Lyft’s Transition to Self Driving Cars
By Jenna Somenske
The president of Lyft, John Zimmer, announced that "‘a majority’ of rides on its network will be in autonomous vehicles” by the year 2021 (Hawkins). He goes on to convey some of the specific changes to the company along with the switch to self driving cars. For example, there will be ten types of cars including sleeper cars, entertainment cars, and private cars. He also predicts that the transition to self driving cars will eliminate the need for parking structures. In the past, the opportunity cost of parking lots (such as having the space for other use) did not outweigh the need for a place to park cars. Now, the cars can drive away themselves and it is not as necessary to have a convenient place to park. The opportunity cost of parking lots will become too great, and they will be torn down for other things such as parks, offices, or apartment buildings.
Zimmer also touches on the need for drivers in the future. For now, there will still be drivers in the cars until it is ensured that they can fully operate on their own. After that though, the demand for drivers will go drastically down because they are a complement to regular cars, a product that Zimmer believes will quickly go out of taste.
Because of Lyft’s dramatic shift in how they operate, many companies are interested in having a part of the deal. GM is interested in buying them out for $6 billion, but they still have other offers coming in from other companies such as Apple, Uber, and Google (Hawkins). What Lyft has to decide, is if they would be better off keeping it for themselves. The trade-off for selling it would be $6 billion, but they have to weigh if that is the best course of action. So far, nothing has been decided.
Up until now, self driving cars have seemed like a cool, futuristic idea that would never really become a reality. Now it looks like the economy is going to make a big shift- and soon. Consumers will have to be ready when the day comes that they are in the car dealership, and they must decide between an automatic, and a self driving car.
Are Cities Ready for Self Driving Cars?
Alter, Lloyd. “Are Cities Ready for Self Driving Cars? Nope.” Tree Hugger, Narrative Content Group, 11 Jan. 2016, http://www.treehugger.com/urban-design/are-cities-ready-self-driv ing-cars-nope.html
Hawkins, Andrew. “Lyft’s President Says ‘Majority’ of Rides Will be in Self Driving Cars by 2021.” The Verge, Vox Media, 18 Sep. 2016, http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/18/12944506/ly ft-self-driving-car-prediction-2021-john-zimmer
I really like that with these new cars, they can start to get rid of many parking lots and use the area for other things we may need. Although, the demand will definitely drop for drivers and normal cars, I think this is going to take lots of time. Only a select few will make the immediate change to a self-driving car while the vast majority will take their time and possibly switch in the future if they decide to make a change at all.
ReplyDeleteCharlie I agree with you that I like the idea of the new self driving cars, but I don't believe the country as a whole is ready for this new type of beast. I think this because I have seen multiple videos of testings of the new self driving car running over people spectating because they don't know when to stop. Once these problems and cars are perfected I definitely agree with you that the time will be right to mass produce these new cars.
ReplyDeleteIt's really interesting about all the indirect effects of self-driving cars. Parking lots not being needed is a pretty big change. Not only that, there are sources about how once self-driving cars are perfected, there won't be traffic jams or anything of the nature, which could be huge for many commuters. People will be wary of these self-driving cars like Tyler said, but once they're proven to be safe, it seems like it could be the future norm.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much the self driving cars plan will actually make the company. Currently, the business model of Lyft works well because all they have to do is pay drivers. This is a constant cost that would obviously be eliminated by self driving cars. However, I would imagine that self driving cars would cost a lot of money. Each car would be many times more expensive than each driver is. Plus, self driving cars come with more mechanisms, and would likely require repairs more often. Repairs that Lyft would have to pay for. I think it would take an extremely long time for this business strategy to pay for itself, and by then who knows if Lyft will still exist.
ReplyDeleteSelf driving cars seem like a good idea know, but I'm not sure if they will actually benefit people who work in this industry. Companies like Uber and Lyft run like taxi companies but are much cheaper, but when the world uses self driving cars would a regular taxi be that much different from an Uber? In my opinion, I think these alternative taxi companies may not live for long if self driving cars become a thing. But, there is also a possibility that regular taxis may not exist and Uber and Lyft are the only taxi companies left. Not only this, but drivers who do this to make more money will lose their jobs (this is more in the distant future), so the whole idea of cab drivers and such will not exist. No matter what happens though, self driving cars will probably make a large impact on what will happen in the future for both the car industry and people who work in it.
ReplyDeleteI am overall confused on the elimination of parking structures... Although the cars have no drivers, they are still cars, and they still need to be put somewhere. It all sounds illogical to me. I've found that sometimes technology works on its own schedule, not the users. I think that although there will be a decrease in demand for drivers resulting in a higher profit, there is something about having a personal driver that is satisfying in a way. Being able to chat with your driver or give them a specific curb to drop you off at is essential to the private driver business. I thought it was interesting to see how many companies such as Apple and Uber actually believe this concept will come into play by 2021. That is not as far away as we think and the progress I have seen thus far on the driver-less car has not been all that it leads up to.
ReplyDeleteI am very interested to see in the future to see if these self driving cars will work out. I agree with Tyler in that at first some people may be a little skeptical, because personally I don't see how a car can make the same decisions a human does. Like when a light goes yellow and you are really close to the intersection, will the car be able to decide to slam on the brakes or go through the light. Also, time is no unlimited resource and many people find themselves speeding to make up for time. The cars will not allow that freedom if they are driving themselves. Overall this idea seems interesting but I feel like a lot of convincing will need to happen in order for everyone to be satisfied.
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ReplyDeleteIt seems as though everyone is jumping the gun in this situation of evolution. Self driving cars haven't even been approved yet, there are still so many hoops that they will need to jump through (the companies not the cars) that it seems irrelevant at this point in the process to be discussing everything that will change based on their arrival. Self driving cars, in my opinion, are light years away from becoming fully instituted into society so the notion of eradicating parking structures and drivers seems ludicrous at this point in time.
ReplyDeleteI think the trade-off factor that you mentioned is very interesting for Lyft. $6 billion is a lot of money, but I feel that once this industry takes off in the future, that $6 billion is going to be worth a lot more. Once these products hit the market, the demand for them will be very high because it is brand new technology. People in the 21st century flock towards new technology every chance we get, just look at the lines for the new iPhone every time Apple releases a new one. People want the newest technology, and I don’t think the self-driving cars will be any different once they hit the market.
ReplyDeleteThis is an industry with major potential economic growth in the future. The technology in cars has improved at an alarming rate over the past five years. The automobile industry has seen growth during this time, and it is because of the technology. When the self-driving cars come out, the same situation will happen due to the demand and desire of the consumers. Will it be in five years, probably not, but the fact of the matter is that we are not too far from this becoming a reality. And when it happens, Lyft, and other companies in this market will be worth a lot more than right now.
I agree with what Bayne said. They idea of a car operating itself is extremely innovative and represents the inevitable future. However, it will take 100% positive results and 0% bad ones in order to fully convince people that it is safe to drive without the gift of pure human instinct. There are millions of situations that car manufacturers will have to simulate in order to turn this idea into a reality. Personally, I'm all for the future but the privilege of transportation, the way we have it today, is overlooked. In the future, people will look back and say that they wish they could've drove a car like we do now.
ReplyDeleteAs many students said above, the idea of a self driving car is innovative and will give Lyft a competative edge in this new ride sharing market. Uber is currently dominating Lyft and the company could use something to dump up their sales and catch up to Uber. Self driving cars do come with some opportunity costs. For example, there wouldn't be the ability to communicate specific directions to the driver (like "drop me off at that door" or "pull up to my friend over there"). Also, there would be many jobs lost and employees of the company would not be happy. On a posotive note, the company would be able to invest the money that was once used to pay drivers into other areas and possibly lower the cost consumers pay to ride with the company. Overall, this is very innovative of the company.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the idea of self-driving cars is something new and exciting that people would want to experience, I feel like in general few people would be able to do so. When introducing new technology, it’s often very expensive. So although it sounds like something the public would really like, most wouldn’t be exposed to it. If they were to introduce self-driving cars to the market, I wonder how it would affect other people’s driving. For those who don’t have a self-driving car and need to drive it themselves, would there be any problems caused by the self-driving cars? It seems to me that as of right now, the idea of self-driving cars is fresh and unique, but the fact that most people probably won’t be able to afford it and that it could potentially cause more problems on the road makes me second guess why people would demand a self-driving car.
ReplyDeleteAs stated in the comments above this trend is innovative and facinating. We are seeing a general trend in our society towards automation and greater efficiency. However how will this affect people who like to talk to drivers. I know from personal experience at Mijer people tend to avoid the own checkout stations in favor of the cashiers. People sometimes like to talk and interact with other people. In addition is this really worth the cost of buying, owning and maintaining a car whereas beforehand this was the drivers responsibility? Cars are usually pretty expensive.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the idea of self-driving cars sounds "cool" and "futuristic", but there are plenty of opportunity costs that come out of it. The actual cost of one of these cars may be thousands and thousands of dollars more than regular cars are now which might cause these cars to be unsuccessful. How well do these cars drive? Would people be able to trust every move of these cars? How do the self-driving cars interact with regular cars on the road? Many drivers would also become unemployed because there would be no need for them. But, I agree that this will cause Lyft to catch up to the popularity of Uber.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting how many people took to Uber right away, and now Lyft will give Uber and citizens a new mode of transportation. Mainly because ride sharing etc, are things that many people like to use directly able to help "save the environment," save gas, etc. But, I agree that they could catch up to Uber in popularity, but I think a couple more trade-offs would be loss of jobs and what if Lyft doesn't become successful, then we made people lose jobs for nothing.
ReplyDeleteI’ve heard about these self driving cars before and when I first found out about them, I didn’t believe they’d be popular any time soon. I thought there would be too many difficulties and variables that they wouldn’t be able to operate correctly, especially with how unpredictable and reckless other human drivers can be on the road. With that said, I wasn’t too afraid of the self driving car as I was of the other drivers. I believe the automatic car could follow the rules of the road and safely get you where you want to be, but when a computer program is mixed with humans, they don’t exactly go very well. That is really my only concern regarding automatic cars, and besides that, I think the idea of these types of cars is quite convenient. There are numerous times where I have wished I could drive and do another thing at the same time and maybe with these cars, that will be possible.
ReplyDeleteThis idea in general is great, but as we are seeing with automated systems, we are able to keep up with demand, but without the physical labor it means nothing. You see currently UBER has been testing this and although there are not any employees that are completely under the companies name, they will lose their job, thus creating less demand and sometimes the companies reputation is at stake as well. I believe we should always strive for technology like this, but sometimes we have to think about other people's lives and how it could affect the economy and eventually ours lives.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of these new cars is not necessarily a bad idea. You don’t have to pay for your own gas, any maintenance issues or even insurance. Additionally, if it works, you wouldn’t have to worry about parking within the parking structures and therefore paying for parking. So with that idea, you could save about $15 a day. And lastly, if it works, you can do other things in the car like take a nap, do homework or work. But while there are some pros to this new idea, there are many cons as well. What happens if it breaks down? What happens if it doesn’t go to the right spot? What would happen if the car got into an accident? And if there is an accident, how do you prove which vehicle is at fault? And do I as the passenger need some sort of insurance for the negligence of the car? And if so, how much would that cost? So although the idea isn’t fully developed, there are many unanswered questions that may affect the outcome of making these cars. And with these new cars, you don’t have the freedom to come and go places as much as you want. Personally, as a consumer, I like freedom, and cars nowadays give us that freedom.
ReplyDeleteSelf driving cars is very innovative and exciting for many people as we are wanting new cutting edge advancements. However, there are more opportunity costs than just the parking lots. Without a driver to communicate with, the passenger can no longer pick exactly where they would like to be dropped off; such as the door and my friends car, it would be the location entered in. Even if the demand for drivers would be going down, people may not trust the new car right away which may cause problems for the profit and supply. This being said, until technology can prove these advancements are better for the people and economy, Lyft may run into some initial doubt from consumers.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that we are this close to having self driving cars; however, I don't think there would be a big demand for them for a while.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about the fact that parking structures would be eliminated. This would be an amazing idea, however, what do those people with regular, not self-driving cars do when their parking garages are replaced with parks? I think this idea benefits a lot of people, but it places a large burden on those who can't afford the newest technology. This opportunity cost is much to high, as the average person would still be driving a car that requires parking, and if there is no where to put a car, there could be an increase in ticketing for illegal parking.
ReplyDeleteSelf driving cars are a very interesting topic and it seems like a good idea, but there are a few problems other than it being dangerous. Almost every road would have to undergo some type of construction. When it's putting magnets in the concrete of the road or designing a special type of paint. Self driving cars need more than just a camera to be able to tell where they are going. It might take a lot longer to happen than most people think.
ReplyDeleteThis concept of self driving cars is one that many people have been talking about over the past few years. It's an invention that I think was bound to happen. The invention, and hopefully the production, of self driving cars is one that will catapult us forward into advanced innovation. Although some may be skeptical of these cars at first, it will ultimately be better in the long run. These cars are going to help a lot of companies such as GM and Uber, but this new invention could also hurt others, such as taxi drivers and public transportation services. Eliminating the need for parking structures will also allow space for other buildings with the potential to bring in revenue, which is a good thing. It will be interesting to see how truly safe these vehicles are and how significantly they may or may not affect the economy. Additionally, it will be interesting to see what other inventions will be created based off of the idea of self driving cars.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of not having a driver for a car amazes me. Although, this could potentially be life changing, this would come with a price. These self-driving would be much more expensive than driving yourself and most people wouldn't find it practical to use these cars. With the removal of parking structures, people that do not use the self-driving cars, will be greatly affected by this because they won't be able to park in the cities. Although the space would be great for new building and parks, they are still necessary.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think that self driving cars will be possible in 5 years for everyone. Even though it does mean that there can be more buildings since less cars will need a parking spot how will the car go and pick up its owner and also has does the car start does it need a key or a voice activated password to unlock or what. Also how can cars be sure to stop at a stop sign or stop at red lights if a driver can’t stop the car with brakes.
ReplyDeleteIt was always somewhat obvious that self-driving cars would eventually make their way into the economy, but I didn’t think that it would happen within the next few years. There is more to be considered with the implementation of self-driving cars because they are such a new concept. Contrary to the source, I don’t think that it would make sense to eliminate parking lots/structures, because where is the car supposed to go if it isn’t moving? It wouldn’t make sense to get rid of places to store these vehicles, especially if they aren’t continually moving. It might be challenging for large places to accommodate for this drastic change, because they already have problems with finding ways for cars to move swimmingly through their cities - namely cars with drivers. It would be interesting to see what happens, but I don’t think the transition would be simple.
ReplyDeleteI think that the idea of having self driven cars is sort of scary in a way because there could be many different things that could go wrong. However, there are things that go wrong with having actual drivers in the car. A question that I have is, if they are self drive cars, does the "driver" need to obtain a license? It seems to me that people are going to get lazy and just rely all on the car to do the driving and they will be distracted by other things. Although that is the purpose of the self drive car, it just seems to me to be too good to be true. On the other hand, I think that some people would agree with me, and if they were in the car, they would still be watching the road. However, I could be wrong. It would be cool to experience a self driven car, but I think the art of driving is fun. Personally, I like to take my turns fast and go above the speed limit. Would this car allow for drivers to go above the speed limit or no? Technology has come a long way, and with the invention of this car, anything is really possible now.
ReplyDeleteSelf driving cars seem as if they are a futuristic, unrealistic idea but they are going to become a reality much sooner than later. The points that you discussed about opportunity costs and trade offs for drivers, the company, and structures in cities are all very true. If self driving cars were established, there would be many opportunities for innovation, but also opportunity costs of certain business or buildings being left empty. This would be a great change in technology that could modernize our world so much more.
ReplyDeleteI think that self driving cars are a thing of the future and will be here sooner rather than later. However I disagree that parking lots will be tore down and other things will be built not everyone will have self driving cars and also not everyone will have lyft. I think it will be decades before you see things like parking lots being destroyed. Overall I like the graphics that went with the post; it made it a much more interesting of a read.
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