> But on an economic level, a subset of blue-collar workers (which numbers in the tens of thousands in San Francisco) would find themselves either regionally displaced or outright vocationally exterminated by a branch of artificial intelligence.
A lot to unpack there, but it does act as a reminder that most people have been highly critical of the rideshare business model, considering these jobs to be profoundly unfair an unsustainable for drivers. So it comes off as disingenuous to hear claims that we're going to lose an important working class profession. No, we're going to lose a profession that, outside of the densest cities, never made economic sense in the 21st century. It's a profession we want to see disappear. Not that it entirely matters considering that consumers are inevitably going to choose the cheaper, safer option regardless of which jobs may be at stake.
After factoring in the depreciation of their assets(the car)? Likely not.
It is a classic case of 'I need to eat today, so I'm taking from my future in order to do so' - this is how the poor get poorer (and the rich get richer).
It is also a profession that doesn't make sense in the densest of cities. There's too much car traffic, and too many square meters allocated to undersupply it.
> Street-side parking in downtown areas is far more wasteful
Be careful: removing parking and making your city centre bicycle and pedestrian friendly does remove cars. But it also removes the people going into town in those cars. I'm in Christchurch (NZ) and the city centre feels car-phobic and so the city centre seems to be dying. Not sure what is cause and effect - it might have been dying first.
> removing parking and making your city centre bicycle and pedestrian friendly does remove cars. But it also removes the people going into town in those cars
With all due respect, someone deterred by a parking fee is similarly deterred by spending in that neighbourhood.
Really? Next time you take an Uber, ask your driver how much they'd like it if they abruptly lost their job. Nobody is forcing people to drive Uber, unemployment is incredibly low, it's not like there aren't other opportunities. Some people actively value being able to set their own hours and not constantly have a boss breathing down their neck.
Doesn't the "Uber Driver App" become the boss breathing down their necks, anyway? Maybe I'm wrong, but I always thought that if the driver doesn't meet performance goals or doesn't take enough passengers, or satisfy a litany of other metrics, they drop them...
A lot to unpack there, but it does act as a reminder that most people have been highly critical of the rideshare business model, considering these jobs to be profoundly unfair an unsustainable for drivers. So it comes off as disingenuous to hear claims that we're going to lose an important working class profession. No, we're going to lose a profession that, outside of the densest cities, never made economic sense in the 21st century. It's a profession we want to see disappear. Not that it entirely matters considering that consumers are inevitably going to choose the cheaper, safer option regardless of which jobs may be at stake.