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Uber Gives Free Rides to Shelters During Hurricane Irma (bloomberg.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the free-fares dept.

One million households lost power in Florida, and at least three people died, after Hurricane Irma made landfall Sunday morning. Bloomberg reports how Uber tried to help: Uber Technologies Inc. is offering free rides to shelters near Tampa as Hurricane Irma barrels toward the Florida mainland. The City of Tampa's Office of Emergency Management publicized the free rides on its Twitter feed, @AlertTampa, and mobile news alert service. Uber's offer helps serve a vital need for transportation, as Tampa Bay area residents got late notice that the monster storm that changed track on Saturday and was heading their way. It also provided a chance for the company to burnish an image... Uber has also been criticized for using its so-called surge pricing in times of crisis.

23 of 38 comments (clear)

  1. Not correct by quonset · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Uber isn't doing anything. Their cab drivers are the ones absorbing the costs to take people to shelters.

    If the cab driver's vehicle gets damaged, will Uber pay for the repairs? If Uber was doing something they'd reimburse the cost of fuel and time to their drivers, and then some.

    But you'll never see that happen.

    1. Re:Not correct by MangoCats · · Score: 1

      Uber could be construed to encompass their drivers as well as corporate leadership / landlord rent-seekers of the website and app.

      Would be nice if the landlord did something for the drivers, but the drivers doing something for the public is just the same, from the public's point of view.

    2. Re:Not correct by war4peace · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If the cab driver's vehicle gets damaged, will Uber pay for the repairs?

      As a matter of fact, they are.
      I took an Uber with my sick child to drive him to a private hospital once, and the kid vomited on the back seat. Not a lot, he's only three and didn't do a lot of damage. The driver said it's fine because he will take a picture of the damage and Uber will give him money to wash the car thoroughly and then some.
      I asked "what if drivers abuse this?" to which he said Uber does keep statistics of how likely this event is to occur and there are certain thresholds. he also said this sort of occurrence happens more often than I'd imagine (drunk fares are fairly common).

      The key is for the damage to occur while driving for Uber.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    3. Re:Not correct by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 2

      Uber isn't doing anything. Their cab drivers are the ones absorbing the costs to take people to shelters.

      If Uber was doing something they'd reimburse the cost of fuel and time to their drivers

      How do you know they're not?

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    4. Re:Not correct by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Pssst.. I think that was an AI bot.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    5. Re:Not correct by fluffernutter · · Score: 2

      So presumably if your kid had thrown a brick through the window and scratched the side of the car with a key, Uber wouldn't expect the driver to make a claim on his own insurance and cover that damage as well? I guess being an Uber driver is a better deal than I thought.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    6. Re:Not correct by BasilBrush · · Score: 2

      No it couldn't as the drivers are self employed, not employees. Many drivers use both Uber and Lyft apps at the same time to get jobs.

    7. Re:Not correct by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      If Uber pay the driver to clean up vomit, they charge the passenger. If you didn't have extra money taken from your account by Uber, then the driver wasn't paid.

    8. Re:Not correct by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      You are wrong. To get the free rides, people use the Uber app, and enter TBSHELTER as a promo code. Clearly only Uber could organise that, not the drivers themselves.

    9. Re:Not correct by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You are wrong. .... Clearly only Uber could organise that, not the drivers themselves.

      OMG, I wonder just how many cabbies have ever helped people all on their own!

      Geez people, Uber is just a greedy multinational corporation that's buying an image. :-(

    10. Re:Not correct by war4peace · · Score: 1

      I don't think they charge the passenger. I think they eat the cost up to some extent, and of course if you as a passenger are a repeated offender they would just ban your account.
      Can't really say. But it makes sense for some small issues to be covered by Uber.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    11. Re:Not correct by war4peace · · Score: 1

      I don't know, and won't test it either :)
      My guess is that if there's an issue that's covered by insurance, then it's up to the driver to handle it. Somebody vomiting in a car isn't covered by insurance, so Uber would do that for the driver.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    12. Re:Not correct by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      I know for a fact that they charge the passengers for cleaning up vomit.

    13. Re:Not correct by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Well that sucks, because using insurance isn't free. Premiums go up.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    14. Re:Not correct by DickBreath · · Score: 1

      Drat! There goes my plan.

      Hello? Uber? I am in Alaska, and I need a ride to a hurricane shelter in Texas. Any hurricane shelter will do. How soon can you pick me up?

      --

      I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
  2. Pricing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Could we call this Storm Surge Pricing?

  3. Chest Thumping by sdinfoserv · · Score: 1

    So independent contractors are driving people in their own cars, on their own time, free of charge .... and Uber gets the credit?

    1. Re:Chest Thumping by BasilBrush · · Score: 2

      Wrong. The offer works via the promo code TBSHELTER in the app. Uber is offering the free rides, not the drivers.

  4. Re:WTF by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

    No they're not. Uber drivers are self employed, Uber can't instruct them to take any rides.

    Contrary to the assumptions here, Uber are providing the free rides via a promo code in the app "TBSHELTER". Rider gets ride free. Driver gets paid normal rates.

    But if they driver doesn't want to go out driving he doesn't have to.

  5. Re:Burnish their image? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    It's a rather odd turn of phrase, even if it does make sense. Makes me wonder what language it was automatically translated from.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  6. I'd be rather disappointed by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

    If I lived near Tampa and needed saving, I'd be a bit disappointed if some hairy Uber driver showed up rather than Kristin Bell.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  7. Re:caveat emptor by Lordpidey · · Score: 1

    Surge pricing also increases supply significantly. Many drivers wait until surge pricing starts before they start driving.

    --
    Some people encrypt by using rot-13 twice. I prefer the more secure method of using rot-1 a total of twenty six times.
  8. Re:Burnish their image? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    You found a *word*. I said *phrase*.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."