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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday October 18 2017, @02:55AM   Printer-friendly
from the cost-vs-convenience dept.

With Uber and other ridesharing services becoming a common transit option for some D.C. residents, we wanted to get a sense of when someone might substitute an Uber trip for a Metrorail trip. To do this, we plotted data on travel time and cost, creating a visualization that shows whether Uber or Metro is faster, and at what cost, for 114 different trips between Metro stations. By adding in the time it takes to wait for a Metro train or Uber, walk to the Metro, or sit on a delayed train, we can see how a person's decision might change depending on their circumstances.

The trips we analyzed include trips between the city and the suburbs as well as trips within the city.

[...] We found that for longer trips between the center of the city and the suburbs, Metro tends to be both more cost-effective and quicker than Uber. But for trips within the city that require a Metro transfer, Uber is often quicker than Metro, especially when Metro wait times are long, like on weekends, or when there are delays. While Uber's regular service tends to be much more expensive than Metro, Uber Pool makes some Uber trips nearly as affordable as Metro.

Did they factor in the need for a pack train, 3 days' provisions, and sherpas to get up and down the stairs in the Metro?


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  • (Score: 2) by Virindi on Wednesday October 18 2017, @03:45AM (1 child)

    by Virindi (3484) on Wednesday October 18 2017, @03:45AM (#583793)

    because of single-tracking delays, construction outages, etc.

    <sarcasm>But SafeTrack is over, delays are a thing of the past now!</sarcasm>

    I totally agree that the weak hours and even weaker weekend service ruins it. Better make sure you catch that last train! It leaves at 11:30pm! Nobody does anything after then, anyway.

    Yeah, Metro gets on my nerves. I wish we had a serious subway system like NYC.

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  • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday October 18 2017, @02:26PM

    by Grishnakh (2831) on Wednesday October 18 2017, @02:26PM (#583956)

    NYC's subway is breaking under the strain too. We don't need a system like that, we need a serious subway system like the one in Tokyo. However, we'll never have that because we're not Japanese, we're dumb Americans who can't figure out how to run an efficient public transit system, and most of us are so stupid we think public transit can't work or is "socialism".