Because people won’t pay $25 to take a 15 min ride. They’ll just stay where they are, drive themselves, or coordinate a car pool with their friends.
Uber subsidies changed leisure for many folks. When it’s $6-10 for a ride, even middle class incomes don’t even think twice about it. But when the true price of the ride must be paid, those people won’t be a part of that economy.
And without those mass short rides to fill the gaps, there’s not enough “fat” rides to keep enough drivers on the road to keep the wait times low. So the product might exist, but it devolves to a taxi rate with a taxi wait, just done over an app.
Uber subsidies changed leisure for many folks. When it’s $6-10 for a ride, even middle class incomes don’t even think twice about it. But when the true price of the ride must be paid, those people won’t be a part of that economy.
And without those mass short rides to fill the gaps, there’s not enough “fat” rides to keep enough drivers on the road to keep the wait times low. So the product might exist, but it devolves to a taxi rate with a taxi wait, just done over an app.