what to consider before i uber or lyft
Gone are the days of continuing on a street corner and thrusting out your hand to get the attention of a cab. For many urban city dwellers, hitching a ride is as simple equally whipping out your telephone, tapping in an app, and waiting for a black town car or pink-mustache-flaunting Prius to arrive.
Look around whatever major city and y'all'll see that ride-sharing services Uber, Lyft and others are about as ubiquitous equally taxis, if non overshadowing them birthday. These services take established themselves in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and are rapidly making their mode into new parts of the US and the world.
Throughout their speedy expansion, these companies have attracted their fair share of bad press, which I'll accost below. However this guide seeks to put that corporate drama aside to explicate the hows and whys of using Lyft and Uber, especially for those who haven't yet taken their first ride.
What is ride-sharing?
Ride-sharing services were born out of a desire to create an culling to taxis. In San Francisco, where several of the tiptop services launched, cabs are difficult to hail, particularly abroad from the city eye. Services like Lyft and Uber sought to change that.
These days, ride-sharing is a fleck of misnomer, indicating that you are sharing a ride with someone else in a carpool situation, arriving at the same destination together. Instead, these apps are better described every bit ride-hailing services, where you lot asking a ride for hire from your phone and pay the driver for their services. Once they drop you off, they'll look for their adjacent rider, much like a taxi does. Going forwards in this guide, I'll refer to Lyft and Uber as ride-hailing services or apps.
Who are the big players?
There are two ride-hailing apps that dominate the scene: Uber and Lyft. Both have been effectually for the concluding several years, with Uber starting around 2009 and Lyft launching in 2012. Both have apps for Android and iOS, while only Uber has an app for Windows Phone equally well.
Started in 2012, Sidecar has become the tertiary-most-popular ride-hailing option, but the company'south CEO has said that it volition soon stop carrying passengers and kickoff focusing solely on delivery. For that reason, I won't comprehend information technology here.
These apps are different than those that hail a professional person taxicab, like Flywheel, Hailo or Gett (though Uber also offers a cab-hailing selection in a handful of cities). Those apps connect yous to a licensed taxi that you lot would otherwise simply hail on the street.
What's it like to ride with Uber or Lyft?
When you lot need a ride, you'll open up 1 of these apps and follow the on-screen prompts to become started. With each app, you'll come across a map of your electric current location, as determined by your phone, and visualization of available cars nearby. The cars you see moving on the map may or may non actually represent cars that are set to give yous a ride.
Once you lot request a ride, and optionally enter your destination, the app volition contact nearby available drivers. When a driver in the company's system accepts the ride, y'all'll see their profile, which includes their proper name, a headshot, the make and model of their car, a photo of the machine, and their approximate ETA in minutes. Drivers will oft call or text you when they arrive and one time you spot the car, simply hop in.
During the ride, you tin can see your journey in the app, merely you won't run across a meter like a traditional cab. In most cases, y'all won't meet the terminal price until the trip ends. Then y'all'll utilize the app to requite the driver feedback, add an optional tip (Lyft only), and submit your payment. If you don't pay right abroad, the app will all the same accuse later on a set amount of time, usually several hours or a day. Uber also lets you split the cost of ride betwixt several people, for 25-cent fee.
The entire transaction, from summoning a automobile, tracking the driver's location and paying for your ride are handled in the app, so yous never need to pay the driver with greenbacks or card. This makes a ride-hailing service convenient and less of hassle than riding in a cab, where you have to fumble with the payment at the stop. You can, every bit I often do, hop out of the car at your destination, bid cheerio to the driver, and submit payment after they've driven off.
Uber and Lyft rate pricing
Rates for Uber and Lyft vary greatly by urban center, the time of day you ride, and the type of service you pick (more on that in the next section).
Fares for each company's cheapest ride option in San Francisco are in the chart below, according to each service's website equally of August 2015 (UberX is Uber's everyman-cost fare option; more on that below.) Rates are bailiwick to change. Bank check out each company'southward website for more details on what they charge in your area for their services.
| UberX | Lyft | |
|---|---|---|
| Base price | $two.xx | $2.25 |
| Charge per unit per mile | $1.30 | $1.35 |
| Minimum ride fee | $five.00 | $5.00 |
| Counterfoil fee | $5.00 | $v.00 |
| Safety fee* | $1 | $1.55 |
*The condom fees Uber and Lyft charge get toward driver background checks, vehicle inspections and other rubber initiatives.
During loftier-demand times, rates for ride shares can go sky-loftier. Uber calls it surge pricing, and Lyft calls it prime time. The morning commute, mail service-work rush hour or late on a Saturday night tin all be popular times to summon a car, and can mean that y'all'll pay college-than-average rates per mile or infinitesimal. Later on a big outcome in your urban center, like a sporting event or concert, expect to pay a premium around the venue too.
Lyft and Uber volition allow you know when prime number-time or surge pricing is in consequence, alerting you lot of boosted fees, tips or rate increases you'll come across when you lot begin to book a ride. Go along in mind that during these times, your ride could end upwardly costing far more than than a taxi, depending on your area.
One final cistron that tin can affect the cost of your ride is where yous're going. Similar many taxi companies, ride-hailing apps can charge a flat charge per unit for airport service, which varies past region. In San Francisco, it costs a flat $65 with UberBlack to get from anywhere in the metropolis to San Francisco'south airdrome, while Lyft only charges a $3.85 surcharge on top of the trip cost.
What kind of ride practice you want?
Each service offers a dissimilar ride experience, ranging from casual to luxurious. Depending on your upkeep, the number of people riding together, and your personal preferences, you can pick what kind of vehicle to asking.
Uber's most popular ride options are: UberX, UberXL and UberBlack
UberX and 40 rides are executed by ordinary drivers who utilise their eligible privately-owned cars to shuttle people effectually. These are causal rides, where you lot'll often chat with the commuter and likely sit in the front seat. The XL option simply means you lot'll get a larger motorcar that can accommodate more riders.
UberBlack is the "classic" Uber ride, with a professional chauffeur in a livery-registered black luxury sedan. These rides tend to be more business-like, where you sit in the back seat like you would in a limo. With UberBlack you can too asking a luxury SUV to fit extra passengers. Every Uber car has an glowing visitor logo emblem on the windshield to aid yous spot your ride.
In some cities, Uber likewise offers boosted ride choices. UberLux, which is only available in Los Angeles, is simply like UberX, just with high-end automobiles, including Mercedes, Rolls Royce and Tesla. UberAssist is available in select cities and serves seniors and people with disabilities who either need extra aid during the ride or a car that can suit a wheelchair.
Lyft has two auto options: Lyft and Lyft Plus
Like UberX, with both choices y'all'll be riding with an everyday driver in their privately owned qualified car, which lends itself to more laid-back experience. I've establish that in most all of my Lyft rides, I sit down up front and talk with the driver during the duration of the ride, though you can e'er sit in back and stay quiet.
Lyft Plus is for rides with up to six passengers. You may or may non get a specially branded Lyft Plus Ford Explorer SUV, but you lot're guaranteed to see a pink mustache affixed to the dashboard with all Lyft rides, which helps riders detect their ride.
All 3 apps as well offer a carpool option -- called Lyft Line or Uberpool -- where y'all share your ride with a passenger you don't know. Each passenger is dropped off at their set destination, and so the ride may have longer than a private ride. The reason you'd want to utilise this is that it cuts the toll of the trip, and so you'll save a couple of bucks or more, depending on your city and route. The best part of this system is that if you request a carpool ride and no ane else joins, you'll however become the discounted fare.
What'southward with the ratings?
At the end of every ride, y'all'll charge per unit the person who gave you lot the ride and oft requite feedback on their performance as a safe, capable and courteous driver. The rating systems vary by service, only are all designed to match you with the best possible drivers, keep bad eggs out of the arrangement, and incentivize drivers to stay safe and deliver superior service. With Lyft, for instance, if you rate a driver three stars or lower, they'll never pick y'all upwards once again.
You can run across a driver's rating when you're matched with them, giving you lot some insight into who's picking you up. Unlike taxi drivers, whose driving behavior won't necessarily affect their power to continue to pick up passengers, low ratings on Lyft and Uber tin crusade drivers to lose opportunities to get business or even face penalties from the companies.
Your driver volition also rate you as their passenger. A low rating -- perhaps because you trashed their car, were rude, or worst of all, puked during the ride -- can mean that fewer drivers will accept your requests for a ride. With Uber and Lyft, only drivers can see your rating, though Lyft occasionally lets you know when you've had a 5-star (the highest rating) ride. In my years of using ride shares, I've found that every bit long every bit y'all're polite, friendly and respectful of the driver and their car, you won't terminate upwardly with a bad rating.
Are ride-hailing services available where you live?
Uber and Lyft have steadily spread across the US and into major metro areas around the world. Currently, all three are bachelor in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Washington D.C. and Boston. Uber has the widest availability, with service in 58 countries, including the UK and Australia. Lyft comes in second, available in more than than 65 US cities.
Chances are, at least one service is available in your surface area, or will be before long. But earlier you lot sign upwardly, check out each company'due south website to see where they operate.
What are the rubber concerns?
Just similar taking a taxi, y'all're riding in a machine with a stranger when using Uber or Lyft, so in that location is an inherent risk involved. Each visitor takes precautions to screen their drivers and promote safety, but there are safe risks even so.
Uber has come under fire for serious incidents, including a ride where a commuter attacked a passenger with a hammer and an accident where a commuter hit and killed a young girl, both in San Francisco. There have also been several allegations of sexual violence and assault past Uber drivers, which has prompted scrutiny of the company'due south groundwork checks. Lyft isn't immune to these bug either; by reports accept defendant drivers of violent attacks and sexual assail. Merely before you lot betoken a finger at these new services, remember that taxis aren't always safety either.
This isn't meant to scare you, only encourage you to exist cautious when riding with whatsoever stranger, Lyft, Uber or taxi alike. For a more than comprehensive await at prophylactic bug with Uber and Lyft, check out CNET's mail service on ride-hailing safety.
Why exercise you go on reading almost these companies in the news?
Over the last three years, Uber and Lyft accept frequently dominated headlines. That's largely because of the prophylactic concerns I outline above, but there are a few other reasons these companies frequently brand the news. Here are the height three.
i.Disrupting the taxi industry
Uber and Lyft have shaken up the established taxi and car service industries. These companies are the kickoff to brand large enough waves that they actually pulled business away from local taxi companies. One time they launched, they took off like a rocket, quickly gaining popularity with young professionals who never go anywhere without a smartphone.
That's led taxi and auto service companies to fight back against these ride-hailing services, urging local governments to bar them from operating and protesting to demand more regulation. In nearly every new city that Lyft or Uber has tried to ready shop, the companies are met with opposition, including cease-and-desist orders and suspensions of their power to operate.
2. Unsavory business tactics
Ride-hailing apps are the darlings of the modern startup earth, fetching mountains of cash from investors. Because of their meteoric rise, the stakes and contest are high, leading these companies to do whatever it takes to stay on tiptop. That'due south garnered them a lot of attention, specially focused on how they conduct their business organization.
Uber specifically has come under fire for its business concern tactics, from aggressive recruiting strategies to sign up new drivers to lobbing accusations of demolition at Lyft. Additionally, an Uber exec made a controversial remark in 2014 virtually the possibility of hiring a team of researchers to " dig up dirt on its critics in the media," sparking outrage.
3. Driver lawsuits over employment rights
The last big reason Lyft and Uber take made headlines is about how the two companies classify the employment of their drivers. Both Lyft and Uber are facing lawsuits from drivers who desire to be classified as employees, not independent contractors, and exist able to obtain the benefits, such as health insurance and overtime, the come with that designation. These lawsuits are currently active in San Francisco, and their outcomes could modify how Lyft and Uber operate in the future.
The take-abroad
Armed with all of this data, you'll hopefully exist able to brand a more informed conclusion on whether Uber or Lyft are right for you, and how to have a successful experience hailing a ride from your telephone.
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Source: https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/uber-lyft-ride-share-ride-hailing/
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