I must admit I do not like the idea of coming into competition with rideshare services Uber and Lyft. In fact, if I am being quite honest, I do not think this is a viable idea primarily because of that. I see the margin of net income being so low, ignoring the market competition and only looking at the estimated cost for the customer, that it is not worth the investment of resources nor time nor money to fledge out. That being said, to further comment on the market size, our team estimates that across all U.S. campuses there are approx. ~19,000,000 students. The greater follow-up I have to that is what percentage of those students are online-only. Many times, universities do not separate those numbers from the commuter student total, which makes it difficult to determine the actual number of students surrounding a given campus. The other larger question I have is “how many campuses have the same accessibility issues that Stanford has?” For example, the University of Colorado at Boulder does not have this issue. Most students come from in-state, which means the majority have their own vehicles. Ones that live near campus and do not have access to both buses and a rather walkable campus and surrounding neighborhood which allows for students to easily shop for groceries, run errands, and get to class without a car. I’m also not exactly sure what the incentive would be for whoever is driving the car, it seems as though there is no compensation model on their behalf in the revenue model. Our group estimated that the pricing would be about $5 per trip per week. However, even large companies like Zipcar have been unable to keep their prices this low. While this revenue model seems incredibly attractive for a consumer, it seems incredibly unattractive for a driver, investor, or as an overall lucrative business model.
The information about CU Boulder came both from prior knowledge of the area and from my interviews of Julia and Aly, sophomore and junior students at the University. They overall did not express interest in a car-sharing service like this. To them, it was easier and more flexible to drive themselves, and Julia noted how frequently she’s able to pool with friends on a spontaneous basis free of charge. That is something I have noticed similarly here at Stanford. While it is tough for students without a car to find rides, those with cars can easily exchange rides with each other. I’d rather receive a ride back from someone I know after helping them drive somewhere than a few dollars from a stranger. The idea of strangers also came up in both my interviews. Both Julia and ALy identify as women, and sharing cars with strangers is still a dangerous activity for marginalized people. While Uber and Lyft have comprehensive background checks and other safety systems in place, those are still not always enough to prevent all crimes against passengers or drivers. Overall, the idea of hitchhiking with strangers for a price nearly defeated the purpose of hitchhiking and brought up valid safety concerns.
This all ties into why I do not see this as the most viable idea for our group going forward.
