentionally hilarious!

      • Ducks@ducks.dev
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        2 years ago

        Ha, it is definitely a local slang. People in outer boroughs will say “I’m going into the city for the day” if they are going into Manhattan, even though all the boroughs are “New York City” and mostly high density

        • qbus@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          I miss going out to that far little hamlet of Whitestone Queens and getting a sandwich at Cherry valley.

    • theragu40@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      I visited NYC this spring with my wife and we took precisely one Uber ride, from the airport to our hotel. It was $80. We then proceeded to spend less than $80 total the rest of our several day trip crisscrossing all over Manhattan on public transit, including back to the airport to leave. Public transit was faster, cheaper, and easier than the Uber, for sure.

      • Bucket_of_Truth@lemmy.ml
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        2 years ago

        Uber jacks up prices in “airport zones” to an insane degree. For example an Uber from Seattle to Sea-Tac is about $75. I rented a car in Portland, drove up to Seattle for the weekend, and drove myself to the airport for $60. An Amtrak ticket from Portland- Seattle is around $40 usually.

        This doesn’t work everywhere, but when I’m flying back into PDX (the best airport) I’ll take the light rail public transit two stops and get a ride share from the Target parking lot. Ends up being about half the price once you’re far enough away.

      • Katana314@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        Last time I took a taxi from an airport was when I was on crutches recovering from a leg injury, and even then I thought twice about it.

        “From airport to city center” is such a common trip that it’s often going to be the best arrangement of transit lines the city has, even if other paths are less optimal.

          • Katana314@lemmy.world
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            2 years ago

            Corruption? I don’t follow. Why would anyone want to make it harder to access a place of business? Where I live, businesses often make shuttle services directly to their location from common departure points to ensure people are deeply incentivized to come in and waste their money. The specific example I’m thinking of is a casino.

            Profit scheming with taxi drivers directly off of someone’s first expenditure in the city kind of sounds like poor planning even for the greediest of schemers.