Slashdot Asks: Your Favorite Ride-Sharing App?

There are many ride-sharing applications on the market but only two get all the media attention: Uber and Lyft. As many of you know, Uber has had a tumultuous year marked by a high-stakes legal fight with Alphabet over Google self-driving car trade secrets, a investigation by the U.S. government into the company's use of a software tool that helped its drivers avoid detection in parts of the country where the service wasn't allowed to operate in, and a sexual harassment investigation that resulted in 20 employees being fired. Uber's CEO Travis Kalanick resigned due to many of these scandals and investor pressure. Despite all of this, Uber continues to do well. Last week, the company announced it hit 5 billion rides across 6 continents, 76 countries, and 450+ cities.

Meanwhile, Lyft, which is only available in the U.S., just announced it hit one million rides a day. The company also says it's seen 48 consecutive months of ride growth and is on track to hit an annualized ride rate of 350 million. Our question to you is this: what ride-sharing app is your favorite? Have you found yourself gravitating more towards Lyft due to Uber's messes, or does that not matter much to you? Bonus: do you have a favorite ride-sharing app that's not Lyft or Uber?

Comments

ride-sharing?

[vux984]

Uber? Lyft? Get real. That's not 'ride sharing'.

Those are just taxi apps.

You summon a car with a driver to your location, they pick you up and take you where you want to go, and you pay them. How is that anything but a taxi service?

An apps to setup and coordinate carpools... now THAT would be a ride sharing app.

Re: ride-sharing?

[rickb928]

Car rides usually don't end in rape.

FTFY

Re:ride-sharing?

[Baron_Yam]

It would certainly be interesting. I know in my university days we just used the student community center bulletin board. (Yeah, pre-Internet days unless you were in a CS course)

You'd need some kind of verification system (to limit the various risks). I think at a minimum you'd have to sign up with a credit card (good way to receive payment if you're a driver and make payment if you're a passenger), agree to a criminal background check prior to first use of the system, and vehicle history check for the plate you're driving with.

Set your rate, standard terms would be pickup and drop off at the nearest major transit hubs, but negotiable how far you'd be willing to deviate from your intended route for specific end points. You'd probably have to include music preferences, and your sex (as I expect there'd be some hesitation among many women to ride share with random men).

It'd be useful for pre-planned inter-city hauls, but probably a lot less useful for unplanned short trips that the taxi-like service Lyft provides.

Re: ride-sharing?

[Applehu Akbar]

You're wrong. Taxi rides usually don't end in rape.

In traditional taxi service paid for with cash, there is no way of telling which driver carried which passenger. If the ride ends in robbery of the driver, as many do, or if it ends in the passenger leaving some vital object in the cab, as often happens, either victim is SOL.

In traditional taxi service paid for with credit cards, the CC reader is always "broken", so the outcome is the same.

Re: ride-sharing?

[jtara]

On the other hand, taxi companies almost almost comply willingly with law enforcement. I suppose because they are regulated, and often law enforcement has a hand in the regulation.

Heck, they even cooperate willingly with the public.

Uber, on the other hand, tells pedestrians who are put in danger by their drivers to call the police, and refuses to help in any way or discipline their drivers. The police and prosecutor really don't have the time to try to track-down an Uber driver from a partial license plate number, and go through the technicalities that Uber will require of them. Uber will require that they go formally through a court order.

Uber themselves are in the best position to identify the driver - they know what drivers were in a given location at a given time, it is easy for them to check the license plate, car model, color, etc. Instead, though, they will do everything they can to block discovery.

Call a taxi company, and you bet they are going to be on that driver's ass and cooperate.

Re:ride-sharing?

[amicusNYCL]

Uber does have a ride sharing option. I've never used it, but it's there.

Re:ride-sharing?

[Anonymous Coward]

How is that different from a taxi service?

You mean the cab company I actually have to call to talk to a human being that doesn't know when the cab will arrive, or if it will arrive at all?

The same taxi service that has a "broken credit card machine" and only accepts cash... and hopefully has enough cash to give you your change, instead of expecting it all to be their "tip"?

The same cab service that doesn't give you a proper receipt for reimbursement?

The same cab service that takes some obscure routes to bill you more if they detect you're from out of town?

The innovation in ride sharing apps is not in the app itself, but in the controls they've put on the drivers to stop some of the frequent scams that almost everyone hates, and that are hallmarks of the taxi industry.

Re:ride-sharing?

[vux984]

You mean the cab company I actually have to call to talk to a human being that doesn't know when the cab will arrive, or if it will arrive at all?

Actually the local cab companies all have apps now, automatic dispatch systems, sms notifcations when your cab is close etc. Oooo.... does that make it a ride sharing company?

The innovation in ride sharing apps is not in the app itself

Again. That's innovation in taxi dispatch. Nothing to do with ride sharing.

but in the controls they've put on the drivers to stop some of the frequent scams that almost everyone hates,

So they could replace them with new scams that everyone hates? like surge pricing
Or reinventing old scams that were regulated out ... like discrimination against minorities or the handicapped.

In any case uber etc may well have improved certain parts of the taxi experience in certain cases; but that just makes them an innovative taxi company.

Re:ride-sharing?

[vux984]

Which service do you prefer?

See here's the thing... the local taxi company has a perfectly serviceable app and I use it more than anything else. As I see no real difference between it and uber or lyft, I guess I'll go with that.

The app my friend had me using in Melbourne last time i was there was also fine.. again for some local cab company.

Or am I only supposed to cheer for big silicon valley taxi companies that pretend they aren't?

Or did you just write a comment to make yourself feel superior?

I did it just to provoke you.

Re:ride-sharing?

[skam240]

Maybe if you live in a major urban area taxi company's have apps but that's certainly not my experience where i live. I live in a fairly affluent suburb of a major urban area and i can assure you taxi companies are not so advanced here.

They are also about twice the price of Uber most times of the day.

Re: ride-sharing?

[gl4ss]

On the other hand, taxi companies almost almost comply willingly with law enforcement.

..yeah when it suits them. so same situation as with uber.

anyway don't hold that attitude when traveling. in thailand you are far more likely to be ripped off by a normal taxi and left on the side of the road to boot when the car "breaks" when you don't agree to pay 10x the fee instead of the one on the meter.

look, everyone knows in full why taxi companies and state regulation is up in arms against uber and not only in the usa. taxi medallions/permits are worth more than the cars they are put into. it's practically a license to print money. it literally would not be an issue at all if those licenses were not amount regulated. it's not like you just pay the city for a lump sum, insurance etc. no, instead you wait in line, potentially decades, or purchase one from an existing holder - and this phenomena is the same everywhere that uber is in legal hot trouble. it's NEVER about the insurances, taxes or anything like that - it's about that NO MATTER WHAT FEES you would pay you wouldn't be allowed to poach on the cab companies territory.

it used to be completely legal almost everywhere to run a car hire service where people called you up and you drove them where they wanted. sticking up a free taxi light and a sign and picking up people from dedicated taxi pickup points however you needed the taxi license for.

I believe nyc still has black cabs. you cannot hail them from the street - however having an app available changes that dynamic completely because you can hail them from the street with your app which technically goes to a central dispatcher. so that system is going to have to change as well in coming years as the yellow medallion holders notice it.

finding such phone numbers for private drivers was not easy and there was no easy organization to handle it all. now it just happens to be so easy so the taxi companies are riled up about it because it's stepping on their legally given exclusivity license to print money.

Re: ride-sharing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Waze Carpool!

Re:ride-sharing?

[Mitreya]

the local taxi company has a perfectly serviceable app and I use it more than anything else.

The "local" part cannot be emphasized enough. Half the time I need a taxi is when I travel -- just flew back from Boston this morning and used Uber to get to the airport from suburbia.
Also, depending on location, the price can be about half of what local taxi company charges, although in other places prices are quite similar.

Perhaps it is time for some sort of aggregate "connect me to the local taxi app" app?

Re:ride-sharing?

[stephanruby]

I am currently a full-time Uber driver, so perhaps I may be able to address some of you misconceptions.

Those are just taxi apps.

No, taxi apps are either digital or analog. The Uber app, on the other hand, is only digital.

The analog taxi apps work like this. If you see a taxi, you raise your hand and the taxi picks you up. It's as simple as that. Their analog app can even override their digital one. By that I mean that if a taxi driver sees you signaling him, he may abandon the current pick up he may be going after simply because you're closer to him and he can more easily pick you up than someone else who may still be 10 to 15 minutes away.

On the other hand, an Uber driver doesn't have that luxury. If he picks up any customer without using the digital app, he risks being permanently deactivated/fired and having to pay a $1,000 fine (at least, that's the fine in California, I don't know about other states). The same goes for a Lyft driver.

An apps to setup and coordinate carpools... now THAT would be a ride sharing app.

Yes, it does that too, assuming your area is dense enough with enough population to support it. It's called UberPool or LyftLine.

And yes, some people like yourself do freak out when they see that their ride is arriving with one or two passengers already in it. The fact is that many people don't fully read their screen the very first time they order their first Uber, and if they selected the cheapest option, it's usually an UberPool/LyftLine they ordered (assuming that their area supports it).

Also, keep in mind that if you order an UberPool, unlike UberX, you should wait on the sidewalk or at the door for when it arrives (because if you wait to receive the confirmation that the car is already there before leaving your house, the Uber car may already have pulled away and taken your no-show $5 cancellation fee with it). Don't be mad at the driver when that happens. Other passengers may be in the car already, or other passengers may be watching his car on the map waiting to be picked up next, and if the driver waits more than 120 seconds before pulling away, it means that those other passengers may cancel on him and he'll get dinged for it).

Also, note that you can cancel on an UberPool before it arrives and before 120 seconds have passed, but if the UberPool is on its way and still on schedule for the original ETA, you'll still be charged a $2 cancellation fee for changing your mind. Many people actually cancel their UberPool when they find out there is already someone in the car. In that sense, UberPool is much less flexible.

If you want the car to yourself, or want to be able to change to a new destination midway through the trip, you'll need to order an UberX instead.

How is that anything but a taxi service?

If you want to become better at criticizing Uber and stick it to them at the same time.

You should google for their first-time user Uber promo code. If you're in California, that code should give you a starting credit of $20, although you'll still be required to enter a valid credit card (assuming this is the first time you're registering with Uber and this is the first time you're installing their app on your phone). Personally, I was able to use that credit for two rides and a half. By that, I mean that I could have stopped using Uber after using it for the second time and never have been charged a dime.

On the other hand, the promo code from Lyft is a bit trickier. That is why I am not recommending it to you, despite the fact that I think Lyft is a much more ethical and a much nicer company overall. Lyft gives you a $50 discount, but you can only apply it $5 at a time for each ride. So it's more of a discount for the first 10 rides, not an actual advanced credit like it is with Uber.

And of course, there is no need for you to even try Uber if you don't want to. It's just that if you ever envision being in need of transp

Re:ride-sharing?

[arglebargle_xiv]

Meanwhile, Lyft, which is only available in the U.S.,

I use Krzykstn for my ride-sharing service, but its only available in Upper Slobovia where I live. If you're nice, you get to be the one to hold the reins. If you're less nice, you get the bucket and shovel to collect the.. uhh... byproducts.

Re:ride-sharing?

[dave420]

So it is a taxi app and not a ride-sharing app. Thanks!

Re:ride-sharing?

[Rob Y.]

That's where Uber makes the most sense.

Taxis in big cities are regulated to limit traffic on crowded streets. Uber gets around that - and also competes unfairly with medallion taxis that have higher overhead due to complying with those regulations. Now maybe the regulations need to be changed to reflect what technology has made possible. But I think it'd be fine to limit Uber to rides that originate or end outside of the center of a big city - forcing them to provide a new and valuable service instead of just lowballing the existing ones and jamming up the streets.

Re:ride-sharing?

[skam240]

I think that's a very good point.

Re:ride-sharing?

[AK Marc]

Favorite Taxi is like favorite cancer. Sure, one may be preferable over another, but neither is desired.

Re: ride-sharing?

[AK Marc]

Not usually, but more often than Ubers do.

Re:ride-sharing?

[AK Marc]

The same taxi service that has a "broken credit card machine" and only accepts cash...

You've never walked away without paying? If the service advertises "takes credit cards" and you confirm that when ordering, when you offer to pay with a card, and they don't take it, it's no longer a "sale", it's a debt. "Bill me" and walk away. You tried to pay, they refused. Your ability to change payment methods doesn't change their consumer requirements.

The laws are the same as if a restaurant charged you $1M for a hamburger marked at $10 on the menu. They broke the law. You are now in their debt, and they can pursue that in a civil court, but it isn't theft of a service, and you aren't required to pay for it.

The same cab service that takes some obscure routes to bill you more if they detect you're from out of town?

They don't do that anymore. It's too well known. And too many non-locals know the routes. Many follow the route on their GPS, if they can't see the cab's GPS.

Re:ride-sharing?

[AK Marc]

Actually the local cab companies all have apps now, automatic dispatch systems, sms notifcations [SIC] when your cab is close etc.

Not where I've tried. And to use that, a frequent traveler would need hundreds of apps. Maybe a few do it in the top 3 cities, but in the medium size places, there are piles of Ubers, middle class folk trying to earn a few $$$ in their spare time, but no taxi apps.

Re:ride-sharing?

[vux984]

and to use that, a frequent traveler would need hundreds of apps. Maybe a few do it in the top 3 cities, but in the medium size places, there are piles of Ubers

You make a good point here. So the primary value of uber is that its a large multinational company. Basically, it's mcdonalds...

So now when you go to a new city and there are dozens of restaurants to choose from, and you don't know any of them... well... you can just go to mcdonalds and get a familiar big mac. You can even use the app to find the nearest one.

I'm kidding of course. The comparison has some pretty serious flaws. But I am serious about one aspect -- the main advantage of uber seems to be that you don't have to deal with more than one business -- you can deal with one multinational everywhere. Its competitive advantage is that it's everywhere.

On the one hand, sure, I can see how that's an advantage to you. One company. One app. Same UI everywhere.

On the other hand, that's awful.Centralize all the control and profits with one multinational company. That is kind of the antithesis of what I want.

Setting up a website is harder than using facebook, and once your on facebook communicating with other methos is more work... so lets use facebook for everything. Good idea right?

Same thing. Plus Instead of spending your transportation dollars locally and keeping the profits in the local economy, you send them back to uber. Me, that right there is a reason not to. I'd rather the local taxi driver / taxi company keep the money in the local economy.

And when I travel... I'd like, as much as possible to spend on the THAT local economy.

I see your convenience angle... but to me that's the same argument one could make for using facebook... and I don't have account there either. Dealing with a shitty abusive company in exchange for a bit more convenience? I'm willing to make the effort not to.

Re:ride-sharing?

[AK Marc]

On the one hand, sure, I can see how that's an advantage to you. One company. One app. Same UI everywhere.

If the cab companies weren't idiots, they'd make a single WTA (world taxi association) app. Though putting multiple taxis in the same area under the same app would cause problems. But if I can't get one UI for all, then the taxis will always be at a disadvantage, one of their own making.

I'd rather the local taxi driver / taxi company keep the money in the local economy.

They work really hard to keep me from giving them the money. They petition to stop transparent pricing. They refuse to form a unified app I can use across different companies/areas. And the times I call ahead to reserve a cab, they don't show at the appointed time. I try. They just don't want money.

Dealing with a shitty abusive company in exchange for a bit more convenience? I'm willing to make the effort not to.

Wait, which shitty abusive company are we talking about? The taxis that sue the government every time the government tries to increase the number of taxis on the road to match population growth?

Re:ride-sharing?

[vux984]

Wait, which shitty abusive company are we talking about?

You make a good point, but the local taxi cab company is never going to be as shitty and abusive as uber.

Re:ride-sharing?

[AK Marc]

Depends on the local taxi company. Some could be worse than Uber. Maybe not all, but some would have to be, statistically speaking. Especially knowing that some Taxis are linked to mob operations.

Phone App

[mentil]

Call up a friend/relative, tell them to pick me up. It's free, and I know exactly who the driver will be and the condition of their vehicle. They tend to speak my language, give good smalltalk, and not be an asshole, as well.

Re:Phone App

[Nkwe]

Call up a friend/relative, tell them to pick me up. It's free, and I know exactly who the driver will be and the condition of their vehicle. They tend to speak my language, give good smalltalk, and not be an asshole, as well.

Damn. I have to get better friends and relatives.

Re:Phone App

[brokenin2]

You had me until "not be an asshole".. That's not our family at all.

Re:Phone App

[Krishnoid]

Call up a friend/relative, tell them to pick me up.

"Oh geez, is that asshole calling you for a ride again? Why can't he just use Lyft!"
"Yeah, well, his friends and relatives are kind of that way too." :-P

Re:Phone App

[AvitarX]

I'm trying to picture the phone conversation when I call my friend at 2:30 (am or pm) and tell them to drive ten minutes to get to me, simply to drive me five minutes.

Sounds like a dick move on my part.

Re:Phone App

[unixisc]

So your friends/relatives have no problems w/ driving you to wherever you wanna go, in return for... what, exactly? They may not be the asshole, but someone else is!

Re:Phone App

[unixisc]

Your comment should be addressed to mentil, not Nkwe

Re:Phone App

[mentil]

Generally it's somewhere they want to go also, and picking me up is on the way. I don't actually do this much since I got my own car.

Re:Phone App

[skam240]

So your solution to your transportation problems is to inconvenience friends and family?

Unless there were some extenuating circumstances I'd be pretty irritated getting phone calls from friends for rides home from a night out where they had a few drinks. There are scenarios where it's perfectly fine to bum a ride from someone you know but there are plenty of others where it's just plain rude.

Also, your "solution" doesnt cover when one is outside ones home area.

Re:Phone App

[unixisc]

That changes things quite a bit, since the impression one was left w/ was that you don't have your own car, and get friends to do what one would generally do w/ either a taxi, or a 'ride-sharing' app. Yeah, yeah, I know Uber, Lyft et al are taxi services masquerading as 'ride-sharing', but that didn't explicitly look like the original point you were trying to make

Cabify

[pptudela]

At least here in Mexico the best one is Cabify. Unlike Uber, they put an effort in selecting and training the drivers. It's a bit more expensive than Uber but much more professional. An added plus is that rates are not affected by traffic, which is a nighthare around here.

Lyft since the 2014 Uber scandals

[bragr]

I've been a Lyft user since the Uber scandals in 2014 including god mod, sucking up people's contacts, and digging up dirt on Journalists. They didn't blow up like the scandals this year, but it was enough for me to know that the company was shady. People used to ask me why I used Lyft instead of Uber, but not anymore.

My Thumb

[Anonymous Coward]

I've hitch hiked numerous times and picked up numerous riders, I know it's dangers. But I've met many interesting people and it's a great way to travel.

Public transit and the sidewalk

[Subm]

As a New Yorker who has never used Uber, Lyft, or any other ride sharing app, I prefer

- The subway

- Buses

- The sidewalk

depending on where and how far I'm going. Yesterday I walked about five miles and shared the sidewalk with thousands of people.

I use a taxi about once a year, which I guess I could use an app for instead. Check with me again in a year and I may have used one.

Re:Public transit and the sidewalk

[speedplane]

As a New Yorker who has never used Uber, Lyft, or any other ride sharing app ...

As a fellow New Yorker, I'm surprised you're not using all the transportation options available. NYC has a huge variety of transportation options, and there's a complex calculus you have to do to get from point A to B depending on a variety of factors.

In NYC, I use all of the following services:

Taxi Apps: Uber, Lyft, Juno, Gett
Car Sharing Apps: Via (as well as Uber and Lyft's car sharing)
Ferry: Water Taxi, NYC Ferry Service (great in the summer)
Subways and Buses: Ranges from beautiful to agonizing
Uni-Directional Car Rentals: Car2Go
Car Rentals: Maven, Enterprise Car Share, ZipCar (recently canceled), and HertzOnDemand (sadly now defunct)
Walking: The old standby
Biking: I have my own bike, but I use CitiBike when I don't want to deal with retrieving it.

Just yesterday, I used an Uber pool to get to the ferry, took the ferry to the Rockaways, took a bus to get to the beach, walked back to the ferry, ferry to Sunset park in BK, Car2Go from lower BK to upper BK for a 4th of July party, Subway ride back into Manhattan. That's the proper way a NYer gets around!

Re:Public transit and the sidewalk

[bjdevil66]

The east coast, mid-Atlantic cities I've visited had surprisingly solid public transit. Trains, buses, etc. - all easy to use. And they had relatively tame weather, making walking/biking in the summer relatively nice. In the winter, public transit allows residents to avoid the elements and hazardous driving. OTOH, they had really bad freeways; And their older roads and bridges are wedged into centuries-old historical sites and highly populated areas. In some places, I have no idea how cars could even traverse some neighborhoods. Public transit >= Cars (Uber/Lyft).

My west coast metro area in Arizona, OTOH, is the exact opposite. Our winters are nice enough to skip the car, but we're spread out too thinly in our suburbs (mostly built in the last 50 years). Riding or walking anywhere is measured in freeway drive times or miles - not city blocks. And our summers are brutal enough (115+) that walking/riding anywhere further than between A/C cooled places or vehicles just isn't done. If you're biking around in this heat, or you're one of the few waiting in the heat for a bus or light rail by choice, you're either a hobbyist, poor, or crazy. Finally, our freeway system here is generally newer, wider, straighter, flatter, and more spacious than what I rode on back east. Cars (Uber/Lyft) >= Public transit.

It's not that we're hating on public transit out here. Cars just work better in the city we have built... Hell - It'd probably be cheaper to just give everyone here a small electric car than pay for building a public transit system expansive enough to match the efficacy of its counterparts back east.

Re:Public transit and the sidewalk

[silverdirk]

Sounds like a fantastic hobby. I prefer my programming and videogame hobbies, and like to keep transit simplified to three or less methods to worry about. I suppose this is part of why I don't live in NYC.

Re:Public transit and the sidewalk

[skam240]

Well if you sit around on your ass all day you dont have to worry about transportation options at all.

Re:Public transit and the sidewalk

[speedplane]

Sounds like a fantastic hobby. I prefer my programming and videogame hobbies, and like to keep transit simplified to three or less methods to worry about. I suppose this is part of why I don't live in NYC.

That's totally fair, to each their own. I prefer exploring the nooks and crannies of this massive city and seeing cultures I would never be able to find anywhere else. I tend to keep programming to work hours.

No.

[Gravis Zero]

I will not fund unlicensed cab companies.

Re:No.

[Baron_Yam]

The only thing worse than an unlicensed cab company is a licensed cab company.

You're seeing two groups of people in the same bottom-end job fighting over which master should rule the land. Neither master is kind or generous, but the workers know they have scraps from their current master and won't if the other master's workers take over.

Re:No.

[alvinrod]

In the long run it hardly matters as both will be gone in ~15 years once self-driving vehicles become ubiquitous.

Re:No.

[Baron_Yam]

Ahh. So the only question is whether you're a slave to a cab company or one of the evil SOBs who rents out a cab license.

Re:No.

[Gravis Zero]

The only thing worse than an unlicensed cab company is a licensed cab company.

I don't support any company that under-performs.

Re:No.

[Anonymous Coward]

Ahh. So the only question is whether you're a slave to a cab company or one of the evil SOBs who rents out a cab license.

I own a taxi license (plate) and I don't make much. My drivers make far more than I do. Indeed, I've had to invest a lot for a nominal return.

You really just come off as someone who really doesn't know squat about it, sorry.

Re:No.

[110010001000]

Why? What is the difference between a "licensed" cab company and a "unlicensed" one? Saftey inspections? Nope. Training? Nope. I guess the "licensed" ones pay off the local politiicans for the "license" (aka monopoly)

Re:No.

[unixisc]

So Curb?

Re:No.

[silverdirk]

I don't know squat about it either. Maybe you could inform us about the value you're adding to the cab system by owning this license? Then people won't suspect you of being a parasite.

Easy

[wjcofkc]

Texting. When I load up my telescope and text a friend to go hit up the midnight countryside.

My own car

[Archangel Michael]

I prefer to drive my own car. It is less expensive, more reliable, and I love the driver.

Re:My own car

[110010001000]

Pretty cool. But how do you get your car to other cities or countries?

Re:My own car

[unixisc]

I do the same, but for long drives, I do consider the alternatives, like public transport. Don't want to hit my warranty mileage of 70,000 miles before 7 years. Nor am I that interested in rapid depreciation of my car.

Re:My own car

[skam240]

Yeah, you and everyone else and yet there's been demand for taxi services for as long as cars have been the major form of transportation.

Basically, way to both point out the obvious and not contribute to the conversation at all.

Re:My own car

[Archangel Michael]

The nearest country from me is about 700 miles away. The next nearest is closer to 900. I haven't been to one of them, and the other I last visited about 4 years ago, while on a cruise ship (I didn't need a car). The nearest "big" city is 90 miles away, and takes nearly 5 hours by train (in the middle of the night). An Uber there and back would cost a minor fortune. The next nearest "big" city is a 3 + hour drive. No, there are no flights, or trains. I have to drive.

The thing about America is, it is a vast land, bigger than all of Europe. Europeans have this interesting view of the world. I know, because I have French cousins. Living in California, they used to think LA and SF are just an hour or two apart from each other, not 400 miles. It was a shocking surprise for them to find that it was a seven hour drive.

Heck, many people on the East Coast beltway have a distorted view of how big America actually is.

None ...

[CaptainDork]

... thanks for asking.

Re: App? What app?

[__aaclcg7560]

My bitch, her name is App, she don't want to ride!

App is a terrible name for a dog.

Ride sharing app?

[Sir Lurkalot]

None of the above.

creimer's Favorite Ride Sharign App

[sexconker]

creimer's favorite ride sharing app is Grindr.

Stil Uber

[SuperKendall]

Mostly out of laziness, but I still use Uber instead of Lyft. Lyft would be fine too and I'd probably turn to that if I saw no Uber drivers at hand.

I greatly prefer Uber over Taxis, even though I tip both - I don't care about cost as they are similar enough. I have had many, many very bad experiences in taxis ranging from horrifically maintain vehicles (even in the U.S.), to really really surly drivers including some who obviously hated women (would not take payment from my wife).

If an Uber driver had any of those issues they would be gone in a flash. Uber drivers have been friendlier and nicer all around. Have you ever tried t complain about a taxi diver? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.

I'm sure it's the same for Lyft drivers (being friendly and pleasant). Basically I feel like supporting Uber/Lyft I am supporting people trying to get by, and not a criminal cartel...

Re:Stil Uber

[cmseagle]

Thank you for taking the time to answer the question asked in the submission.

I love mine, always there written I need it.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's called a car.

Uber/Lyft NOT Rideshare

[sdinfoserv]

Stop calling this miserable business model a ‘ride share’
Sharing your ride is like taking a co-worker who lives on your route, to work. Or taking someone to the store with you who needs to go shopping
Accepting money to drive someone you don’t know to a destination you wouldn’t normally go is a taxi service, NOT a ride share. period.
Corporate Uber extracts it’s revenue off the lowest common and weakest link in the chain- the driver. Instead of wages and benefits of being an employee for a taxi server, Uber drivers get all the costs, taxes and maintenance on their shoulders. After everything is calculated, drivers would be dollars ahead flipping burgers for $10/hr.

Re:Uber/Lyft NOT Rideshare

[blindseer]

I'll be the devil's advocate here.

Getting a job at even a McDonald's requires agreeing to a set schedule, they have a business to run so they need reliable employees. A taxi service like Lyft and Uber don't have set hours, people can set their own hours. Also, working at jobs like McDonald's would mean things like being on your feet for hours, which not everyone can do. As someone with foot and knee problems I have first hand experience of limited employment options because of such disabilities.

So, sure a regular job flipping burgers might pay better but not everyone can flip burgers. Finding a job that pays worse than minimum wage in the end is better than no job at all.

Re:Uber/Lyft NOT Rideshare

[PeeAitchPee]

Why do people do it then? Pretty much every Uber driver I've ridden with has told me they do it part time for some extra bucks, and they like that they can do it on their own schedule. If it were as terrible as you represent, I doubt that hundreds of thousands of people would voluntarily drive for them.

Re:Uber/Lyft NOT Rideshare

[110010001000]

You will never convince these White Knights. They think they are smarter than Uber drivers, even though they have never driven for Uber in their life.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Game changer, but only in some locales.

[RockyMountain]

Ok, I'll get my nitpick out of the way first: I've always hated the mis-application of the term "Ride Sharing" to Uber and Lyft. They have nothing to do with Ride Sharing. More like taxis, but I don't totally buy that equivalency either. Here's why.

For people who live in a "taxi city" like New York or Chicago or London, there really is very little difference between Uber, Lyft, a classic taxi, or a minicab. These are cities where a significant fraction of the populace uses taxis much of the time already. Here Uber and Lyft are additional players in the taxi economy, but they don't change the game one iota. I won't get into the politics of whether they are good or bad in these locales. That's not my soapbox.

But what about other locations? Smaller towns, or cities that were never traditionally taxi-centric -- where most folks own private cars and use them most of the time. Or in outer-lying suburbs of big cities that are poorly served by taxis. If you live in or frequently travel to such an area, you'll understand that Uber and Lyft really *have* changed the game -- by being truly distributed rather than depot-centric, and much more adaptive to demand. Call a convectional taxi, and the dispatch office will tell you it'll be 20 minutes. Call again an hour later, and the dispatch office will tell you 20 more minutes. Repeat another hour later, and once again the answer will be 20 more minutes. There's no way to ever know whether and when you'll get your ride. If and when the taxi ever shows up, the driver very likely doesn't know how to get to your destination, and speaks very little language in common with you, and besides by then you probably no longer want to go!

Uber and Lyft have fixed that (but not everywhere). There is now a relatively reliable service, that you can call at pretty much any time, and the estimated arrival times really are reliable, and usually pretty short, and if there will be a long wait, you know about it and can plan accordingly. And when there truly is nobody available, you know it -- you don't get strung along.

Even the dreaded surge pricing has not been a problem for me (so far). I've almost never had to pay it, and the few times I have haven't affected my long-term average cost much. I have occasionally gamed it, switching to Lyft when Uber is surged, and vice versa. Very surprisingly, that worked!

So, YMMV, but for me Uber and Lyft have indeed changed the game. For me, they've made me much less dependent upon rental cars when I travel, and have made other forms of public transit more viable too, by solving the "last mile problem".

I'd like to see more players in the game, though.

Re:Game changer, but only in some locales.

[LVSlushdat]

The last time I used Lyft, was from the airport here in Las Vegas to my home. My plane was late and I didn't want to bug the wife to come get me, so I loaded the Lyft app from google.play, created an account, and within about 10 min I had a ride home with a super-nice lady driver who I found out had just emigrated from Russia to the US.. The fare was $14, and I gave her a $5 tip.. Later I checked what a taxi would have cost me.. Almost $50 WITHout a tip... The choice is clear to me... Uber/Lyft FTW!!

Re:Game changer, but only in some locales.

[SvnLyrBrto]

For people who live in a "taxi city" like New York or Chicago or London, there really is very little difference between Uber, Lyft, a classic taxi, or a minicab. These are cities where a significant fraction of the populace uses taxis much of the time already. Here Uber and Lyft are additional players in the taxi economy, but they don't change the game one iota. I won't get into the politics of whether they are good or bad in these locales. That's not my soapbox.

Thing is, ride-sharing is a game changer, even in the city. I've lived in San Francisco (A "taxi city".) since well before the advent of Uber and Lyft, and used to have to rely on the occasional taxi. And you know what the change in the game is? Quality of service.

For starters, taxi dispatch is a sick, sad, joke. Oh sure, if you call that number on the side of the cab, they'll SAY a cab will be there in 20 minutes. 20 minutes later, when you call back, they'll SAY it'll be there in another 15. Call again? 15 more minutes. And so on and so on and so on. With Uber (Originally as "Ubercab"... yes, I've been using them since the very beginning.), well, I don't have to describe the car-summoning process with ride-sharing apps, do I? Since all of the billing is done through the app, the "My credit card reader is broken. Cash only. Would you like me to drive you to, on the meter, to an ATM?" scam is a thing of the past. No Uber driver has ever refused to take me to the avenues. And you can get a timely pickup in the Outer Sunset or Richmond. Not true of taxis. I've never gotten into an Uber or Lyft car that stank of smoke, pee, or vomit; also not true of taxis. And oh, did I mention how easy it is to get an Uber or Lyft, compared to the Sisyphean struggle it is to get a cab? I alluded to it. But the ability to actually get a ride when you need it where you need it and where you need to go is a massive improvement over taxis.

So yeah, while the ride-share companies did not exactly invent an entirely new industry or service in "taxi cities". Their service is so titanically superior over the legacy taxi companies that I would argue that they are very much game-changers here, even if not particularly a novelty.

Re:Game changer, but only in some locales.

[stephanruby]

You must indeed be from a smaller town. Because in the big cities that can support it, there is such a thing as UberPool and LyftLine.

And you're partially right at least, UberPool is not like traditional carpool at all. It's actually better than traditional carpool. It's actually difficult to explain unless you've actually experienced it for yourself. Yes, it's a copout of an explanation, but my post is going to be long enough, I don't want to make it even longer.

And yes, just in case you were thinking it, I am an Uber driver, I can't claim to be completely objective. Nor can I convince you that I am not a troll. After all, that's what trolls do. They take a popular opinion and just contradict it just for the hell of it. So I wouldn't blame you if you thought I was a troll.

But in the "city taxi" cities you've mentioned, at least the American ones, San Francisco, New York, or Chicago. The number of taxis allowed to do pickups in those cities had been mostly set in stone through an archaic medallion system. And having a static number of taxis is fine in theory, but the entire mechanism starts to break down when the theory starts to meet the real world.

The demand for transportation is variable and it usually comes in waves. By that, I mean that when there is Warriors game on TV in my area, everyone watches it and when the game finishes or when the game is not interesting because it's obvious who's going to win, everybody starts requesting an Uber/Lyft/Taxi at the same time. Same goes for special events, or going to work in the morning and returning from work in the evening, or going to dinner in the Marina or finishing dinner at the Marina, or going to a bar and leaving the bar, or going to a club and returning from a club. The demand only seems to have peaks and valleys. That's how our world is organized. And having a static number of taxis in such a world only ensured that the taxi service used to be equally unreliable for everyone.

In San Francisco ten years ago, you couldn't reliably get a taxi during rush hour. I know African Americans were complaining, but this wasn't limited to only them. During rush hours, the taxi system was a total crap shoot. Either you were lucky, or you weren't. Some of the more savvy people in need of taxis walked to the expensive hotels, where they would ask the doorman to get them a taxi and apparently that helped a little for those people who knew that trick at least. Apparently, if a taxi refused to take a customer during rush hour because it was too short of a ride, the doorman would subsequently blacklist that particular taxi. And during low demand, a good doorman/concierge would call his favorite taxi drivers for pickups and those taxi drivers would kick some money back to the doorman or concierge.

That being said, for the rest of us who didn't know that trick, the taxi system couldn't be depended upon. So that left us the public transportation system, which is good, but which doesn't work for all cases. For instance, the last Bart train usually runs around 12:30 PM. And the Muni system, it's better than in many American cities, but it suffers from the same issue of having too many people using it during peak hours and not enough people using it at other times. And even scheduling a taxi for an airport pickup during certain hours was super tricky. The taxi dispatcher would make all kinds of promises to you, but when the cab was supposed to arrive -- it came an hour late and it was pretty obvious that the taxi dispatchers had no actual authority over the drivers they dispatched. And sometimes, if you know you're going to need reliable transportation, the only solution left to you may be to bring your own car to the city during work hours and pay through your nose for garage parking.

And if Uber/Lyft are successful in the San Francisco Bay Area, it's because they're able to supply the market with a variable workforce, variable pricing, and variable capacity, which is able to adapt to those peaks and valleys on the demand side. It's not the

Re:Game changer, but only in some locales.

[RockyMountain]

Uber and Lyft are far from perfect, and I certainly didn't mean to argue that conventional taxis are obsolete. Only that in my opinion, Uber and Lyft add huge value in taxi-underserved areas -- enough that for me at least, they change the game entirely.

Other replies to my original post seem to confirm that -- going further and saying that they are a game-changer in "taxi cities" too -- a fact that I was not aware of because I've personally seldom used either alternative in those cases.

Re:Game changer, but only in some locales.

[RockyMountain]

You are right, I was ignoring UberPool and LyftLine In part because I've never used them and only want to comment on things I've seen first hand. And, in part because their geographic availability seems so limited -- at least in my subjective far-from-the-taxi-ciities experience. Right now, I am in a small city of 200,000 population, for example, and neither of these services exist.

I was vaguely aware that in "taxi cities", some of the classic taxi problems you describe might be the case. Fixed supply trying to meet hugely variable demand seems like a recipe for failure. But again, I didn't want to comment on that, because I prefer to stick to the things I know about first hand -- namely how Uber and Lyft have totally changed the game in smaller cities and otherwise taxi-underserved areas. And there, their positive impact is huge.

(PS: There's no need to be so pre-emptively defensive about seeming like a troll. Nothing in you post looked remotely trollish to me!)

There are many good options to Uber/Lyft

[Anonymous Coward]

waze.com/carpool [available in all of california]
takescoop.com [available in some parts of CA]

For older kids
hopskipdrive.com

Uber

[WoodburyMan]

Uber, because it's the only ride sharing / taxi app/service that I know will always work. Both Uber and Lyft has slim offerings in my area. There are a dozen or so cars within a hour of me on both services now, both are a 20+ minute wait for pickup.

That being said, I only used Uber for the first time (despite having an account for almost a year as a just in case thing) the other day. I was on vacation in a popular vacation spot, and an emergency came up and I had to get home earlier than planned and was able to get a Uber to drive me 3 hours home from a hotel at 1:30am. From click to pickup was just over 3 minutes. Lyft had 0 cars nearby and wouldn't even let me request it. And the local taxi service I called before to compare couldn't guarantee me an out of state drive that late and would need to check with drivers first since usually those are scheduled ahead of time. Uber has the biggest offering and is in more places, which is why I use it. If Lyft or other services grew, and could guarantee me a ride at 1:30am like that in an emergency, I would use it too but it's not there yet.

None. I don't use permatemps.

[sethstorm]

That, and I have an environmentally hostile V6-powered car.

Whatever you want to call it, Uber has been great

[PeeAitchPee]

For my 26 mile trip to the airport at a major Northeast city, it's about $43. Super Shuttle costs about the same but takes as long as three hours. A taxi costs about $75 to get down to the airport (if it shows up at all -- they can be as much as an hour late and I have no idea if / when they'll arrive) and about $85 to get home from the airport after factoring in their "concessions fee." In terms of comfort and reliability, Uber is easily the tops of all of these options. Hate them all you want, but people wouldn't use it or drive for them if they weren't getting value from it.

Mixed feeling here...

[LVSlushdat]

As a driver, I like Uber better, but as a rider, I prefer Lyft... I drive for both and have ridden on both..

Re:Mixed feeling here...

[cmseagle]

May I ask why you prefer driving for Uber? More business? The image being presented recently is that Lyft is a warm, fuzzy company that wants to take care of its riders/drivers while Uber is an uncaring behemoth that wants to give its drivers the absolute minimum they can get away with.

Sharing economy?

[khchung]

Soon we will have companies that...

... shares gas through an app, you enter how much gas you want and pay a fee through the app, some non-employee third party will drive over, share that much gas from his tank to yours. No, these are NOT gas stations and so are NOT subject to any kind of safety regulations.

... shares money through an app, you can put money into them and earn a small fee every month, then they will share it to other people for a small fee every month. But no, these are NOT banks and are NOT subject to any banking regulations.

... shares pizza through an app, you can choose what kind of toppings you want and pay a "fee" through the app, some non-employee third party will make the pizza and deliver to your location. The fee is about the same as ordering pizza elsewhere. But no, these are NOT pizza restaurants and NOT subject to any food service regulations. You can down rate the pizza in the app if you got food poisoning, or pay a tip if the pizza was good.

... shares anything through an app, you can browse and pick what you want and pay a "fee" through the app, some non-employee third party will deliver the goods to you. The fee is about the same as the price of ordering the same stuff from any other online store. But no, these are NOT online stores and so they don't need to collect sales taxes and are NOT subject to any consumer protection laws. Down rate in the app if the stuff doesn't work.

The Sharing Economy, just like the old economy but without pesky laws and regulations. Pure profit without any responsibility.

Re:Uber scandals

[AvitarX]

I started using lyft because neither service pays enough (what I feel is fair), but lyft allows above board tipping. And no need for cash to do it.

Re:Not ride sharing...

[arth1]

They're untrained and unlicensed pirate taxi drivers in uncertified vehicles.

But they're not ride sharing.
Many regular taxi companies are more ride sharing than they are, and have shuttle services for airport rides, or after bars close, where they pick up several passengers who share the ride.

Uber.

[B33rNinj4]

Pretty much Uber. Too many Lyft drivers here in Austin have that ridiculous pink mustache on their car. Drop that, and I'd be willing to use them. During Uber and Lyft's brief hiatus from servicing our area, I tried a few of the lesser competitors. They pretty much sucked, hard. The apps and service were bad. The apps crashed, and occasionally I'd be dropped as I was getting into the vehicle.

Re:Not ride sharing...

[ccguy]

They're untrained

This can be said about most taxis drivers anyway in most part of the world. Not that driving a taxi requires much training anyway, and the "training" taxi drivers have is not in doing good things...

I usually just drive my own vehicles, but ...

[King_TJ]

When the need arises, I usually go with Uber. No opinion on Lyft except it just doesn't have the same availability. Where I live, nobody is driving for them right now - but Uber has a local presence.

Also use traditional cabs in the right situation. (EG. If you land at the airport in New Orleans and need to get to your hotel? You may as well just use a cab, because they've made the whole process so easy. They charge a flat rate so you know exactly what it will cost, and they have someone at the airport right by the exit door who helps flag down the next available cab in an orderly fashion for you. They even hand you a standard printed packet with some coupons for area establishments along with the cab's rate card and info to contact customer service if you have any issues with your ride.)

Great ride sharing apps

[raynet]

Best app so far has been RideAlone, though it did sometimes suffer from hitchhikers so now I tend to use AloneAndLate which has a specific feature for any ride sharers that randomly appear and are not already in the car and going to the same location as I.

Tinder

[TeknoHog]

If you know what I mean by "ride".

Google Maps & Citymapper

[trawg]

These apps tells me how to get where I'm going on an actual ride sharing service, the London Underground

Internet of Routed Things

[hughbar]

Agree with all the commentators that say that Uber and Lyft are not ride sharing, or in a wider context 'sharing', they are extractive. Worth reading a little McKenzie Wark on this subject too: http://www.shaviro.com/Blog/?p... see the commentary on 'vectorialists'.

About ten years ago, I started in on this: https://sourceforge.net/projec... now rotting quietly away on sourceforge. One (of many) things that stopped me at the time was that Google Maps was the only source of geo-stuff, now there's Open Street Map. My idea was something that would be useful to what has now become the platform cooperative movement: https://platform.coop/, that would be genuine sharing, both the platform and the rides.

However my madness did not end there. In my mind, I looked forward to routing everything that moved around, a) dealing with half filled vans, lorries and cars, the whole lot b) creating public data that would be performative in that it would advocate for new routes where there was market failure, for example. I note that Amazon has started a project for transport consolidation: http://www.scdigest.com/firstt... so this idea is probably valid but the ownership isn't cooperative.

Ok, I'll end there. This isn't to self congratulate, it's just publication of an idea that I've nearly abandoned and someone younger might want to take up. If you do, give me a shout.

Finger

[LordHighExecutioner]

This is a snapshot of the app implementing it.

Lyft in Chicago

[Suffering Bastard]

I typically use Lyft when traveling to and from O'Hare. The ride is usually ready within 5-10 minutes, it's a clean ride and the driver is usually nice (though most often not a native English speaker). Taxi services can be atrocious in terms of wait times, dirty cabs and unpleasant drivers. My choice of Lyft over Uber started because a friend drives Lyft and then I kept using it as I witnessed the revelations of Uber's unethical behaviors. I have zero complaints.

My last Lyft driver kept bottles of water in her trunk and gave me one as she dropped me off at the airport. Service like that keeps me hiring them.

Only ever tried Lyft

[guyniraxn]

I've been using Lyft for a few years, never actually tried Uber. I didn't decide to stick with Lyft due to any controversies, all I had heard a few years ago was that Kalanick was your run-of-the-mill 'disruptive' startup egotist, not as severe as what he has turned out to be. I chose Lyft because I had heard the prices were better and it was more beneficial for the drivers. My experience has mostly been great, a few clueless or smelly drivers notwithstanding, so I've stuck with Lyft. The drivers I've asked either say they like both the same or prefer to drive just for Lyft. Either way, it's cheaper and more reliable than regular taxis. They've stepped up their game due to the competition but I've had some real winners in proper taxis over the years.

Lyft

[Nick]

At first I refused to use Lyft as it weirdly required you to link Facebook. I did have FB but turned off the platform for sharing. Eventually they stopped that silly requirement. I used the free rides credit and notice it allows you to tip app, and Uber does/did not (I hear soon Uber will let you tip in app) so I switched to Lyft because I never carry cash around on me, and I do believe each driver should get at least a buck, or more depending on the length of the ride. Chicago has Curb, which is the local taxis. But why am I going to use that if it costs more? I remember years ago when Taxi Magic was a thing - this was before Uber. You could use it for cashless rides and schedule a specific time/location for pickup. Every. Single. Time... The driver complained or guilt tripped over not paying with cash when I got in. We've got an industry that refused to innovate for DECADES - the last time it innovated was in the 30s when it implemented the meter - and now they're trying to clean up their act, literally.

Re:Not ride sharing...

[arth1]

They're untrained

This can be said about most taxis drivers anyway in most part of the world. Not that driving a taxi requires much training anyway, and the "training" taxi drivers have is not in doing good things...

There are different standards for training in different parts of the world.

For route finding, GPS devices don't always pick the best routes, as they are generally unaware of upcoming traffic patterns, nor do they know about streets where taxis are allowed to drive, but private vehicles are not. And GPS doesn't work too well between skyscrapers or in heavy thunderstorms.

As for other training, how to best to lift/support passengers and luggage can be important. As a taxi, you're generally not allowed to refuse to carry someone with a disability that requires light assistance.
Does the average Uber driver know how to fold and secure a manual wheelchair, or how to assist an elderly person into and out of the car without hurting them? Some taxi services have mandatory training on these things.

And provide first aid too. Many a child has been born in a taxi on the way to a hospital or clinic. And some get other problems that may benefit from intervention, like people choking or passing out, especially when inebriated. Basic first aid training like how to clear airways is certainly an asset.

Then there's conflict resolution. Passengers can become irate, and training in handling and defusing those kinds of situations can certainly help.

Re:Uber scandals

[ferro lad]

Ditto, I dumped Uber when the 5th or 6th nasty trick came to light. For me it was the fact that they were charging their customers 1 price, but showing a lower price to their drivers (i.e. not paying them what I was paying). That was the straw that broke this camel's back, so I dumped them. They were led by an a*hole, so is it any wonder.