Uber in Waterloo Region

[Coke6pk]

Used UBER for the first time in Ottawa last week. It was a free ride with a promo, but it worked flawlessly.

No complaints there.

[isUsername]

I've heard of several bad experiences with Uber taking substantially longer for pick up than promised by the app. Has anyone else had this experience too?

Yes. My experience with Uber has been for five rides. Two of those I cancelled when the estimated time to pickup - both in the app's estimate and my own experience from driving - became way higher after I submitted the request. In the last, recent case, a four minute estimate by the app when I was setting the trip turned into an 11 minute estimate by the app after I submitted the request, but the driver was at least 15 minutes away based on my experience. I imagine the construction doesn't help the estimate, but it seemed like it gave no regard to the distance from the second-closest driver, which became an issue when the closest did was not assigned the request. It also seems like some drivers drive really slow for what the app estimates.

[isUsername]

I should just start multiplying Uber's estimate by 1.8. Requested a vehicle today. Estimate was 8 minutes from King / University to Queen / Highland. Construction aside, that's a rediculous estimate even with a heavy foot. It actually took 14 minutes to arrive.

[Canard]

I thought they got shut down and were like forbidden to operate?

[BuildingScout]

I should just start multiplying Uber's estimate by 1.8. Requested a vehicle today. Estimate was 8 minutes from King / University to Queen / Highland. Construction aside, that's a rediculous estimate even with a heavy foot. It actually took 14 minutes to arrive.

It seems to be getting worse. 2x is quite common factor nowadays.

[tomh009]

Maybe they should use Google Maps for their estimates?

[Chris]

Using Uber in a city with a proper amount of drivers is awesome, you would never go back to cabs. The current problem in KW is Uber supply. If you are in a city where the rules are clear and Uber or Lyft are okay to operate it's a great option to get around.

[Canard]

Unreal what's going on in Toronto today.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ta...-1.3357166

570 News reported this morning that the region pushed off its decision on Uber until Jan/Feb 2016.

[tomh009]

Using Uber in a city with a proper amount of drivers is awesome, you would never go back to cabs. The current problem in KW is Uber supply. If you are in a city where the rules are clear and Uber or Lyft are okay to operate it's a great option to get around.

I used a taxi from the airport to the hotel in Phoenix last month, and Uber to go back to the airport.  Both drivers were fine, but the Uber car was much newer, cleaner and better working condition.  And the ride cost well less than half the taxi price.

[KevinL]

Never take them anyway, but this just makes sure I will stay well clear of the Toronto taxi industry in future. This goes very far beyond the pale.

[plam]

Using Uber in a city with a proper amount of drivers is awesome, you would never go back to cabs. The current problem in KW is Uber supply. If you are in a city where the rules are clear and Uber or Lyft are okay to operate it's a great option to get around.

I used a taxi from the airport to the hotel in Phoenix last month, and Uber to go back to the airport.  Both drivers were fine, but the Uber car was much newer, cleaner and better working condition.  And the ride cost well less than half the taxi price.

Yeah. Uber might be a bit too inexpensive for the drivers to make enough money, but I think Uber would like to not pay drivers long-term anyway.

I was just in Vancouver and I noticed that the taxi companies there have absolutely terrible reviews on Google. I think it's one of the sectors with the lowest reviews around. (Ours seem to do slightly better). Also, Vancouver banned Uber and you have to get a taxi for the city that you're currently in. But there are 19 different municipalities in the area. So it's hard to tell which taxi company you can even call. Dysfunctional for sure.

[tomh009]

I used a taxi from the airport to the hotel in Phoenix last month, and Uber to go back to the airport.  Both drivers were fine, but the Uber car was much newer, cleaner and better working condition.  And the ride cost well less than half the taxi price.

Yeah. Uber might be a bit too inexpensive for the drivers to make enough money, but I think Uber would like to not pay drivers long-term anyway.

I was just in Vancouver and I noticed that the taxi companies there have absolutely terrible reviews on Google. I think it's one of the sectors with the lowest reviews around. (Ours seem to do slightly better). Also, Vancouver banned Uber and you have to get a taxi for the city that you're currently in. But there are 19 different municipalities in the area. So it's hard to tell which taxi company you can even call. Dysfunctional for sure.

I would be OK with paying something close to the taxi fare level for an Uber-quality ride.  That would still be a big improvement over taxis in most areas.  (London black cabs, Tokyo, Germany and some other places are clearly exceptions, with well-functioning, well-maintained taxi systems.)

[ookpik]

The taxi industry is going to lose unless they adapt their business model to compete with Uber's.

Recall that when Chapters/Indigo opened their big box stores the small independent book sellers were threatened. Those who didn't adapt, perished. Those who found viable niches have not only survived by arguably are prospering. But it gets more interesting. Remember when Amazon began to compete with Chapters? Chapters complained to the government that Amazon was selling US-printed editions of books that violated Canadian regulations. That fell mostly on deaf ears. So Chapters had no alternative but to adapt. They survive today, albeit with fewer stores than in the heydays.

There are multiple lessons there for the taxi industry. The most important one is that if they depend on the government to protect them they'll still be holding demonstrations at Queen's Park a decade from now.

[ookpik]

The taxi industry is going to lose unless they adapt their business model to compete with Uber's.

Taxi industry losing war to Uber because of customer service, not technology 

Thousands of taxi drivers clogged Toronto streets and highways Wednesday to protest Uber, but if they want to win over customers, the place to start is simply by offering better service. It is a simpler fix than protesting, lobbying city hall or anything else they are trying. The taxi industry is hoping for an injunction to shut down UberX. Toronto Mayor John Tory has said an injunction is not going to happen as city staff work to reform the current bylaws to bring Uber under the law and make it easy for cabbies to operate. When the laws are eventually reformed, there will be no reason to hail a traditional cab.

As the taxi industry in many cities across Canada fights for its existence, companies and drivers struggle to understand that potential fares are choosing Uber because it offers better customer service, not just lower fares or ease of an app. 

[SammyOES]

I've had put up with crappy and shady taxi drivers* for years - I'm not sure why anybody would expect me to have loyalty to using them. Add in things like how they behaved in Toronto and I'l go out of my way to use Uber instead of a cab. I'd pay more.

* I'm not saying every taxi driver has bad service and is shady. But enough were and before uber there seemed to be almost no effort to clean up the industry.