Comment by MBCook
2 days ago
There’s something to be said for being able to not be forced to deal with a person, but I see something different personally.
I’m “old” (40s) so I didn’t grow up with Uber. Maybe that colors my take.
I don’t want to hire random Joes. If I wanted to buy a lift from a random person, I’d expect it to be very cheap.
If I’m hiring someone to drive me from A to B I want a professional service. I want professional drivers in a fleet of maintained cars.
With Uber/Lift you don’t know. Many drives do a great job and treat their cars/passengers like they’re professionals. Others don’t.
The taxi industry sucked. They had no competition and could get lazy and do a terrible job and people still had to use them anyway. That needed fixing.
But I don’t think the lesson we should learn is “taxis bad” but “bad service is bad”. And Uber/Lyft being so variable is not a plus at their prices.
I think that the best thing about Uber/Lyft is that they've been a wake up call for the taxi industry.
I don't think I'd be able to book taxis (and pay in advance) using an app in my country, if Uber/Lyft didn't exist.
Mysteriously their credit card machines work a lot more often now
Yes, I'm shocked! Some traditional taxis in my area now have a sticker on the window saying they take credit cards!
The professional driver in a professional fleet service exists. It existed in the taxi era too.
If you ever see an aggressive driver cutting their way through traffic in a perfectly maintained Escalade or Navigator heading towards the airport, that’s them.
Black cars existed before Uber and Lyft -- in fact, that was how Uber started.
Uber, in fact, still offers black cars (professional drivers) as an option.
> Uber, in fact, still offers black cars (professional drivers) as an option
In my experience, Uber Black means the driver owns a professional-grade car. Whether they’re a professional driver who treats their clients professionally, e.g. not taking phone calls during the ride, is another matter.
This, black car service is not what uber offers. They offer a uber driver with a black car.
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But a lot of people basically wanted VC-subsidized cheaper cabs. Even if the easier and more reliable ordering was a bonus.
Cheap factored in for some but easy of use and reliability were my main reasons for using Lyft/Uber.
Maybe if you lived in a bigger city the taxis were good but I assure you that in Lexington, KY they were terrible. You had to call into a dispatcher, the connection/quality was terrible, they were blunt/rude, and you got a general idea of when someone might show up. I tried once to schedule for 8:45am pick up (I called around 7:30) and someone showed up at 7:45am mad that I wasn't ready. On top of all of that _no one_ took credit card and the drivers were rude and often hard to communicate with.
With Lyft/Uber I could see where my driver was, my destination was already entered, and it was all charged to my card. I cannot stress enough how much better this was and I was happy to see the taxi companies go down in flames.
Uber and Lyft have _many_ problems but they are still leagues ahead of taxis. I recently traveled to Italy and absolutely hated the lack of Uber-like services and the need to use taxis. It felt like going back in time, I was shocked at the state of things there.
Lastly, nothing boils my blood quite like watching the meter all the way to the destination, then the driver pressing some buttons and the total jumping 20-50%. WTH is that? Whatever it is, I hate it.
I don't think "cheap" was the main factor, at least for me and my friends.
Predictable pricing, predictable arrival, automated booking, and an ability to complain to someone was significantly more important.
(From what I've read, this happened naturally in other countries, but in US, the taxi monopoly was so bad, we needed something crazy like Uber)
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In 2010 getting any taxi in the us by phone was a crap shoot. Hour long waiting times with the car always being just 10 minutes away. Multiple calls. Unpredictable pricing.
Uber just worked.
People forget just how terrible taxi companies were when they were the monopoly.
What qualifies a professional driver? Lots of uber trips? A taxi licence? A chauffeur cap? A clean car? A person being employed by a company? Not sure but I suspect it's highly subjective. You can book a premium Uber. Or a limousine like the one some airlines offer as a business class package.
A sober, competent driver who has not been on duty more than 8 hours would be a good start.
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