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Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

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Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

#91

Post by tarr11 »

chrisabrams wrote: post #7

Based on my rides recently I have seen the quality of drivers plummet on both Uber and Lyft. I'd be much more willing to wait (and maybe even pay) for a higher quality driver. Having a driver who cannot follow a GPS and takes you in a circle 3-4 times around the airport or does not speak English well enough to understand your request to stop on the right instead of the left like the GPS shows can be quite frustrating…

If the airport in question is Newark, I wouldn't make any assumptions about the driver. Circling around EWR and missing your exit is pretty easy to do in that airport. It's pretty confusing.

Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

#92

Post by jakecopp »

Pyxl101 wrote: post #80
selectodude wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even the best funded public transit services are substantial money losers. Paris covers 70 cents of every dollar, Madrid 60 cents, and even in Berlin and Munich its 30 cents. But that covers 100 percent of their expenses. If Uber had to shell out to fix the streets that they use, I bet it wouldn't be so cheap.

> If Uber had to shell out to fix the streets that they use, I bet it wouldn't be so cheap. Streets are public infrastructure and are paid for by taxes, which Uber and all other companies that do business using roads presumably pay, just like everyone else. So, unless you have a specific reason to believe otherwise, it is fair to assume that yes, Uber is paying for the streets that they use. If streets are not being…

Lets dedicate the same public funding to trains & buses as we do to roads (including accounting for the property value sprawling roads occupy) and then see if public transport is comparable to ride-sharing.

There's a reason advanced cities in Europe and Asia invest heavily in mass transit without the expectation of a commercial return, it's simply more space efficient.

Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

#93

Post by duxup »

tarr11 wrote: post #91
chrisabrams wrote: post #7

Based on my rides recently I have seen the quality of drivers plummet on both Uber and Lyft. I'd be much more willing to wait (and maybe even pay) for a higher quality driver. Having a driver who cannot follow a GPS and takes you in a circle 3-4 times around the airport or does not speak English well enough to understand your request to stop on the right instead of the left like the GPS shows can be quite frustrating…

If the airport in question is Newark, I wouldn't make any assumptions about the driver. Circling around EWR and missing your exit is pretty easy to do in that airport. It's pretty confusing.

Maybe but if this is someone who drives people around for money I would expect more than some confused country mouse driving.

Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

#94

Post by erikig »

mandeepj wrote: post #12

Before ordering a ride, Uber always shows ~2 mins wait time. After placing an order, it goes up to 6-9 mins. Their GPS is also bad quality. I live in the downtown of a big city. Lyft drivers come right away, consistently. Lately, for the same reason, I have started using them. Whereas, Uber's drivers keep on circling around until I call them and give them directions. Their reason - it's these big buildings. I respond…

Turn off "Live Location Sharing" when you are around tall buildings especially on iOS.

I commute via Uber/Lyft every day and this happens to me often and I've found that relying on the actual address instead of using location sharing gets me the best results. In most open places Live Location Sharing can be great especially in crowds or when dealing with intersections but it is too sensitive in areas with congested Wi-Fi signals or tall buildings.

Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

#95

Post by sidcool »

Ar-Curunir wrote: post #54

Uber is becoming more and more like public transit. Just took a few billion dollars and lots of hype for us to realise that...

Regardless, its impact has been way bigger than any public transit. That impact also has been both positive and negative.

Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

#96

Post by duxup »

maerF0x0 wrote: post #16

I just wanted to drop a note to say I think Uber is doing a good job, all things considered. Many public transit companies have been around for decades and haven't figured out how to scale up to the kind of service Uber is providing. 4B rides in 2017 is pretty amazing. If I understand the math correctly, BART claims about 126 million rides (2015) and cost $906M (~$7 a ride, comparable to some uber pool fares)

>Many public transit companies have been around for decades and haven't figured out how to scale up to the kind of service Uber is providing.

Let's see what the long term outcome is for Uber before we give them too many high fives...

Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

#97

Post by smt88 »

rayiner wrote: post #88
smt88 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience, the location I choose is often lost in translation between my Uber app and the driver's maps app. Sometimes the difference is egregious.

Uber is nuts for letting drivers use their own maps app.

I was careful not to say "third-party" maps app. They may have been making excuses for their own mistakes, but drivers have told me that sometimes the built-in Uber maps also get the wrong location.

I have no idea if that's true and have always been confused about whether the driver app even has maps built into it.

Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

#98

Post by praneshp »

jakecopp wrote: post #89
praneshp wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> operates a multi-jurisdictional police force. operates a joke of a police force.

Better than none, and using the public's resources.

It's actually not better than none, but feel free to believe whatever you want to.

Re: Uber is experimenting with letting riders wait longer for a cheaper fare

#100

Post by cozzyd »

sidcool wrote: post #95
Ar-Curunir wrote: post #54

Uber is becoming more and more like public transit. Just took a few billion dollars and lots of hype for us to realise that...

Regardless, its impact has been way bigger than any public transit. That impact also has been both positive and negative.

The number of Uber/Lyft rides a day pales in comparison to the number of public transit rides.
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