(Toyota?) Getting a Lyft from Uber

Had my first Uber ride today in New York City and it wasn’t just any driver, it was Patty (pictured) who is set to be profiled as part of a New Yorker magazine report on Uber coming soon. Having used Lyft just a few weeks earlier while in Chicago I intended to use Lyft while I was in New York to get from South Street Seaport back to my hotel in Brooklyn.

But the promising headline (pictured) in the New York Daily News proved misleading. Lyft is not authorized to operate in New York City – only in upstate New York. Patty suggested that Lyft is not likely to ever qualify to operate in New York because of some fundamental differences in the way the two services operate. That doesn't mean Lyft isn't trying - noting in the Daily News report that it intends to fulfill the legal requirements.

Patty said she had to pay $1,700 upfront and $500/month for insurance and she also had to obtain a hack license, just like a regular cab or limousine driver. What she did not have to do, as one of her family members had done, is acquire a million-dollar medallion.

For Patty, being an Uber driver was a profitable answer to a late career setback. Unable to find an equivalent position in her field over a period of years, she turned to Uber and isn’t looking back, borne upward financially and personally by a rising tide of positive reviews. Patty is one of the highest rated female Uber drivers in New York.

My second Uber ride was from Nasser for whom Uber is ideally suited to the point he is at in life as a young father with a young family.

I chose Uber because of my interest in transportation alternatives – I bused and subway-ed my way with my wife from La Guardia Airport to our hotel near the Brooklyn Bridge (watching as the F Train made a huge horseshoe loop from Queens under the East River down through Manhattan back under the East River and into Brooklyn). I brought my brother and sister-in-law along for the ride. They had been relying on their hotel concierge to hail cabs.

The speedy response of both Uber drivers belied any need for concierge assistance. Both drivers were extremely charming and the entire proposition couldn’t be much safer with driver information disclosed to the passenger and passenger information disclosed to the driver.

Patty noted that poorly rated customers or drivers do not last long in the program. If either participant makes a habit of creating trouble for the other, they are kicked out. It is also worth noting that my first ride with Lyft in Chicago was in a roughly used Toyota Corolla with no wheel covers. Both rides with Uber in New York were in sparklingly maintained Toyota Camry’s – one four months old and the other five years old.

For those in need of ad hoc pickups and drop-offs, both services are suitable and likely to immediately wean taxi drivers away from on-street hails. But with taxi medallions in New York City continuing to rise in value, it is clear that the demand for rides still exceeds the supply. (And there is something eerie about all the Uber drivers using Toyotas! Not quite sure what it means. But none of the drivers mentioned having taken advantage of any Uber-targeted financing offers as described in this Bloomberg.com report: https://tinyurl.com/po2msy4)

Postscript: My fourth and final Uber ride was in yet another brand new Toyota Camry with a driver who was three months into the program. He was disappointed with the experience saying that Uber had reduced its rates to compensate for low demand. The lower rate (after 20% Uber cut and 8.5% N.Y. State tax) made making a living with Uber much more challenging.

The fourth driver said that many Uber drivers were quitting following the cut.

Third Uber ride was in a brand new Toyota Avalon (Fifth and last Uber driver had a two-year-old Toyota Highlander.) with a driver who said he had been rejected by Lyft - with no reason. Now, he said, Lyft was trying to recruit him back even though Lyft is not yet officially operating in the City. In the end, it looks like Uber is a great deal for passengers and a little less great for drivers - unless you are willing to drive during surge pricing periods, which of course occur at the least convenient times.

Clearly ride sharing is a dynamic environment. There is no question it is altering the business of moving people around major metropolitan areas.