Uber taxi apps and their ilk.

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GTG said:
Used Uber for the first time on Saturday night in Newcastle, really impressed. 4 minute wait from pushing the button at 11.30 pm knocks spots off any conventional taxi firm, and the fare was £3-4 cheaper than I'd expect. Actually £15 cheaper as I got that in credit when I signed up. Decent car, driver who didn't want to talk shite and no hassle with cash/tips.

When I was playing around with the app early in the evening, around 7.30, there was a 'price surge' to 1.9 times the normal fare, theoretically to get more drivers out to meet demand, but you could opt to wait until they sent a message saying it was back to normal. Absolutely no complaints at all though I have heard of problems from friends in London when they have accepted an estimated fare but been billed for 2-3 times that much after the driver hit traffic congestion, deliberately or otherwise (the estimated fares assume everything is tickety boo).
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The estimated fare is very rarely wrong. I have only paid significantly more once and I use it all the time
 


Tbh I was sceptical of it but used it 3 times in the last few days in Florida.. I feel sorry for the bloody drivers.

Had one take me to aventura mall north Miami. Took over half an hour with traffic and the bill was 9.84 dollars
 
Epping said:
Tbh I was sceptical of it but used it 3 times in the last few days in Florida.. I feel sorry for the bloody drivers.

Had one take me to aventura mall north Miami. Took over half an hour with traffic and the bill was 9.84 dollars
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I always chat to the drivers as I'm keen to see how they make money

They all love it

Had a Somalian lad the other week, I was super pissed and he was dead canny so gave him a tenner tip for putting up with my questions about Mogadishu :oops:
 
chunkylover53 said:
I always chat to the drivers as I'm keen to see how they make money

They all love it

Had a Somalian lad the other week, I was super pissed and he was dead canny so gave him a tenner tip for putting up with my questions about Mogadishu :oops:
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I had a madwoman today.. Grandmother.. Kept losing WiFi and not got roaming here in the states. Found her eventually. We just did a cash taxi deal. She was great fun...
 
duff_man said:
Arent all taxi and cab drivers technically zero hours?
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Quite a lot drive cars for 5 or 6 car owners

SproutMackem said:
Went to a talk a few weeks ago about the "Internet of things". Bloke giving the talk reckons with Google's investment in Uber and their self-driving technology that soon you'll be able to order a self-driving car via the app. The costs will be so low that people wont bother with their own cars and just use Uber. The prediction is that within 15 years the number of cars in USA will reduce from 255 millon to 15 million and this will be enough for everyone to order up a car within 36 seconds. Apparently some large cities are already planning how to adapt to a lack of cars, trains and buses.
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Are you saying only 6% ish of American cars are in use at any one time ?
 
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Frijj said:
I can't work out if you're misunderstanding me or taking the piss.

If a plane fucks up, that is if the machinery of the plane fucks up, your pilot will likely not be able to save you.

You're willing to put your trust in a plane to work but not a driverless car, even though the dangers are lower in a driverless car.

I don't understand your fears.

I even specifically stated to you - if they're proven safe.
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The main enemy in a journey is other objects ,planes have non (generally)
 
On Christmas day in Sydney I got an uber from the western part of the city to Bondi beach which takes about 45 mins to an hour and it cost $30 which is 15 quid. Couldn't believe it!! Taxi would have been 5x that.
 
Baby Give It Up said:
On Christmas day in Sydney I got an uber from the western part of the city to Bondi beach which takes about 45 mins to an hour and it cost $30 which is 15 quid. Couldn't believe it!! Taxi would have been 5x that.
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Its mental isn't it... Drivers are often doing it cos they need work. Old lass today said they keep chopping rates so much it just won't be worthwhile at all.they are barely taking minimum as it is
 
JAZZMANB said:
Are you saying only 6% ish of American cars are in use at any one time ?
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Some of those figures also appear in the article I referred to in my previous post, although the reduction in vehicles predicted is even more dramatic:

PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that the number of vehicles on the road will be reduced by 99%, estimating that the fleet will fall from 245 million to just 2.4 million vehicles.
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That figure is taken from this: http://www.detroitchamber.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/AutofactsAnalystNoteUSFeb2013FINAL.pdf
 
JAZZMANB said:
Quite a lot drive cars for 5 or 6 car owners


Are you saying only 6% ish of American cars are in use at any one time ?
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Not me, but it makes sense, most people drive to work. Park the car and work for 8 hours then drive home again. Their car is probably only used for a relatively small time.
 
chunkylover53 said:
I always chat to the drivers as I'm keen to see how they make money

They all love it

Had a Somalian lad the other week, I was super pissed and he was dead canny so gave him a tenner tip for putting up with my questions about Mogadishu :oops:
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I can just imagine you asking Abubakkar all these questions about Somalia and he's actually from Walthamstow.
 
peachbum said:
Don't uber use a "demand" price policy? Cheap when use of taxis is low , but should it rain they put their price up?
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aye, surge pricing. in london it happens when the tubes strike for example. personally i love uber, never had an issue and i can book cars for our lass(no) on the app from across the city and all she has to do is get in and get out, no dealing with cash or owt. from central london to mine, a £14-£16 regular fare uber ride costs 35-50 quid in a black cab, depending on whether they think you're a tourist and how pissed you are. oh, and getting a black cab in a group of 4 lads can be difficult at 2:30 am in london, no problem with my 5 star uber rating :)
 
SproutMackem said:
Not me, but it makes sense, most people drive to work. Park the car and work for 8 hours then drive home again. Their car is probably only used for a relatively small time.
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Yeah,i can see how making every car work flat out all day would impact,just not sure on the %
 
seen an uber parked in Sainsburys North Hylton end of last week and another at East Boldon, are they starting to get more popular in Sunderland area or still mostly Newcastle?
 
I 'took a ride' in Toronto last night to the tune of 150 Canadian dollars. Even had who I assume was the driver ringing me. Trying to get my money back should be fun - why don't they just have a phone number for their UK office?
 
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