Uber or Lyft
 

People have often referred to either Uber or Lyft as alternatives to owning a car for local transportation here in The Villages.

I downloaded the two apps yesterday and checked the cost of a couple of local rides. Uber’s price for a pickup at Spanish Springs for a trip to Cane Garden CC is $17.15… from The Sharon to Rohan Rec Center is $22.61.

Checking Lyft’s pricing for the same trips shows $17.77 from the Sharon to Cane Garden CC and $27.73 to Rohan Rec Center.

I thought both Uber and Lyft were supposed to be economical alternatives to other forms of transportation. Those prices sure don’t sound very economical to me.

If someone living near Rohan wanted to go to a show at The Sharon—about $50 round trip, plus tips both ways, doesn’t sound like an attractive transportation alternative to me. What would that be, $60-65 round trip including a tip? That’s approaching the cost of two tickets to lots of shows at The Sharon.

If someone living near Spanish Springs wanted to go out to Cane Garden for lunch or dinner, the cost to get there and back might be as much as the cost of meals for two people .

Thoughts? Alternatives?

I would suggest a golf cart for all the trips inside the villages, and the Uber or Lyft, or other local taxi services for trips outside TV, considering all of the costs associated with owning and maintaining a vehicle, the rates do not sound outlandish.

Only as a last resort.

Dam, maybe I can start a business called goober, kind of like Uber except I can charge to give people rides in my golf cart?

Their prices fluctuate according to the time of the trip, obviously, evening and nighttime prices are much cheaper.
Plus there is a peak charge between 8 am -12 pm when many people are going to work or doctors appointments.

No matter what it's cheaper than a DUI.

I took an urber in Minneapolis a few days ago $27.00 for 5 of us with luggage for about 6 miles. I'm guessing it's so high here because they are driving from say Ladylake to the Villages and the home again. It's not like going from the airport to someone's home back to the airport and so on.

Uber needs to show profitability for its investors. The days of huge fare subsidies is over. Prices often like a taxi

Limited Supply = High Prices.

:thumbup:

Its true that the demand and the supply is low here. Almost everyone has a car or cart.
Not so in the bigger cities with younger populations (especially college towns). Young kids are often facing $200 to $250 per month for auto insurance. They find that Uber is much more economical than owning a car because they tend to go out in groups and share Uber ride costs

I often use these services when traveling in dense cities where I prefer not to drive rentals or pay high parking fees.

Very true, this became well known during pandemic.

Break out your old pair of roller skates.

I know you’re joking, but that might actually be viable…Guber. ;-)

I still think both services are a great alternative, even if a little pricey, for the occasional need. We choose to only have one car, mainly just for saving space in our garage and because we rarely need two cars at the same time. For us Lyft or Uber is the answer. Even for other situations, it's worth it considering the other options, which are few.

You’d have to actually make a comparison to decide if these ride share services are too expensive. Add up the cost of buying a car, insuring it, fueling it and maintaining it for a year. Then divide that sum by the number of trips you make in a year. Compare the quotient to the ride-share prices. Only then can you determine if Uber/Lyft are too expensive.

I guess you haven't taken a ride in a golf cart from way down in the new sections all the way to The Sharon and back at night to see a show. It is a good 45 minutes to an hour each way.