71–80 of 90 posts
Anything is better than waiting an hour for a taxi to show up, and then having to call a friend because the company just forgot about you.
I think some of it might be self-inflicted too rather than purely a scaling issue. Anecdotal evidence here but probably relevant- I got a mail from Uber a while back, where (presumably) some automation noticed that I was taking a bunch of uber rides to the airport when I was in Boston, but never from, so it offered some Uber credit to use from the airport. I was pretty stoked that Uber had such great analytics and th…
This potentially has some truth to it. Many times, to operate a passenger service to/from the airport requires the operator to purchase a (costly) license from the airport authority. Depending on bylaws etc, unlicensed operators who provide passenger service to/from the airport will be subject to fines. In other words, providing access to ground-transport operators seems to be a revenue stream for the airport, but also likely serves to protect the air passengers from cowboy/dodgy transport operators outside the terminal.
Anecdotally, I once struck up a conversation with a taxi driver in Sydney, Australia. We'd passed a pedestrian who (for some reason) was standing on airport land, some distance from the terminals, trying to hail the passing taxis. The driver remarked to me that they'd be waiting for a while, as no taxi would ever stop there: Apparently it is stipulated in the contract that the taxi company has with the airport, that they can only collect and drop fares in the designated areas outside of the terminals. If they pick up a fare at any other location on airport land, they are subject to large fines (he said $10k, but perhaps this was hyperbole). I found this an interesting insight into the level of regulation apparently applied to airport ground-transport operators.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even if you have a perfect city knowledge exam, how do you ensure the guy driving the car is the guy who passed the exam?
London has been using The Knowledge for 150 years, it's a solved problem.
Uber could try to institute both a rigorous knowledge exam, and a high level of enforcement of the rule that only people who actually passed it may drive cars under Uber's name. But they would need some credible way of doing that, like roving undercover inspectors.
We started using Uber this year to get to the airport. Though we are happy with the price, and very happy with the ease of scheduling, every single ride has made me uncomfortable with the safety and comfort of the service. Over four rides to the airport this year, these things have happened: 1) Three of the times the drivers claimed the AC wasn't working, and we had to drive on the interstate with the windows down. 2…
> 2) The driver missed the exit for SFO, and drove through the median to get to it I have never made that SFO exit & had to drive through the median every single time. Been to SFO about a half dozen times this past year. The signs to that SFO exit aren't really in sync with the actual exit...you sort of have to know where the SFO exit is & ignore the sign. Even when I mentally make a note to do that, sometimes the si…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Uber claims [1] they have a " series of rigorous screening tests, including a background check, an in-person screening, a city knowledge exam, and other ongoing quality controls ". If true, that would seem to address your point about screening driver quality. But a number of people are reporting drivers who don't really know their way around the city, which suggests (if those reports are true) that the city-knowledge…
Even if you have a perfect city knowledge exam, how do you ensure the guy driving the car is the guy who passed the exam?
Perhaps the reason that the quality numbers have been mostly flat is because drivers have been pushing to get 5 star reviews. In case you didn't know, as a customer of uber, the driver gives you a star rating just like you give the driver. A lot of people in SF have figured that out, and a lot of time I'll get an offer of "5 for 5." The drivers are letting you know that if you give them a 5 star rating they will give…
Why they push for five stars: apparently you get fired if your star rating falls below 4.6 or 4.7 (can't remember which.) Source: Uber drivers, so biased, but have you ever seen a driver with a 4.5 rating?
PS: I'm extremely happy with Uber. My experience with calling cabs was forged on the south side of Chicago, where they seldom ever actually came. It was miserable.
> All of Uber's old school power users have gotten used to Uber and simply expect our service as a baseline at this point. What I mean is that as you have gotten used to Uber, your expectations of basic fundamental service have risen. Yeah ... no. I got fed up with taxi service in SF about 2 years ago and started using Uber. At first I was astounded: very clean cars, very nice drivers who were accommodating and pleas…
I can imagine, like you said, that the growth is forcing them to hire less qualified drivers as the pool of great drivers has already been tapped. Here in Dallas Uber is still a great experience, for now.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
London has been using The Knowledge for 150 years, it's a solved problem.
To replicate that, though, Uber would also have to replicate some of the state apparatus around it, which they may or may not be able to do (or even want to do, ideologically). The London exam is effective in part because it's backed by law: it's illegal to drive a taxi if you haven't passed a licensing exam, and it's also illegal for someone who is properly licensed to lend out their credentials to a friend who'll p…
So I'm not sure exactly how you'd get around that problem. Maybe you give people who report that they have a different driver say $20 credit, and the ride is free or something. Of course then you'll have people trying to cheat the system.
Perhaps the reason that the quality numbers have been mostly flat is because drivers have been pushing to get 5 star reviews. In case you didn't know, as a customer of uber, the driver gives you a star rating just like you give the driver. A lot of people in SF have figured that out, and a lot of time I'll get an offer of "5 for 5." The drivers are letting you know that if you give them a 5 star rating they will give…
> In case you didn't know, as a customer of uber, the driver gives you a star rating just like you give the driver. Wow. As someone who has never used Uber, this surprises me. It's repeating an obvious mistake that it took Ebay ages to correct. > if they are working, then quality numbers staying flat actually mean they are quite down. Exactly.