Perhaps it’s because taxis in many Canadian cities are fairly reliable, but I’d never heard of apps like Uber or Lyft until I got stranded in the town I’m working in this term, an hour out of Boston, where a taxi can take up to two hours to show up (if at all) and calling back for a status on the ride results in an unintelligible murmur followed by a swift hang-up.
Ride-sharing apps operate somewhat like a decentralized taxi service, where potential drivers can offer to drive people around for a fee through the app on an as-needed basis. The idea is similar in execution to Airbnb, which allows potential hosts to open up a room in their house from just a night or two to on a monthly basis. With apps like Uber, Lyft and Sidecar, a potential driver opens up a spot in their car, and can have the spot open even if they’re sitting at home, as the app will notify them that someone is interested in a ride.
Uber appears to be the biggest company in this market, operating in 27 countries in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, including in Canada where it has drivers in Toronto and Vancouver. Beginning with more luxury vehicles under their UberBLACK service, they have expanded to offer rides in SUVs (UberSUV) and everyday vehicles (uberX). They also allow you to request a taxi (uberTaxi) within the city borders of some major cities. What makes Uber and other ride-shares so convenient is that they let you pay with your credit card from your phone, so when you’re done the ride you can simply thank the driver and leave the car. Uber also shows you how long the ride will take to arrive and updates it as the car moves, using a GPS installed in the car to determine how far the car is and displaying it on the map in the app.
Lyft is another company seen as the biggest rival to Uber, which started from the other direction (or the bottom, if you will), focusing on everyday people looking for a quick way to share rides. Lyft operated on a suggested donation principle for a long time, before switching to mandatory ride fares this year to better support drivers in the way Uber does. Passengers and drivers are also encouraged to fist-bump when entering the car, in a move meant to invoke friendship.
A third company that often goes under the radar is Sidecar, which lets you go further and pick your own driver and vehicle, and indirectly the price. Drivers have the option as of late to be able to pick their own prices, so a Sidecar passenger can pick the driver with the price they are willing to pay. Sidecar also provides the user up-front with the final ride price, so that there are no unexpected fees or prices as the passenger leaves the car.
As convenient as the services have been for passengers, there has been some controversy introduced by their disruptive nature. One is the issue of surge pricing, particularly from Uber. During peak usage, Uber will apply a multiplier to the normal prices of up to eight times regular fare, which is designed to encourage inactive drivers to pick up passengers and take advantage of the increased wage, but has caused frustration in passengers who need to find a way home. Lyft offers a less dramatic version of surge pricing, which they call Prime Time Tips, that can increase the fare up to twice the regular fare, and they also give all the money from the increase to their drivers.
All three companies have also seen legal issues in many cities around the United States, as they are seen as competing with taxi dispatchers without a proper license. Legislators argue that this is important for passengers as well since an Uber driver getting into an accident may not have insurance that covers the passengers, leaving the passengers responsible for footing the bill. Taxi companies are also concerned about the threat of these companies as they go through a rather arduous process to license their drivers, however, the companies argue that their drivers are put under more scrutiny than taxi drivers.
With some states approving these services, and others looking to extinguish them, the future of the ride-share app market is uncertain. However, the direction of private car transportation is undoubtedly not going to remain stagnant in the next 50 years, and taxis will have to bend to the pressure of new ideas from new technologies. In the meanwhile, if you get a chance to try them out, it’s a pretty cool experience and you usually get the first ride free. Perhaps the taxi companies will adopt some of their methods in the future.
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