In the US Uber drivers have to take guide dogs and folding wheelchairs, as does every public accommodation. However, taxi companies in the US have to have some number of vehicles that allow you to ride in your wheelchair inside the vehicle (eg a wheelchair van); hopefully that requirement will also be applied to Uber. As the father of a kid in a wheelchair and a heavy user of cabs, uber, etc, for years there was one taxi company in San Francisco that served us well with a wheelchair van, the rest would make you wait forever and not show up. Now that we have a fold-up chair uber black has actually been terrific for us: the cars are big, the drivers always get out of the car and help with the chair without being asked, etc. My son also has a large service dog and we have never had any problem from uber drivers about the dog just hopping right in with us.
It was last month. And in San Diego I always have to direct the taxis from the airport to where I live. I can never just tell them my address. They want to know the neighborhood and then I have to give them blow by blow directions.
Weird. Here the GPS is mounted on the dash, itâs part of the dispatch system. I guess they donât want to use their phones cuz the GPS eats their data?
Yeah I donât know. I was kind of wondering if US cab drivers have to take a test to get licensed, like The Knowledge in London, so itâs frowned upon to use GPS? It seems to me that theyâre shooting themselves in the foot if they donât use it.
Unsurprising. Iâve had some great cabbies here in Melbourne, but then Iâm a white male so hardly surprising.
Far too many of my female friends have relayed stories about things ranging from creepiness to outright sexual assault.
Until very recently, Melbourne had a licencing system for cabs - someone would buy a licence for about $500K, then basically rent it out to the cab driver, who also had to pay for upkeep etc. It resulted in them having pretty poor pay rates, and a service level that matches those rates. Generally speaking, as an industry they are not popular here (and Uber is still not very common, so itâs not a hatchet job).
Iâm sure Uber publicity guys are giving this thing a gentle nudge. Theyâd be silly not to.
But the discontent with Melbourne taxis is very real. Fix your game, then do the Social Media campaign. I think the Taxi drivers are feeling unfairly beseiged at the moment. That they are secretly loved by their customers. Theyâre wrong.
That type of racim certainly happens here in Melbourne: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-30/indigenous-elder-jack-charles-rejected-by-taxi-again/6901120
Gotta take off my hat to the fearless socmed guru who launched #YourTaxis campaign despite risk of humiliating backfire.
Australian cabbie? Iâm guessing not. We do have a âtaxi industryâ. They will do anything to maintain their monopoly. You have a few different branded taxiâs where I am. You call the same number to get picked up. Luck of draw which âCompanyâ (Ha!) picks you up.
There are no âappsâ for taxis where I am, and Iâm in the nations capital. The voice recognition system for booking is insta fail. Has never once gotten my address right. And you canât bypass it. You have to keep trying until finally a human answers. (Can take upwards of 15 minutes). Bookings tend to be unreliable. Iâve had to have relatives do the emergency run to the airport for me because the cab booked the day before decides not to turn up. (Repeatedly happens).
The drivers themselves tend to be ok. Itâs the actual industry itself where I am thatâs broken. Fortunately, our local govt has been smart and regulated Uber. Itâs 100% legal and recognized where I am. Itâs done wonders for service around here.
All of these same complaints have been made of Uber drivers as well. Just sayinâ.
Edit: In the future the auto manufacturing companies will own the ground transportation industry. Driverless vehicle fleets owned by Ford and GM will eclipse Uber and Lyft.
Say hello to the new bossâŚ
As Iâve said here before, itâs in every way a Good Thing if all ride-for-hire services, whether traditional taxis, Uber, or anything else, are required to meet meaningful standards for vehicle safety, insurance of both vehicles and drivers, and bonding.
The Bad Thing is regulation that artificially restricts the number of safe, insured vehicles that can enter the market. That is corrupt regulatory-capture bullshit and I say to hell with it.
I have nothing but positive experiences with cabs, but the thing is, a positive cab story is like, âI called for a cab, I got in the cab and was taken to my destination, I paid and tipped accordinglyâ - thatâs boring as hell, and does not really count in my mind as a âstoryâ - to my mind, asking for a âstoryâ about a service that is boring to hear about when done correctly is basically asking for horror stories. Because Iâd have nothing much to say in response to a call for stories like that, but if Iâd had a bad experience, Iâd be kicking down the doors to tell that story.
More like âBecause I wait an hour and they no show and/or are high when they do showâŚâ
Uber actually shows up and usually on time when you call them. They actually take you where you ask them to take you and theyâre polite about it. Oh yeah, and if youâre a minority, they donât drive away.
Shall I regale you with my story of my last attempt to get a cab from near a park on a Sunday afternoon in north San Francisco (following an event I attended with my wife) that involved me both using the app of the cab company and calling their dispatch three times over an hour when they kept telling me a cab was on its way. Finally, in disgust, while waiting, I downloaded and installed uber, made an account, and had an uber car 10 minutes later. This all for a 20 minute drive to the BART (our subway type thing) so I could go into the tunnel under the Bay to get to my own side where I lived.
Yeah, I donât call cabs anymore. Incompetent and they donât give a shit.
When I lived in Atlanta, I was standing outside Lindbergh Station and watched as a taxi enforcement officer ticketed a cabbie for not having a map. He showed the cop his GPS, and the cop responded that he was required to have a paper map, and that GPS wasnât acceptable. I made eye contact with the guy and I think we both shared a WTF moment.
They probably do it here in Melbourne too.
See, I think this is just an East-West thing. When I lived in the East Bay Iâd take cabs a few times a year and never had any kind of trouble. They were quick to arrive, were clean inside, the drivers were friendly, and they all had GPS installed in the vehicle. And that was with a variety of cab companies.
My next door neighbor used to use Uber but from the amount of complaining he did Iâm not sure why.
Yeah a female housemate of mine used to tell me of the horror she felt if a taxi driver even reached for his ignition switch, like okay weâre stopping here. That sort of thing. It wasnât just now and then.
Ok fine. In places where this is common in get it. But that is not the case here in Toronto. Our taxi industry has issues but none of that. As far as I can tell the only argument is they like the app. Which seems silly to me.
Iâve never taken a cab in the East Bay because when Iâm here (home), I have my car or my bicycle. I use them in SF because sane people donât take their cars into SF if they donât have to (as Iâm sure you know).
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