Ask HN: Anyone interested in building a open-source non-profit Uber competitor?
13 comments
Uber makes 25% on paper and about 39% in practice off the rides they book. That's a lot more than I expected.
Both Uber and Lyft are sinking a lot of that into driverless cars, and of course they're both burning through funds like a drunken binge. You can't compete with free, but free can't compete with negative. When the sun comes up from the rager and the market realizes the big 2 are cash pits instead of cash machines, it'd be nice to be in a position to take over for them.
But until then, you have to be heard over the din. That means you can't give the drivers the full difference, or too few passengers will use your service. Maybe splitting the difference, so instead of a $40 fare going $16 to Uber and $24 to the driver, make it a $32 fare going $30 to the driver and $2 to run overhead (servers, financial overhead).
I could see this being a philosophical dealbreaker, as some people would want the drivers to eat the Uberless overhead to bring cheaper fares (defeats the point for the drivers), and others would want the drivers to keep the Uberless overhead (defeats the point for the passengers).
Requiring drivers to send copies of their Uber and/or Lyft certifications would offload that cost of entry to the competition. That'd work great until Uber or Lyft kicks them off for good reason.
As long as the math makes sense, ping me and I'm game for helping out.
Both Uber and Lyft are sinking a lot of that into driverless cars, and of course they're both burning through funds like a drunken binge. You can't compete with free, but free can't compete with negative. When the sun comes up from the rager and the market realizes the big 2 are cash pits instead of cash machines, it'd be nice to be in a position to take over for them.
But until then, you have to be heard over the din. That means you can't give the drivers the full difference, or too few passengers will use your service. Maybe splitting the difference, so instead of a $40 fare going $16 to Uber and $24 to the driver, make it a $32 fare going $30 to the driver and $2 to run overhead (servers, financial overhead).
I could see this being a philosophical dealbreaker, as some people would want the drivers to eat the Uberless overhead to bring cheaper fares (defeats the point for the drivers), and others would want the drivers to keep the Uberless overhead (defeats the point for the passengers).
Requiring drivers to send copies of their Uber and/or Lyft certifications would offload that cost of entry to the competition. That'd work great until Uber or Lyft kicks them off for good reason.
As long as the math makes sense, ping me and I'm game for helping out.
I'm interested in building commission free marketplaces. Some of the advantages that a system like this can have is
- You can completely get rid of centralized international payment processing and distribution.
- Countries where cellular networks have good coverage (i.e. most of the regions where marketplaces operate today) already have highly efficient payment networks that can be set up by any individual or a business. All we need to do is educate them how.
I don't think building a technology infrastructure would be the right way to solve this problem. Effort should instead be spent in educating how the existing infrastructure can be used by individuals to their advantage.
The goal of marketplace operator should be to ensure that all the operations are run smoothly. How customer grievances are to be addressed? How the legal regulations are to be followed? How the service is going to be provided? How the compensation is going to be received? In other words the marketplaces should take away the administrative burden of the participants.
Think virtual assistants.
- You can completely get rid of centralized international payment processing and distribution.
- Countries where cellular networks have good coverage (i.e. most of the regions where marketplaces operate today) already have highly efficient payment networks that can be set up by any individual or a business. All we need to do is educate them how.
I don't think building a technology infrastructure would be the right way to solve this problem. Effort should instead be spent in educating how the existing infrastructure can be used by individuals to their advantage.
The goal of marketplace operator should be to ensure that all the operations are run smoothly. How customer grievances are to be addressed? How the legal regulations are to be followed? How the service is going to be provided? How the compensation is going to be received? In other words the marketplaces should take away the administrative burden of the participants.
Think virtual assistants.
This is a cool idea and would be worthwhile but I’m sure there are significant (non software related) logistical issues that won’t be solved by FOSS. Handling driver-rider disputes and general safety concerns, for instance. Part of what makes Uber viable is they own a certain degree of liability in the customer experience, even if it comes at the expense of drivers.
What if the app and site are open source, but each city a private company or companies use the oss to create their own service. Then you have a decentralised system and the businesses add value by dealing with disputes and payment processing.
Contact RideAustin perhaps; they’re not open source yet, but they were considering it. I’d love for more cities to build services like that.
(Unfortunately, when we tried to use RideAustin on a recent visit, it didn’t work... but they’ve had millions in revenue so I think we were just unlucky)
http://www.rideaustin.com/
(Unfortunately, when we tried to use RideAustin on a recent visit, it didn’t work... but they’ve had millions in revenue so I think we were just unlucky)
http://www.rideaustin.com/
Will this be something like libretaxi?
http://libretaxi.org/ https://github.com/ro31337/libretaxi
http://libretaxi.org/ https://github.com/ro31337/libretaxi
Thanks for the link. I'm glad to see others working on this. I don't really like their cash/Bitcoin only strategy. Similarly for haggling for your fare. I think these two factors might be deal breakers for most users and drivers. I'll look more into their app though.
Austin has a nonprofit rideshare app formed after Uber and Lyft pulled out for regulator-related reasons which more closely clones their business model
http://www.rideaustin.com/
I think the reality is such a project is less about the app and more about mobilising the drivers to join and sorting out various hurdles so they can safely and legally operate in a jurisdiction, especially if you're also taking payments on their behalf (that'll be the reason libretaxi uses cash). Doing that paperwork is a lot of man hours for somebody...
I think the reality is such a project is less about the app and more about mobilising the drivers to join and sorting out various hurdles so they can safely and legally operate in a jurisdiction, especially if you're also taking payments on their behalf (that'll be the reason libretaxi uses cash). Doing that paperwork is a lot of man hours for somebody...
Sounds good on paper, so I might be interested. Need some details though, specifically, who else will be participating, as working with a good team is significant part of the fun.
Nice to hear, I can certainly send you more details over email. I don't see an email address listed on your profile though - you can find my email address in my public profile.
I think such a software is inevitable. Bitcoin has already solved most of the problems that would be faced.
Bitcoin is to unstable in day hour to hour price levels. Example Bitcoin is 5000 usd at 9 am and 5026 at 10 am so I pay 9 am price to go to work via uber and my partner pays 10 am price to go to work ??? Will never work until stability is something we can count on. going home you don't want to hear that one.
Needless to say, there is no potential for riches. This would be a labor of love.
Would anyone be interested in working on this?
https://nyti.ms/2VKYROJ