“We want to be a middle man”
They say that during the California gold rush, the people who got richest were the shovel salesmen
If this meant that Uber was actually investing in the U.S. passenger rail system, then I’d cheer them on. It doesn’t, though, so Uber can continue to suck my ass.
Aren't trains known to be communism in the USA?
You mean commutism?
They might as well be. It’s absolutely ridiculous.
Is this from the US at all?
only taxi app that works with Vpn's tho
Ride sharing and micromobility services are great and the future. It is more sustainable and convenient.
I don't get why some people are mad about it.
Uber is an awful company, but rideshare as a whole is beneficial in the terms of getting less cars sold and used.
There is some attempt somewhere in the US to do a coop out of Uber, where there is no middleman public company and drivers get all the fares. I hope that works out.
Probably because of their shitty business practices in an ecosystem that already has strong class oppression
I can't help but imagine actually using Uber to call for a train and when it arrives, it's just some old-timey blind guy on one of those old-timey hand-carts singing prophetic songs about what your day is gonna be like.
Fuck gig economy reform, intimidate your way to disability justice in the workplace via ominous clairvoyance and getting absolutely fucking yoked enough to suplex a train like it’s Final Fantasy VI
To be fair, it was a ghost train. Not being corporeal might make it incredibly lightweight. :p
You shall see a... cow... on the roof of a cotton house.
I'd fuckin take that job over uber any day of the week
Imagine if this actually worked like the main rideshare function. You order a ride in Roanoke and N&W 611 just rolls up to your doorstep.
Mephi is hungry
Brings a new visual to the phrase "choo choo motherfucker"
As a railfan, this would be a dream come true
as someone who sucks at driving and avoids it when at all possible this would be a dream come true
Or ЭП2Д. Übersharing.
And this is your groceries:
I'm not particularly fond of Uber's bussiness practices but if it is well integrated then it might encourage people who use Uber anyway to take a train instead of a car
It's not going to be well integrated. They will provide services only on profitable routes. All companies providing services on not profitable connections will lose out until the whole system is worse than before uber joined
That's relatively standard for start-ups and not awful on its face.
But its not clear from the ad copy whether they're actually offering any kind of independent service, or whether they're just doing the middleman bullshit, where they charge you a convenience fee to buy a ticket you could have just as easily obtained directly from Amtrak.
If this is just Ticketmaster For Trains, then its arguably even worse. The last thing we need is more privatized transaction clearing services.
How does that work? Like you put out a request and a conductor drives a locomotive to pick you up?
I guess like Google Maps transit but it also allows you to pay on the platform
Fuck cars and fuck Uber but this sounds like a reaction to Lyft being integrated in the (excellent) Transit app
Cars are useful and convenient. That is partially why they are so popular.
If you want less cars in your city car sharing services and micro mobility (scooters, ebikes) are your friend.
It's a pretty neat system they got, all you got to do is say "I like trains" in a monotone voice and BOOM! Train!
But if you sing...
This appears to have been available since at least October last year - you can buy train tickets through the Uber app. Thread from another forum here.
They have e bikes on uber too, it's actually a pretty neat system.
Yeah, seems like having the option to go for ebikes, trains and other stuff than cars in the same app would be a good thing. Someone might go for those options since they're right there.
Best I can figure is the train companies are using Uber as a system to sell tickets, instead of or in addition to their own system. Can anyone comment?
