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Uber – London Tube Strikes or How to take advantage of a protest

blog.uber.com

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Re: Uber – London Tube Strikes or How to take advantage of a protest

#21

Post by walshemj »

danso wrote: post #20

This does not seem like a well-planned marketing campaign. Uber and its competitors would've done well enough on pure demand alone without having to say anything. But now they've decided to (inadvertently or not) jump into labor politics, which will almost certainly be interpreted as an effort to sap the strike of its power...and this effort will be associated particularly with the affluent who are wealthy enough to…

Talk about giving the London cabbies (who do have the ear of Bo Jo) a stick to beat uber with - yet another sv company with the political sense of a dead hedgehog in a paper bag.

Re: Uber – London Tube Strikes or How to take advantage of a protest

#22

Post by masklinn »

awda wrote: post #18
joosters wrote: post #14

But... Uber insists that it needs surge pricing, otherwise drivers won't bother to give lifts. So a 50% off promotion must mean there won't be any drivers turning up to work, right?

Presumably Uber is paying the drivers the difference.

Presumably Uber will have a 4x surge during the strike.

Re: Uber – London Tube Strikes or How to take advantage of a protest

#23

Post by michaelt »

danso wrote: post #20

This does not seem like a well-planned marketing campaign. Uber and its competitors would've done well enough on pure demand alone without having to say anything. But now they've decided to (inadvertently or not) jump into labor politics, which will almost certainly be interpreted as an effort to sap the strike of its power...and this effort will be associated particularly with the affluent who are wealthy enough to…

Uber seems to like getting into politics.

I suspect they see the resulting press coverage as free advertising.

Re: Uber – London Tube Strikes or How to take advantage of a protest

#24

Post by peteretep »

anu_gupta wrote: post #2

I don't really understand why people would use Uber in London when services like Hailo exist. A black cab is going to get you around London much faster than a car that can't use bus lanes, there are many more cabs available than Uber cars, and I would guess (without knowing) that a cab is going to be cheaper. So, apart from Uber maybe having some nicer cars available, what's the deal?

    > I don't really understand why people would use Uber in
    > London when services like Hailo exist
UberX is much cheaper, and if you want some luxury, Uber Lux is still pretty cheap. UbiCabs and Addison Lee are the real competitors (for my custom) - fixed-price quotes FTW.

Re: Uber – London Tube Strikes or How to take advantage of a protest

#25

Post by beatpanda »

danso wrote: post #20

This does not seem like a well-planned marketing campaign. Uber and its competitors would've done well enough on pure demand alone without having to say anything. But now they've decided to (inadvertently or not) jump into labor politics, which will almost certainly be interpreted as an effort to sap the strike of its power...and this effort will be associated particularly with the affluent who are wealthy enough to…

This isn't the first time Uber has scabbed during a transit strike. They're openly hostile toward organized labor.

Re: Uber – London Tube Strikes or How to take advantage of a protest

#29

Post by basicallydan »

jsingleton wrote: post #13
basicallydan wrote: post #8

I can see it now: Londoners huddled outside of the barred-up tube entrances in the rain, moaning privately to themselves about the lack of transportation, until one clever sod whips out his smartphone and announces, "Uber will give us 50% off if we split!" Dozens of commuters will scramble to share a cab with him as they excitedly scroll through the options for different drivers. "This one's only got four stars!" say…

Even at normal times I've found it much quicker to walk than take a taxi. I've beaten colleagues to venues on multiple occasions. I wish these cab apps would use their power to try to improve the air quality in London. Offering incentives to low emission vehicles or those with scrubbers. Or just giving users the choice. BTW I made a really simple tube strike info site: http://www.isthetubeonstrike.com/

Oh hi James!

I agree, but to be fair they do at least use Priuses for UberX. In a gridlock, they'll probably be fairly harmless ;)

I actually have used UberX before in London, at a fairly quiet time but when I was in a rush and it was great. I'd recommend it for that kind of situation, especially if you're not in a taxi hunting ground.

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