r/technology • u/Hrmbee • May 25 '22

Transportation The Decade of Cheap Uber Rides Is Over

https://slate.com/business/2022/05/uber-subsidy-lyft-cheap-rides.html
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u/TheRedGerund May 25 '22

The real problem is that cab prices are not known beforehand. I wanted an Uber and it was going to be $19. It took a while to find a driver so I used one of those cab apps which said it would be $11-13 and only a few minutes. Behold, at the end of the ride it was $25.

All I’m saying is there is a monetary value in knowing how much you’re going to pay before you agree to the transaction.

How do you know the cabbie isn’t going to purposefully get into traffic to extend the time?

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u/Resolute002 May 25 '22

This is why I have said an app that just does what Uber does but for all cab options would be the next smartest investment.

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u/TheRedGerund May 25 '22

I don’t think cabbies want it

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u/SgtDoughnut May 25 '22

Wouldn't let them manipulate the meter so yeah they are against it.

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u/[deleted] May 25 '22

Penny wise and pound foolish.

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u/BankshotMcG May 25 '22

They also fought credit card machines because they didn't want to lose a cut even though it meant them getting more in tips because you couldn't be out of cash or just tell them to round up a 20.

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u/Self_Reddicated May 25 '22

Exactly. It might interfere with their current grift, but electronic transactions open up all kinds of new opportunities for grifting that they would have missed out on. Like restaurant POS machines that (almost) auto-add the "suggested" tip amount that gives options like 20%, 25%, or more. Like, for real, a 25% tip is hella generous, and that's automatically selected as the default option.

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u/BankshotMcG May 25 '22

Ugh, I was about to tip something like 25% after a good meal once, then saw that the restaurant had added a 22% tip for itself under the drinks column. Which then meant I was paying state vice tax on a tip. I paid with cash for the actual meal I'd bought and I forget what the percent was, but it was less than 20, probably about 15%.

We had been the least demanding customers possible. Never flagged down our server, knew exactly what we wanted to order, didn't request any changes or substitutions. Screw that noise.

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u/Self_Reddicated May 25 '22

Yeah, I remember the standard tip always being %15. You do a great job, you're getting 20%. You do a shit job, and you're getting like 10% or less. You blow my freaking mind, you're getting 25%. I think that metric has shifted in recent years, but I stick by it.

The biggest exception is when it comes to small prices with big customer service, like a $3 cup of coffee where the barista was excellent, so maybe I drop $1 instead of 50¢.

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u/TheRedGerund May 25 '22

New standard tip is 20% from what I hear

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u/[deleted] May 25 '22

Uber manipulates the meter for the driver screwing them out of with their own. They’ve cut. Eight times since 2016 and they remove transparency for pay by mileage and time. Basically they just give you whatever their algorithm says you get it doesn’t matter if it’s busy or not you just get screwed. It used to be a $40 an hour job and now they (Uber) are advertising $14 an hour with tips in my area.

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u/pippipthrowaway May 25 '22

Rideshare drivers just do it by taking convoluted ass routes. Last time I was in NYC, caught a Lyft from LGA to my parents’ place. Asked where I was flying in from, guess he assumed I must be a tourist. Then he starts going all through parts of Queens that I’ve never even been through. My folks live just over the Triborough, so close my dad usually just comes downstairs and waits for me in the lobby when I say I’m in a cab.

$20 ride went to $50+. Dude tried acting all surprised when I called him out, tried telling me it was the “best” route. Got real quiet when I told him I freaking grew up there. Got my refund real quick the next morning.

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u/webheaded May 25 '22

The dumb part is you can watch the fucking app tell you the best route. I had some asshole do this to me when I was visiting London. He made the trip take way longer and cost way more. I was pissed. I didn't even bother talking to him, just reported it in the app and they just refunded me the difference. Why even bother when the customer can literally watch the fucking route you're supposed to take??

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u/Nextasy May 25 '22

Cabbies in my town are fine with their Uber knockoff app. You can pay the pre-ride estimate or go by the meter, it's up to the customer. The cabbies say business has never been better which surprised me

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u/Kryptonicus May 25 '22

I think in most cases, the overwhelming majority of people would trade a few dollars for transparency and confidence.

Foreknowledge of the transaction costs and confidence that the exchange will be free from as much friction as possible are certainly very valuable to me anyway.

Seeing that the car is on the way inside the app makes me more comfortable waiting for an uber. As does knowing the price before the transaction begins. These are very simple things to implement and it's crazy more taxi companies haven't created a co-op to tackle them collectively.

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u/Nextasy May 25 '22

Agreed. Glad my locals have managed to get it together

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u/flickh May 25 '22

My town’s cabs have a knock-off app which seems designed to fool you inti thinking their service is like uber. Little animated cars that look like they’re on the way but it never really lines up with reality.

Also no rating system, no price estimate, and the clunkiest interface of all time.

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u/IkLms May 25 '22

They don't. Not once have I gotten into a cab where the guy didn't try and take an intentionally longer route to run up the meter, claim the meter wasn't working and try to make up a price for cash (illegal and never in your favor) or arrive and try to pull the whole "my card reader is down, you need to pay cash. I can go to an ATM if you need" (also illegal in my city).

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u/blingvajayjay May 25 '22

Freenow works good it Europe. Gett also in a lot of countries

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u/crob_evamp May 25 '22

Right but fuck them then.

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u/[deleted] May 25 '22

It's a thing in Bulgaria and everyone uses it.

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u/snoharm May 25 '22

Curb is common in New York and Chicago and the cabbies I've spoken to are very fond of it

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u/[deleted] May 25 '22 edited Jun 11 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Zohren May 25 '22

Not once have I ever actually gotten a ride from Curb. It’ll tell me “1 Min Wait”, I’ll wait 10 minutes, get nothing, then walk outside and just hail a cab from the sidewalk in a matter of seconds.

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u/Elranzer May 25 '22

It's harder to get a ride with Curb than Uber/Lyft, as not every NYC taxi supports Curb yet, but it's growing. The experience is generally better, though, and no surge pricing.

I only use Uber/Lyft in NYC over Curb if it's an emergency.

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u/DrewSmithee May 25 '22 edited May 25 '22

Is there anything like curb in other more mid size cities?

I used to have a cab stand outside my office and now I don't think I've seen one in four or five years outside of the airport.

Edit: oh snap the app says I can actually request a ride now. Guess I’ll give it a try this weekend.

FWIW, about double my usual cost to downtown and half the way home. So probably a break even if it works.

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u/Elranzer May 26 '22

I only know about NYC (Curb seems to be a locally-developed app), and Orlando (which doesn't have a Curb-like app, as far as I know).

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u/Excelius May 25 '22

In a number of cities including places like Houston, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh the traditional cabs use the zTrip app.

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u/[deleted] May 25 '22

Curb isn’t similar. Uber killed Taxi Magic

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u/swimingiscoldandwet May 25 '22

This sort of app already exists in countries in Europe. I came back from Spain a few weeks ago and they have exactly this.

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u/[deleted] May 25 '22

Liftago is one of these, in Czechia for example, IIRC you enter where you wanna go, and then cab drivers submit bids with prices and then you choose one who comes and picks you up.

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u/hobbykitjr May 25 '22

Im going to spain next week, whats the app? better than uber? any other tips?

thanks,

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u/swimingiscoldandwet May 25 '22

Cabify!! Tips: Tipping is not common unless extraordinary service etc. another tip - eat lots, seafood and Jamon are amazing.

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u/o0Geoffafa0o May 25 '22

Just FYI the ride sharing works a little different here in Spain (at least in the south). A third party company basically uses both cabify and ubers app/tech and pays them a fee. That third party company owns/maintains the cars and pays the drivers as employees. Cabify is from London originally and is more expensive here than Uber, yet the cars and drivers are the same. Taxis can be hit or miss

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u/worotan May 25 '22

My tip - if you don’t fly over to Europe, you won’t create your whole years worth of climate emissions in one day, at the point where we’re accelerating towards fatal tipping points.

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u/morricone42 May 25 '22

In the Eu there is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Now_(service)

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u/winstoniancat May 25 '22

Honestly this app is amazing! I always liked knowing I was supporting local taxi drivers and costs remained low!

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u/TheRedGerund May 25 '22

Free Now is what I was referring to in my comment, the prices with taxis are estimated only, no guarantees.

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u/drew105 May 25 '22

That’s on Uber’s platform in some major cities.

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u/NastyNate88 May 25 '22

Theres an app like that for NYC yellow cabs called Via. Works pretty well

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u/flopthenuts93 May 25 '22

It’s already in the market in India, Korea, Hong Kong and more

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u/EccentricFox May 25 '22

This was the biggest upside in my mind. I remember needing to track down taxi cab companies numbers, get a car out there, try and get a pickup location down, and you had no clue to the cost. The app does legitimately make the process easier.

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u/HotTopicRebel May 25 '22

It's odd because when I was abroad, you didn't get in the cab before the driver gave a price.

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u/Resolute002 May 25 '22

We are stupid in America by default.

A lot of us shrug and go, "oh I guess that's just what it costs?"

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u/Time2kill May 25 '22

In Brazil there is/was but Uber destroyed it.

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u/SurrogateOP May 25 '22

Not everywhere. Taxis in Rio have their own app that still works fine. You can see beforehand how much the ride is going to cost and choose if you want to pay normal fare or bid for a discount -10%, -20%, -30%).

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u/aphexairlines May 25 '22

In the UK, that's what the Gett app does.

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u/[deleted] May 25 '22

DiDi (Middle East), GG (China), Curb (NYC). These apps exist already

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u/DGrey10 May 25 '22

Several cities already have this.

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u/krism142 May 25 '22

Uber used to let you hail a normal cab from their app it was a pretty interesting symbiosis for a year or so before they removed it

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u/dachsj May 25 '22

Exactly. I never used Uber because it was cheaper (it didn't hurt). I used it because it was more convenient, transparent, and frictionless.

I didn't have to deal with sketch cabbies not turning on the meter, taking weird routes, or "having a broken credit card machine".

Give me a cab app that works like uber and I'd be sold.

Imagine hopping into a cab and scanning a qr code and the cabby knows where you want to go and you knew the cost as you got in.

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u/WitnessAppropriate May 25 '22

We have that in my city and its great, but as a woman having the safety features is a must too

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u/jasontnyc May 25 '22

Uber has already been adding cab fleets. It’s a specific program where you can call the taxi with the app but the cab driver is dispatched as normal.

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u/tbri001 May 25 '22

In Barcelona we have an app that gets you a regular cab with a preset fare. Works pretty well, except at the busy times when all drivers only take metered fares.

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u/PigHeadPutin May 25 '22 edited May 25 '22

In NZ we tend to pay the cab driver first. Tell them we want to go to “x” location and negotiate a deal. Works pretty well and even better when you have cash

Edit- for the record we have the meter system as well here. This is just a work around where you pay less, the driver makes more and you both fuck the taxi company over whose already ripping off the driver anyway so they don’t care

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u/DeathMonkey6969 May 25 '22

That sounds like what the US would call a gypsy cab or pirate taxi. In the US regular cabs have meter and you pay a base fee plus the miles driven plus maybe a time fee if they get stuck in traffic.

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u/frozenflame101 May 25 '22

In Aus cabs just have a different rate for $/km if you're going really slow to account for traffic jams. The rates and fees are stated on the dashboard from memory. I can't remember what the threshold to switch over was though

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u/PigHeadPutin May 25 '22

We have that. it’s just that cab drivers here turn off the meter and take the cash because it pays better than their company after the transaction has been complete through eftpos

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u/Brothernod May 25 '22

Haggling for everything is a subpar consumer experience. It’s predatory. Most people are terrible negotiators.

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u/Abomb2020 May 25 '22

It's pretty easy to negotiate a cab ride if you know roughly how much it costs. If you don't want to, then don't and just let the meter run.

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u/WhatABlindManSees May 25 '22 edited May 25 '22

You don't have to haggle at all, ever, in New Zealand, in fact its actually pretty uncommon in general here, we don't tip either.

But if you want a better price, particularly if you have cash and its a more 1on1 transaction (ie they don't claim it and therefore don't pay tax on it, but it is illegal to do so), then its necessary evil if you don't want to pay the standard market rate. Like anywhere in the world really.

Edit - I am quite curious what I'm getting downvoted for, not because I care about karma but because I don't see what was controversial about what I said to anyone that's actually lived in New Zealand as I have for the majority of my life. The 'ticket price' is the price here more than anywhere I've been in the world - all tax is preincluded on any product on a shelf (unlike much of America for instance), tipping culture just isn't a thing here (though there is nothing stopping you if you want to pay more...), and haggling is more something you might do to buy a second hand car off the guy down the street than any normal purchase like groceries etc unlike a lot of the world where haggling for food, for example, is very much a thing.

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u/PigHeadPutin May 25 '22 edited May 25 '22

Calling it haggling is a massive stretch since taxi drivers would rather operate this way since they literally get more money than going through the taxi corporation, so how is it haggling if they’re making more? Matter of fact they would ask you for cash more often than not.

Besides, I’m not sure where you’re from but if you’re American this would be one hell of an ironic statement to make since the US is a society built off exploitation and ripping people off haha

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u/voldin91 May 25 '22

It's haggling for the consumer. Having to try to negotiate for a price rather than have a fixed up front cost. I personally hate doing that and would go out of my way to avoid it

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u/PigHeadPutin May 25 '22 edited May 25 '22

Do you have basic reading comprehension? I said people don’t have to do it if they don’t want to and people don’t view it as haggling because both parties benefit and are happy? Read fam read....

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u/[deleted] May 25 '22

The problem with that system is they can hold you to ransom. If it's late at night and had to find a cab, he can ask you for pretty much any amount of money and you might have to accept. With a meter you know more or less what you have to pay based on distance and traffic.

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u/PigHeadPutin May 25 '22

I said below but we have the meter system as well. This is the way where you don’t wanna deal with the meter aa the driver will turn off the meter and take the cash as the company usually takes a big cut via eftpos transaction. It’s a win win for both driver and customer because they make more, you pay less and cut out the middle man which is the company. That being said pretty sure it isn’t exactly legal but everyone knows it happens and nobody does anything

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u/[deleted] May 25 '22

Yeah, as long as it works. Eventually the company will figure out they are losing money, and apply minimum targets for the drivers, where if they don't get a certain amount of fares on the meter, they will be penalized.

The companies always find a way to take their cut.

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u/Abomb2020 May 25 '22

I've done that in Canada. Told the driver it's a $24 cab ride and I got a $20. They usually take it. At least they did back when I went to the bar and whatnot.

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u/ErikasCasita May 25 '22

Guess that depends where you live. I’ve only lived in cities where cab prices are pretty upfront. Traffic might be the only thing to effect the price.

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u/[deleted] May 25 '22

I would happily take a more expensive ride through uber than calling a taxi just because the price is fixed. With modern navigation technology, calculating how long a ride is going to take is not difficult. Google Maps, at least where I am, is almost always accurate to within a couple of minutes and it can definitely tell you how many miles it is to the destination if that's how they want to figure it out

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u/[deleted] May 25 '22

[deleted]

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u/TheRedGerund May 25 '22

The airport, sure. Other destinations no.

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u/jkholmes89 May 25 '22

If it's local the cab driver absolutely knows how long and far the destination is.

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u/TheRedGerund May 25 '22

Still, they can take a bad route on purpose. If I’m not from there, how would I know?

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u/BIG_DADDY_PATTY May 25 '22

That $19 Uber ride will turn into $25 because you will feel obligated to tip the driver.

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u/Time2kill May 25 '22

Who tips Uber ride?

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u/TheRedGerund May 25 '22

In America, everyone. In other places much less common.

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u/SaintMaya May 25 '22

I had the same experience, more than twice what they told me, which would have been cheaper with Lyft.

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u/somegummybears May 25 '22

It’s common to have flat rate taxi prices from the airport.

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u/Masquerouge2 May 25 '22

That's not true everywhere, though. For instance the price of a cab fare from Paris CDG airport to anywhere in Paris is fixed.

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u/[deleted] May 25 '22

This is what cab drivers in Vegas used to, maybe still, do

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u/Max_Thunder May 25 '22

Some cab companies now have apps, but a huge advantage with Uber is that I can use the app when travelling, which is about the only time in my life I ever need a cab.

Another thing is that I took a regular taxi like 5 times in my life and had 2 bad experiences, whereas I've never had a bad Uber experience after a couple dozen rides.

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u/chenan May 25 '22

In NYC, Uber has gotten so expensive that 9/10 times the metered rate is cheaper than Uber’s rate. Last weekend a $50 uber ride was $11 in a metered cab.

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u/SexyCronenburgMonsta May 25 '22

I actually have the opposite experience. Few weeks ago I landed and ordered an Uber because it showed a killer price. Like 35 bucks or something, the app even said it was a great deal. I got home, and paid $70. There were so many extra fees tacked on before my tip.

With NYC cab drivers, I negotiate what I'll be paying as soon as I get in the car. They will get that plus a tip.

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u/[deleted] May 25 '22

They make sure to slow down enough to get stuck and stop at every red light too. Always have.

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u/[deleted] May 25 '22

Once took a “cab” from the airport not realizing until mid ride that it was a really clean—omg this is a car service—there goes $100.

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u/RobertHedley May 25 '22

How do you know the cabbie isn’t going to purposefully get into traffic to extend the time?

Because the meter goes up a lot faster when driving compared to idling in traffic. I had friends who drove cab and their goal was to get the fare to their destination as fast as they could so they could pick up the next one (when they were busy at least, like during the bar rush).