That's the theory, but I have no idea what this "moat" is supposed to be. Apps to hail a cab are interchangeable commodities as far as I can tell.

There's a network effect component for shared/pooled rides.

Upstarts will lose a lot if they offer shared prices without matched riders.

The network exists for non-pooled rides as well. Riders don't have to wait as long if there are more drivers, and drivers don't have to drive as far to pick up a ride if there are more passengers. The increased efficiencies allow prices to be lower as well.

Do that many people share rides with strangers in Uber? I never have.

I can tell you that as a driver, about ~25% of my ride requests in Toronto are Pool requests.

We also have Express Pool where you get picked up / dropped off at some walkable distance from your actual origin/destination to make it even cheaper for the consumer and more efficient for drivers.

At one point Uber was even competing with the bus / streetcar with a special ride type where you would have to be picked up or dropped off at specific points along one street but they discontinued this.

I would definitely consider these sorts of shared rides as a moat.

I thought that promo was only during a weekend subway shutdown.

Just looked at an Uber trip in Toronto, and the breakdown is:

Express Pool: $8.44

Pool: $11.25

UberX: $17.38

This is great info, thank you and i agree with your conclusion.

RU kidding Uber pool and Lyft line rides are often cheaper than public transportation!

It's often about a third cheaper and some people get it as part of commuter bennifits in leiu of parking.

> Apps to hail a cab are interchangeable commodities as far as I can tell.

That's what I keep getting stuck on. It's getting easier to compete with Uber and I don't think that's going to change. They have a well known brand but even that feels like it's on verge of becoming genericized.

Right now it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of Uber inertia was specifically because their competitors are smaller and more localized.

I live in NYC, and there are half-dozen major rideshare apps here in some form - but I often travel to places where, if there is any major service operating there at all, its Uber... maybe Lyft, but certainly not Via or Juno or Gett or any other smaller names.

I don't want to load my phone up with a bunch of different apps and give my data to a bunch of different companies, so guess which app I use even at home where I have plenty of options? Uber. The barrier to entry of getting a new local competitor up and running is small, but the convenience of being able to stick with one provider no matter where you are is big.

I never ride Uber at home but there are some places where it's so entrenched (e.g. Mexico) that there are no real competitor apps. On the other hand, I've gotten better deals there from taxis and they've been more reliable. You can often look up a ride on Uber and negotiate with a taxi driver right then and there. If you don't speak Spanish, though...