And if someone wants to have a night out on the town that involves some alcohol,

If they even bother to show up. The Hail-a-cab app has dropped roughly 25% of the rides I’ve requested in the past and the wait has been 30-60 when they do bother to pick you up. From what I’ve heard, there are only ~740 cab medallions for the entire city.

Or you know, you could actually call a cab...

It’s people complaining about not having that service (because the service providers want to feel above the law) like it’s some sort of constitutional right.

The whole point of Uber is that you don’t have to “plan ahead.” When we have the technology to live life on a whim, why should we abide by a needlessly archaic and inconvenient way of life???

Yep. We live in SD and Lyft/Uber (Lyft is a much better company!!!)- combined with my wife’s 0.3 mile commute- make it possible to have a “one car” household (I put it in quotes, because I also have a motorcycle, but that doesn’t see rain).

I don’t live in Austin. But judging people for using the best alternative is dickish.

The “plan” is to use Lyft or Uber, because that’s generally the better plan compared to forcing a friend to be DD and stay miserable all night, waiting half an hour for a cab, or taking a long, circuitous route back home on public transit.

But should those rules be there in the first place? A lot of them were only imposed to discourage competition.

I have been to Austin’s infamous 6th Street twice in my life.

What about bus / light rail?

Yeah, Austin has the worst transportation system.

No subway. There is one commuter rail line (running light rail trains) that runs from downtown north up towards Round Rock. There are many buses, but my impression was that they were mainly geared towards commuting rather than general transportation, and they seemed pretty scarce outside of rush hours. Austin is…

What cdydatzigs said—it’s not that simple. Avoiding DUIs is the big example that gets the most press, but there are numerous other uses for this kind of thing as well.

TX and it’s cities are too big for a real public transportation system that works for the majority of it’s residents. I live in Houston and unless you live downtown and only travel so far it won’t work for you.

Also there are no basements or subway because we are prone to flooding. Don’t you remember the news reports…

Ever try calling a cab in Texas? The experience tends to be terrible all around, and they are vastly more expensive than Uber. Even before Uber came around, there were nowhere near enough cabs operating in the city to get all the people home from the bars on weekends.

BUY. A. CAR.

AND. PARK. IN. NON-EXISTENT. AUSTIN. PARKING. SPOTS. ALSO. DRINK. AND. DRIVE.

In some cities, cabs are shit.

You must not be from Austin. Austin’s cab situation is atrocious and very underserved. Good luck getting a cab to actually pick you up within an hour on a Friday or Saturday night.