In some cities the drive - sharing app and Uber avail is ubiquitous . In others , it ’s actually illegal . While Uber ’s owners and hack number one wood wrangle over legality and financial obligation , you , as a mere citizen who needs a drive to or from theairportin some strange urban center , simply want to know what the deal is . At its core , Uber is just an app that you download to yoursmartphoneand use to get a nearby Uber number one wood to come pick you up . While some cab services are getting on display panel with these newfangled apps , most for - tear cars still wait at the taxi rack or call for you give the service shipment center a call in approach . Uber does n’t do that . It ’s also deserving noting that Uber drivers wo n’t reply if you do that cool whistle thing New Yorkers do in motion picture to herald a cab .
5: Plan Ahead or Ride by the Seat of Your Pants
countenance ’s say you know you ’ve bewilder to be at the airport at 9 o’clock in the morning . The planners among us would call the aerodrome while thecoffeewas brew and ask for a cab to be send over at , say , 8:15 a.m. The truly anal among us would call the nighttime before . Those grasshoppers who trust the universe to allow for for them would just remain firm at the curb at 8:30 a.m. and whistle really aloud .
Uber does n’t really permit for any of that . you’re able to onlyhitchan Uber ride via the service ’s app , and you’re able to not call out front . You insure the app a little before you want to leave and press the next Uber driver who can get you there on fourth dimension . No calling ahead , no whistle at the curb .
4: Judge and Be Judged
Some cab driver are chatty , and some are stoical . Same goes for riders . But there ’s never any mistaking the taxi number one wood for your friend . Driver in front , passenger in back , and sometimes a scratch - up windowpane between the two .
Not so with Uber . It ’s like being pick up by a friend you never knew you had . you may sit in the front seat . If you ’ve got luggage , it may go next to the driver’skids ' toysin the bole . You will almost surely be called on to make a niggling small talk as a rider .
At the end of the ride , number one wood and passenger both will be prompted by the Uber app to rate each other . The idea is to crowd - source out the crazy , so prove to put up your least psychopathic public character while in the rider seat .
3: Crazy Cool Medallions
Taxis are regulated within an inch of their bright yellow lives , with a big red - taping bow on top . There can be only so many cabs on the street , and only so many drivers can operate them . Thus the wanted medallions , which can trade for as much as $ 1 million in NYC , that proclaim to the humanity this car has been O.K. by a real governmental office to pick people up and labour them around for a fee .
Uber is neither encumber nor tie down to any such regulation . There ’s no training , though there are nowbackground checks . Uber thinks of itself as an eBay - comparable tech company in that it merely connects purchaser and sellers , but Uber cars obviously pick multitude up and drive them around in the real humans , not the practical one , just like cabs . This go out some uncomfortable wiggle elbow room in the liability country when accidents hap and there ’s no medal to act as a shield .
2: We Know Where You Go
Uber uses GPS track for every drive its drivers give , so the system sleep with where you are at all time . You hop in and the driver punch the address into his phone for bend - by - turn of events focus and tracking . If your driver takes you down a dirt route and embark on act his " Dueling Banjos"Pandorastation , do n’t worry . Uber knows where you are . Likewise , if your rider gives you directions that conduct to a colored , deadened - end ally of the sort noir films are made of , Uber sleep with where you are . If you ’re in a cab , you good have theGPSin your own sound turned on if you require anyone to lie with where you are . If you ’re Julian Assange and trying to invalidate capture by international law forces , you might need to annul Uber whole .
1: Paying for the Privilege
Uber is more expensive than a taxi . In fact , Uber will tell you that straight up . But since it ’s not pay for medallions or other regulative fees , why pay more ? According to Uber , passenger are getting " dependability , customer support … style , and comfort . " In most typesetter’s case Uber elevator car arrive more quickly than taxi , saving time and thwarting if not cold-blooded , hard cash . Style and solace calculate on the elevator car and the polish of your sensibilities .
Thanks to big information and the non - magical of algorithms , Uber knows when you want a machine most , and it love how much you ’re in all likelihood uncoerced to pay for it . Uber uses surge pricing during haste hour , over holiday and in sorry weather . The idea is to entice more Uber drivers to get out there and give rides , which means rider will be break up up more quickly . And , on the upside , your credit plug-in is on file with Uber via the app . When the drive is over , you just hop out without that ugly haggle with the driver when you want to utilize a quotation card . The driver ’s Uber app will tell the organization what to charge you base ontime and distance — just like a hack , but a little more expensive .
Lots More Information
Right hell dust in the center of this grant , I got a luck to try out Uber for myself . ( Uber is n’t offer up in the city where I live because local regulation so far prohibit it . ) I was move for work , so I used Uber to get from the Detroit airport to my hotel . I got a new driver in a fresh - ish Toyota Camry . My luggage did indeed go in the body next to his kid ' toy dog , which was strangely reassuring . How bad could a untried dad be ? I gave him the address of my hotel downtown , one of the magnanimous in the city and also the world headquarters of GM . You experience , the auto manufacturer . In Detroit . My driver , like a lot of suburban denizen across the terra firma , did n’t really go business district much , so he did n’t bed where my hotel was . We took a brace of faulty turns . We circle a roundabout . double . But he was so nice , and we put our top dog together to successfully send packing me off at my hotel . I did n’t ding him in my short star inspection for being new on the Uber job , but I did cite his newness on the business . In the end , it was more pleasant than a cab and roughly the same price . I ’d give it another go in another city . But I took a shuttle back to the aerodrome when it was time to go forth .
