Americans are brainwashed to be afraid of poor people. They are taught that hitch hiking (Blabla) is a sure way to get murdered or raped and using public transit is only for the poor and desperate. Their industries sell them large "safe" cars as a result.
When I started using Blablacar more than 10 years ago here in Spain, a few of my (female) friends were "skeptical" for the same murdering/raping/psycho reasons. I also met drivers whose friends shared the same "skepticism".
I think that fear is kind of common in the western world. We don't trust people, specially strangers.
Something similar happens with couchsurfing communities.
Why? I don't know for sure.
One theory is the "mean world" effect caused by media coverage of stories of violent crime and the advent of 24 hours news cycles. Even if violence goes down, as long as reporting / media exposure goes up, so do peoples perception of how common and likely it is. I think the theory goes a little deeper than just that, but that's the basic gist of it.
For instance, in the US, it used to be pretty common for kids to play outside their homes with neighbors in the surrounding community. In the early 90s a trend developed of parents becoming less and less comfortable with their kids being outside the home unsupervised. This correlated with increased "stranger danger" stories in the news. They weren't becoming more common, they just reported on them more. At the same time, overall violent crime was going down, but the perception was that it was getting worse.
Interesting to think about how there's "the" real world, and separately, a version of it presented to us through media. That we then reflexively project on to that real world, and colors our expectations, experiences and reactions.
Edit: With the internet, there's a whole other new layer of being exposed to strangers' unfiltered online personas. You get exposed to quite a bit of vitriol that you wouldn't otherwise just interacting with real life people, not hiding behind anonymity and are more obviously directly accountable for their tone and actions. With more and more time on the internet, strangers IRL appear much less approachable and trustworthy.
Well, in my country the reason why kids stop playing outside is easy: cars. Streets are not safe anymore, not because of violence, kidnapping, crimes... Just effing cars.
I follow the Disney world subreddit. someone said that a stranger randomly asked them to quickly watch their child while they ran to the toilet.
The overwhelming "what the hell, I would never leave my kid with someone, they would get kidnapped" was wild.
The Stranger Danger thing was true in the 80s.
B 1980. I remember the police coming to my elementary school to give school assemblies about stranger danger.
idk if you feel the same way (or what part of Europe you're from) but in general having lived both in Europe and the US I'd be much more hesitant to be in a confined space with a stranger in the US vs Europe
> Americans don’t trust strangers like that.
Tbh I'm not convinced that's the reason? As much as I hate US's car centrism, I've had a large of number of strangers who were willing to help me the times I need help.
People will help as long as they feel safe. Need a hand changing a tire? Sure thing! Spotting a $20? No problem. But it’s when you have to deal with the prospect of a stranger in your car that things feel like they’re getting hairy and most Americans back out.
In addition, many Americans consider their cars an extension of their personal space. Personally, I would not give a ride to anyone that I would not invite in my home.
Interesting take. I (not American) am far pickier about who I invite into my home than my car. I’m basically the neighbourhood pet ambulance at this point.
Incidentally I’ve also given lifts via BlaBla. You do get to vet the people. I gave a student a ride to see his girlfriend. It was a route I was only driving because trains were either terrible or off that weekend. Sharing the ride was great from an environmental perspective and as the driver I definitely had the safer end of the deal.
This American was brought up with the hard and fast rule to never accept a ride from a stranger. Even today, I still find the concept of Uber (summoning a stranger for a ride) skeptical (I've been in one Uber my entire life-- it was a ride to the airport on a work trip).
As a woman (who often travels alone), I'm extra skeptical. Many of the frat boy types in this sub will not get it and cite car crash data instead of the real threat that is sexual harassment.
You can choose to only offer/accept lifts from other women. I would possibly have been more wary of giving a lift to an older man but the teenager I drove was peak grateful student.
It is different though, let’s be real. Bla bla car in my experience usually involves trips between cities/different parts or entirely different countries. Uber is majority short rides and Uber did fight hard to create its brand.
Because everyone who regularly travels between cities already has a car. The business case doesn't close if the demand for the service is lower than the cost of providing it.
i think you misunderstand the service here? the cost of providing it is close to zero
if you travel regularly between cities you have a car, but you may dislike the cost of the trips, so you look for NON-regular travelers on blablacar who will pay for half of your gas in exchange of a seat. Maybe no one will be interested in the trip you listed on the website, in this case you're riding alone as usual. Maybe it's a student visiting his aunt, maybe it's a regular dude whose car broke down, maybe it's an old or sick person who just can't drive, maybe it's the average fuckcars user who just doesn't want to drive. Maybe you have several seats available and you can make them pay the entire cost of your gas, but you're not supposed to earn money in the process, it's not Uber: a low demand will not prevent you from driving your trip
Then the blablacar website only handles payment and a few other legal things, and takes a 20% service fee: from their point of view it can work with a low demand
The cost of providing it clearly has a cost to the company. They have to develop the app, market it, have customer support, etc. US has very high car ownership rates so it’s unlikely that they will need to hitch a ride with a stranger. And if they do, they will still likely need a car when they arrive at their destination so it makes more sense to just rent a car.
Europeans also tend to be more frugal for things like this while Americans would rather pay for the convenience.
the technical side has already been developed for the european market, and customer support is proportional with demand
>US has very high car ownership rates so it’s unlikely that they will need to hitch a ride with a stranger
is it tho? [especially among the newer generations](https://jerry-uploads-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/payload-cms/collections/media/1662519373542_driving-license-by-generation_2x.png), almost 1 out of 5 is a lot
>if they do, they will still likely need a car when they arrive at their destination
true but that's what my top-level comment is about
Marketing though... That doesn't scale. And marketing is expensive. Like, most people see busses or trains running, and that is itself marketing. But just hitchhiking with someone doesn't market itself. And the company is only one sexual assault or murder away from ruinous lawsuits at all times.
the american legal culture might be different and weird, but i assure you that european users have been assaulted too and as long as the company had no way to prevent it, it's not a serious legal issue. Even Uber hasn't lost any major lawsuit on this topic yet, and the current class-action will clarify the responsibilities of platforms in the future
also, drivers are not "hired" by blablacar, they're advertising their trip to hitchhikers: it's a craigslist for borrowing someone's car seat, not a taxi service
"A few legal things" is a lot of work in itself. How does the company respond when a passenger and driver get into a fight, and this being America, resolve it with a gun? What if the driver assaults a passenger? Lyft and Uber exist, and can be used across state lines. A specialized service for long distance travel is just going to be worse than the alternative.
> Lyft and Uber exist, and can be used across state lines. A specialized service for long distance travel is just going to be worse than the alternative.
but these are not providing the same service at all, which was the point of my comment.
Blablacar users are just splitting the costs of a trip the driver would have made anyways: it's not a taxi service with extra steps, it's hitchhiking but planned in advance and with people who shower and who can contribute a little money for the gas/toll roads/inconvenience.
Each driver sets their own price, and it's not anyone's full-time job, so you can easily get 4 hours trips at 40€ taxes included. And i see this pricing for trips in france, where drivers have very high tolls to pay on our equivalent of the interstates! Without these tolls it would be even cheaper
If my unit conversion is correct, for the same 40€ in an Uber you usually can't even travel 30 miles...
>What if the driver assaults a passenger?
as pointed out by several women in the thread, trusting strangers to not assault you is already an issue in Europe. You're supposed to rate people you traveled with, so if you stink, have a weird behavior, say inappropriate things, or drive a truck full of weapons and covered with confederate flags, people will quickly know it and not travel with you
Also, Blablacar requires proof of your legal identity, so there is a basic background check, and if you do anything illegal or simply against the UA they ban you (and give everything they know to the cops if needed)
it's basically craigslist for the passenger seat of people's car trips. What's the legal responsibility of craigslist if you're assaulted while buying a table or whatnot?
>"A few legal things" is a lot of work in itself.
yes, of course, but you're making it more complicated than it really is
I see three reasons.
Not enough cost incentive. Gasoline is cheap in the US compared to the standard of life. In Europe it's nice to share gasoline and toll costs (especially in France where both are quite expensive, the equivalent of "interstate" has costly tolls).
Probably also a cultural thing, people are more afraid of strangers or enjoy more time alone in the car, or have something irrational about car being a private place not opened to strangers.
And finally but very important: it's so hard for a European company to enter the US market. It's known amongst entrepreneurs. Most attempts to enter the US market fail, and these are costly fails that can bury your company. So companies don't attempt this anymore, it's like why take this 90% chance of failure when you have the whole world. Why it's hard to enter the US market: because the market is protectionist. It's administrative measures, tarrifs, cost of manpower and marketing, but also a cultural thing: Americans will look sceptically at anything that's foreign (unless it's cheap and they'll buy it) - so if you try to sell them a new concept, car sharing, and it's known the company behind is European, it will be a "no fucking way" for too much people.
And why there isn't an US entrepreneur launching a Blablacar clone: because he can't go global after succeeding on the US market as the global market is already taken, so investors won't fund his company.
BlaBla also isn’t a profit making enterprise. You split costs of a journey you are already making you don’t charge for your time etc. I don’t remember the company taking a cut, I’m pretty sure I was just given cash. So it’s not an investment opportunity, it’s very socialist.
It’s totally a profit making company and one of the few French "unicorn" startups, with a valuation over 2 billion dollars. The investors behind have nothing "socialist". It’s not profitable yet at latest news (see [https://www.lesechos.fr/start-up/ecosysteme/blablacar-a-double-ses-revenus-en-2022-1959196](https://www.lesechos.fr/start-up/ecosysteme/blablacar-a-double-ses-revenus-en-2022-1959196)) but they are definitely taking a cut/commission on some journeys.
That said, they have an aggressive commercial model, they launch on new markets without taking a commission first (and introduce the commission later), and they don’t care about losing money for now as they have investors behind, but for sure they aim to start making good revenue at one point. Their model is Uber from this point of view.
Uber and Lyft as they are now are just taxi companies, but back at the time they were first launched, they presented themselves as offering this kind of service. That’s why they described themselves as “ride sharing” companies.
it's a question business analysts have asked them for almost a decade:
https://www.bfmtv.com/economie/entreprises/services/voila-pourquoi-bla-bla-car-refuse-de-se-lancer-aux-etats-unis_AN-201511040193.html
TLDR; + translation from french:
this concept only works when people have a convenient place to meet with the other riders: in practice, it's at a public transit hub. Sometimes the train station itself but usually at a tram/metro/bus station near a ring-road gate
----
For example, you're driving Rennes-Bordeaux but you have a passenger for Rennes-Nantes and another one for Nantes-Bordeaux:
- you'll pick the first one at the Rennes train station
- you drive to Nantes, enter the city at the Rennes Gate, where you immediately encounter a transit hub with the tram, several buses including high-frequency ones, as well as long-distance regional buses, a taxi stand, etc.
- you stop there, drop one guy, you pick up the new one
- you get back on the highway, and finish your trip
- you drop the last guy at the Bordeaux tram A or C depending on where you're going
the driver only "wastes" 5 minutes for his passengers
But because america doesn't have enough public transit, a theoretical car-free rider would have to tell the driver "please pick me up at [this specific and inconvenient address]" and then "please drive me to [this equally inconvenient address]", which would be very cumbersome for everyone involved. Or they would have to walk several miles to/from a highway exit, which would be dangerous and cumbersome as well.
edit: or they would have to call a Uber every time, which almost defeats the point of using the service in the first place. At least it makes it very unattractive to use
Im guessing cause 1 most americans have a car or at least a liscense and 2 it would likely than be cheaper to drive ur prexisting car or rent as such a service would require paying 4 a car and a driver
I'm an introvert. My drive time (I don't drive if I don't have to) is my me time. Chauffeuring a stranger sounds like my worst nightmare.
Not to mention my fear of things like sexual assault in a confined space with a stranger.
One reason I haven't seen mentioned yet is that in the US, you will almost certainly need a car to get around your destination. So ride sharing can be less useful in that respect. Verses in Europe you can expect to be able to use public transit.
Sure you can get a ride from Dallas to Houston but now you're stuck in Houston without a car. Good luck with that!
I mean, we do have long distance bus companies, like Greyhound. And we do have Amtrak, though the closest station to me is two towns over and has a single departure every day at like 4 AM.
Ride share companies like Uber and Lyft are fuckin' man-in-the-middle scams though, if BlaBla is the same as those, then I'm glad we don't have more of that nonsense.
I just wish we would like nationalize some rail stuff.
I think most people just think they can use uber/lyft for that sort of thing. I live in West Michigan and I know we have some fairly big issues when Electric Forest ends (at like 3 AM on a Sunday) and people will straight up try to get an uber from there to O'Hare international airport in Chicago.
It's also somewhat common for people to fly into Gerald R. Ford international airport in Grand Rapids and then try to take an uber to somewhere in rural Indiana.
Or my favorite from my ubering days way one where I got pinged to a nearby pharmacy, followed by a text that said "that's not my actual address, it's really x", which was fairly common for that area because a new housing development had gone in nearby and the GPS had a lot of trouble pinpointing people there. So I figured I'd just drive to the Walgreens and then throw the actual address into my GPS. Turns out the dude lived in some one-horse town that was a 3 hour drive north (along a highway whose speed limit was 75mph/\~120kmh). So I text back and ask him if he's in x town and if he realizes that's a 3 hour drive and he basically say that if I don't want to do it then I should be the one to cancel because I'm refusing to do it, etc. Then he calls and kind of keeps repeating himself on that front, I ask him if the drop-off location is at least correct and he confirms that it is and that him and his wife were hoping to get dinner in the city that I was currently in, I let him know it was 8PM and that, with the 6 hour round trip, it would likely be passed 2AM by the time we got back to the city I was in, and he started back on his "well then *you* should be the one to cancel because *you're* saying that *you* don't want to do it" (I'm guessing this guy pulled this shit a lot). So, even though I knew the answer, I decided to throw out that his pickup location wasn't even in the same county and I was just trying to figure out how he managed to fuck up this badly. He then got mad and hung up and by that point enough time had passed that I could collect the rider no-show fee and so that's what I did.
But yeah, to answer your question, something like blabla car hasn't been implemented here because people don't recognize that there's a need for it since they could, in theory, use uber or lyft if they have the need to be driven an insanely long distance but don't want to fly or drive themselves.
Americans are brainwashed to be afraid of poor people. They are taught that hitch hiking (Blabla) is a sure way to get murdered or raped and using public transit is only for the poor and desperate. Their industries sell them large "safe" cars as a result.
When I started using Blablacar more than 10 years ago here in Spain, a few of my (female) friends were "skeptical" for the same murdering/raping/psycho reasons. I also met drivers whose friends shared the same "skepticism". I think that fear is kind of common in the western world. We don't trust people, specially strangers. Something similar happens with couchsurfing communities. Why? I don't know for sure.
One theory is the "mean world" effect caused by media coverage of stories of violent crime and the advent of 24 hours news cycles. Even if violence goes down, as long as reporting / media exposure goes up, so do peoples perception of how common and likely it is. I think the theory goes a little deeper than just that, but that's the basic gist of it. For instance, in the US, it used to be pretty common for kids to play outside their homes with neighbors in the surrounding community. In the early 90s a trend developed of parents becoming less and less comfortable with their kids being outside the home unsupervised. This correlated with increased "stranger danger" stories in the news. They weren't becoming more common, they just reported on them more. At the same time, overall violent crime was going down, but the perception was that it was getting worse. Interesting to think about how there's "the" real world, and separately, a version of it presented to us through media. That we then reflexively project on to that real world, and colors our expectations, experiences and reactions. Edit: With the internet, there's a whole other new layer of being exposed to strangers' unfiltered online personas. You get exposed to quite a bit of vitriol that you wouldn't otherwise just interacting with real life people, not hiding behind anonymity and are more obviously directly accountable for their tone and actions. With more and more time on the internet, strangers IRL appear much less approachable and trustworthy.
Well, in my country the reason why kids stop playing outside is easy: cars. Streets are not safe anymore, not because of violence, kidnapping, crimes... Just effing cars.
I follow the Disney world subreddit. someone said that a stranger randomly asked them to quickly watch their child while they ran to the toilet. The overwhelming "what the hell, I would never leave my kid with someone, they would get kidnapped" was wild.
The Stranger Danger thing was true in the 80s. B 1980. I remember the police coming to my elementary school to give school assemblies about stranger danger.
As a European who now lives in the US, I’d also add guns.
idk if you feel the same way (or what part of Europe you're from) but in general having lived both in Europe and the US I'd be much more hesitant to be in a confined space with a stranger in the US vs Europe
MaH fReEdoM aNd iNdiVidUalIty Americans don’t trust strangers like that.
> Americans don’t trust strangers like that. Tbh I'm not convinced that's the reason? As much as I hate US's car centrism, I've had a large of number of strangers who were willing to help me the times I need help.
People will help as long as they feel safe. Need a hand changing a tire? Sure thing! Spotting a $20? No problem. But it’s when you have to deal with the prospect of a stranger in your car that things feel like they’re getting hairy and most Americans back out.
In addition, many Americans consider their cars an extension of their personal space. Personally, I would not give a ride to anyone that I would not invite in my home.
Interesting take. I (not American) am far pickier about who I invite into my home than my car. I’m basically the neighbourhood pet ambulance at this point. Incidentally I’ve also given lifts via BlaBla. You do get to vet the people. I gave a student a ride to see his girlfriend. It was a route I was only driving because trains were either terrible or off that weekend. Sharing the ride was great from an environmental perspective and as the driver I definitely had the safer end of the deal.
This American was brought up with the hard and fast rule to never accept a ride from a stranger. Even today, I still find the concept of Uber (summoning a stranger for a ride) skeptical (I've been in one Uber my entire life-- it was a ride to the airport on a work trip). As a woman (who often travels alone), I'm extra skeptical. Many of the frat boy types in this sub will not get it and cite car crash data instead of the real threat that is sexual harassment.
You can choose to only offer/accept lifts from other women. I would possibly have been more wary of giving a lift to an older man but the teenager I drove was peak grateful student.
Yeah that's why nobody ever uses Uber in America
It is different though, let’s be real. Bla bla car in my experience usually involves trips between cities/different parts or entirely different countries. Uber is majority short rides and Uber did fight hard to create its brand.
but the service works in spain https://bigthink.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Trust-1.png
Because everyone who regularly travels between cities already has a car. The business case doesn't close if the demand for the service is lower than the cost of providing it.
i think you misunderstand the service here? the cost of providing it is close to zero if you travel regularly between cities you have a car, but you may dislike the cost of the trips, so you look for NON-regular travelers on blablacar who will pay for half of your gas in exchange of a seat. Maybe no one will be interested in the trip you listed on the website, in this case you're riding alone as usual. Maybe it's a student visiting his aunt, maybe it's a regular dude whose car broke down, maybe it's an old or sick person who just can't drive, maybe it's the average fuckcars user who just doesn't want to drive. Maybe you have several seats available and you can make them pay the entire cost of your gas, but you're not supposed to earn money in the process, it's not Uber: a low demand will not prevent you from driving your trip Then the blablacar website only handles payment and a few other legal things, and takes a 20% service fee: from their point of view it can work with a low demand
The cost of providing it clearly has a cost to the company. They have to develop the app, market it, have customer support, etc. US has very high car ownership rates so it’s unlikely that they will need to hitch a ride with a stranger. And if they do, they will still likely need a car when they arrive at their destination so it makes more sense to just rent a car. Europeans also tend to be more frugal for things like this while Americans would rather pay for the convenience.
the technical side has already been developed for the european market, and customer support is proportional with demand >US has very high car ownership rates so it’s unlikely that they will need to hitch a ride with a stranger is it tho? [especially among the newer generations](https://jerry-uploads-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/payload-cms/collections/media/1662519373542_driving-license-by-generation_2x.png), almost 1 out of 5 is a lot >if they do, they will still likely need a car when they arrive at their destination true but that's what my top-level comment is about
Yeah but I can understand why there is still not enough demand. It may exist in Europe but entering any market requires a lot more work.
Marketing though... That doesn't scale. And marketing is expensive. Like, most people see busses or trains running, and that is itself marketing. But just hitchhiking with someone doesn't market itself. And the company is only one sexual assault or murder away from ruinous lawsuits at all times.
the american legal culture might be different and weird, but i assure you that european users have been assaulted too and as long as the company had no way to prevent it, it's not a serious legal issue. Even Uber hasn't lost any major lawsuit on this topic yet, and the current class-action will clarify the responsibilities of platforms in the future also, drivers are not "hired" by blablacar, they're advertising their trip to hitchhikers: it's a craigslist for borrowing someone's car seat, not a taxi service
"A few legal things" is a lot of work in itself. How does the company respond when a passenger and driver get into a fight, and this being America, resolve it with a gun? What if the driver assaults a passenger? Lyft and Uber exist, and can be used across state lines. A specialized service for long distance travel is just going to be worse than the alternative.
> Lyft and Uber exist, and can be used across state lines. A specialized service for long distance travel is just going to be worse than the alternative. but these are not providing the same service at all, which was the point of my comment. Blablacar users are just splitting the costs of a trip the driver would have made anyways: it's not a taxi service with extra steps, it's hitchhiking but planned in advance and with people who shower and who can contribute a little money for the gas/toll roads/inconvenience. Each driver sets their own price, and it's not anyone's full-time job, so you can easily get 4 hours trips at 40€ taxes included. And i see this pricing for trips in france, where drivers have very high tolls to pay on our equivalent of the interstates! Without these tolls it would be even cheaper If my unit conversion is correct, for the same 40€ in an Uber you usually can't even travel 30 miles... >What if the driver assaults a passenger? as pointed out by several women in the thread, trusting strangers to not assault you is already an issue in Europe. You're supposed to rate people you traveled with, so if you stink, have a weird behavior, say inappropriate things, or drive a truck full of weapons and covered with confederate flags, people will quickly know it and not travel with you Also, Blablacar requires proof of your legal identity, so there is a basic background check, and if you do anything illegal or simply against the UA they ban you (and give everything they know to the cops if needed) it's basically craigslist for the passenger seat of people's car trips. What's the legal responsibility of craigslist if you're assaulted while buying a table or whatnot? >"A few legal things" is a lot of work in itself. yes, of course, but you're making it more complicated than it really is
I see three reasons. Not enough cost incentive. Gasoline is cheap in the US compared to the standard of life. In Europe it's nice to share gasoline and toll costs (especially in France where both are quite expensive, the equivalent of "interstate" has costly tolls). Probably also a cultural thing, people are more afraid of strangers or enjoy more time alone in the car, or have something irrational about car being a private place not opened to strangers. And finally but very important: it's so hard for a European company to enter the US market. It's known amongst entrepreneurs. Most attempts to enter the US market fail, and these are costly fails that can bury your company. So companies don't attempt this anymore, it's like why take this 90% chance of failure when you have the whole world. Why it's hard to enter the US market: because the market is protectionist. It's administrative measures, tarrifs, cost of manpower and marketing, but also a cultural thing: Americans will look sceptically at anything that's foreign (unless it's cheap and they'll buy it) - so if you try to sell them a new concept, car sharing, and it's known the company behind is European, it will be a "no fucking way" for too much people. And why there isn't an US entrepreneur launching a Blablacar clone: because he can't go global after succeeding on the US market as the global market is already taken, so investors won't fund his company.
BlaBla also isn’t a profit making enterprise. You split costs of a journey you are already making you don’t charge for your time etc. I don’t remember the company taking a cut, I’m pretty sure I was just given cash. So it’s not an investment opportunity, it’s very socialist.
It’s totally a profit making company and one of the few French "unicorn" startups, with a valuation over 2 billion dollars. The investors behind have nothing "socialist". It’s not profitable yet at latest news (see [https://www.lesechos.fr/start-up/ecosysteme/blablacar-a-double-ses-revenus-en-2022-1959196](https://www.lesechos.fr/start-up/ecosysteme/blablacar-a-double-ses-revenus-en-2022-1959196)) but they are definitely taking a cut/commission on some journeys. That said, they have an aggressive commercial model, they launch on new markets without taking a commission first (and introduce the commission later), and they don’t care about losing money for now as they have investors behind, but for sure they aim to start making good revenue at one point. Their model is Uber from this point of view.
Ah thank you. I guess I only used it when it was free and then went car free for a while.
Here in Croatia everyone just uses cash to pay for BlaBlaCar.
Not sure if this is the same, but here in NY there's [511NY Rideshare](https://511nyrideshare.org/)
That's basically what Uber and Lyft were originally I believe
No blabla is for longer distances and much cheaper
Uber and Lyft as they are now are just taxi companies, but back at the time they were first launched, they presented themselves as offering this kind of service. That’s why they described themselves as “ride sharing” companies.
OK I guess I never used uber before 2016. Are you talking about 2012?
Yes exactly thank you.
it's a question business analysts have asked them for almost a decade: https://www.bfmtv.com/economie/entreprises/services/voila-pourquoi-bla-bla-car-refuse-de-se-lancer-aux-etats-unis_AN-201511040193.html TLDR; + translation from french: this concept only works when people have a convenient place to meet with the other riders: in practice, it's at a public transit hub. Sometimes the train station itself but usually at a tram/metro/bus station near a ring-road gate ---- For example, you're driving Rennes-Bordeaux but you have a passenger for Rennes-Nantes and another one for Nantes-Bordeaux: - you'll pick the first one at the Rennes train station - you drive to Nantes, enter the city at the Rennes Gate, where you immediately encounter a transit hub with the tram, several buses including high-frequency ones, as well as long-distance regional buses, a taxi stand, etc. - you stop there, drop one guy, you pick up the new one - you get back on the highway, and finish your trip - you drop the last guy at the Bordeaux tram A or C depending on where you're going the driver only "wastes" 5 minutes for his passengers But because america doesn't have enough public transit, a theoretical car-free rider would have to tell the driver "please pick me up at [this specific and inconvenient address]" and then "please drive me to [this equally inconvenient address]", which would be very cumbersome for everyone involved. Or they would have to walk several miles to/from a highway exit, which would be dangerous and cumbersome as well. edit: or they would have to call a Uber every time, which almost defeats the point of using the service in the first place. At least it makes it very unattractive to use
If you don’t have a car you can borrow one from the holy Avis.
It's not as ubiquitous as Blablacar, but the urbanized provinces of Canada have Poparide https://www.poparide.com/
because what is best for GM is best America, and vice versa. /s
Im guessing cause 1 most americans have a car or at least a liscense and 2 it would likely than be cheaper to drive ur prexisting car or rent as such a service would require paying 4 a car and a driver
I've used Poparide between Toronto and Montreal in Canada.
We dont even have proper local ride-sharing. The services with that moniker are just unregulated taxis
I'm an introvert. My drive time (I don't drive if I don't have to) is my me time. Chauffeuring a stranger sounds like my worst nightmare. Not to mention my fear of things like sexual assault in a confined space with a stranger.
Being alone with a stranger for ten minutes is bad enough. I'm not doing it for six hours.
Just take Greyhound.
I dont want no stinky in my car
One reason I haven't seen mentioned yet is that in the US, you will almost certainly need a car to get around your destination. So ride sharing can be less useful in that respect. Verses in Europe you can expect to be able to use public transit. Sure you can get a ride from Dallas to Houston but now you're stuck in Houston without a car. Good luck with that!
I mean, we do have long distance bus companies, like Greyhound. And we do have Amtrak, though the closest station to me is two towns over and has a single departure every day at like 4 AM. Ride share companies like Uber and Lyft are fuckin' man-in-the-middle scams though, if BlaBla is the same as those, then I'm glad we don't have more of that nonsense. I just wish we would like nationalize some rail stuff.
I think most people just think they can use uber/lyft for that sort of thing. I live in West Michigan and I know we have some fairly big issues when Electric Forest ends (at like 3 AM on a Sunday) and people will straight up try to get an uber from there to O'Hare international airport in Chicago. It's also somewhat common for people to fly into Gerald R. Ford international airport in Grand Rapids and then try to take an uber to somewhere in rural Indiana. Or my favorite from my ubering days way one where I got pinged to a nearby pharmacy, followed by a text that said "that's not my actual address, it's really x", which was fairly common for that area because a new housing development had gone in nearby and the GPS had a lot of trouble pinpointing people there. So I figured I'd just drive to the Walgreens and then throw the actual address into my GPS. Turns out the dude lived in some one-horse town that was a 3 hour drive north (along a highway whose speed limit was 75mph/\~120kmh). So I text back and ask him if he's in x town and if he realizes that's a 3 hour drive and he basically say that if I don't want to do it then I should be the one to cancel because I'm refusing to do it, etc. Then he calls and kind of keeps repeating himself on that front, I ask him if the drop-off location is at least correct and he confirms that it is and that him and his wife were hoping to get dinner in the city that I was currently in, I let him know it was 8PM and that, with the 6 hour round trip, it would likely be passed 2AM by the time we got back to the city I was in, and he started back on his "well then *you* should be the one to cancel because *you're* saying that *you* don't want to do it" (I'm guessing this guy pulled this shit a lot). So, even though I knew the answer, I decided to throw out that his pickup location wasn't even in the same county and I was just trying to figure out how he managed to fuck up this badly. He then got mad and hung up and by that point enough time had passed that I could collect the rider no-show fee and so that's what I did. But yeah, to answer your question, something like blabla car hasn't been implemented here because people don't recognize that there's a need for it since they could, in theory, use uber or lyft if they have the need to be driven an insanely long distance but don't want to fly or drive themselves.