Broadening the Uber Debate

I woke up this morning to an email saying – “Calgary, your Uber has arrived”, closely followed by the news stories on the radio and television, discussing the safety and cost savings of this car sharing service. My experiences of Uber suggest the discussion should be much broader.

My first ever Uber driver was profoundly deaf, it didn’t matter, we communicated via the app, text messages, he knew who we were, we knew who he was and his car, and he knew where we needed to go. That was the point I realised what a game changer Uber is, beyond shaking up the taxi system, it enabled someone who is deaf to support his family.

Uber works through an app registered to your phone, Uber knows who you are, and you add your credit card to it. The pin shows where you are, and you drop a pin for where you want to go, and say what size car you want, we were often 6 people in New York so this was really useful, and it gives a fare estimate. You can see all the Uber cars driving around on the app and it offers you ones available for your route and you can choose based on the rating of the driver, a photo of them, and what car they drive, then watch the car pull up outside your building. At the end of the ride you get out of the car, your credit card is charged and the receipt is sent to the app. 

Yes there are background checks on the drivers, to make sure they have a licence, basic insurance, a decent (newer) car, and a clean criminal record, but for me, it is the power of the crowd that is more important. At the end of each ride, you get to rate your driver, and your driver gets to rate you. This encourages better drivers and better passengers.

A few weeks ago, I was out with a group for a hen party (stagette), we booked a cab after our meal to get to the bar, it never came. We hailed a cab and the driver laughed and said at this time of night our booked cab wouldn’t come, we did cancel it just in case. I live out of town, and have also had confirmed cabs not turn up. With Uber there is the reliability, you can see the car driving towards you, something that the Calgary market has really been missing.

If the reliability, or lack of it, is because of taxi shortages, often the case, Uber gives higher rates at busier times; you see on the app that there is for example a 50% premium for fares at this time. As a passenger you can make an informed choice, stay in the bar for another drink and wait for prices to change, or get a car now and pay the premium.

When I get into a taxi I often ask how much longer they have on their shifts, typically you hear they are on a 6-6 or a 5-5 shift. These are long, and unsociable hours and limit who can drive. With Uber you can be available on your terms, an entrepreneur can check in for three hours before a meeting, to bring cash in during the start-up phase of their business or a mother can drop off her children at school, Uber all day, and be back at school to pick them up. It takes Mom’s taxi to a different and certainly more lucrative level. 

But how lucrative? I’ve read the Uber press, that a full time Uber driver in New York makes $90,000, [i]but we can all agree that is at the top end. Uber also says that drivers make 50% more than taxi drivers. Taxi firms and Uber take a cut of each fare for the support they provide, including end-to-end insurance for passengers. Third party data [ii]has shown, when you take all costs into consideration, Uber drivers are typically 20-30% better off than cab drivers.

I wondered how it was for the drivers and asked my Uber driver in New York. He had been a yellow cab driver until 10 days earlier, and said he would never go back. He said he feels safer as all the payment is done via the app, so he doesn’t have cash in his car. He also knows exactly who he is picking up. With all the stories this summer of Calgary taxi drivers being verbally and physically abused I can understand why this could be a big benefit for an Uber driver. There’s even an automatic vomit fee, if a passenger pukes in the car.

Last summer in Calgary there were a number of stories in Calgary of passengers being attacked by their taxi drivers, often when they were drunk and passed out. With Uber there is traceability, you can see who is picking you up, and their rating before you get into a car. Uber made the pledge to get 1,000,000 women [iii]drivers by 2020, the option of a woman driver might make a rider feel even safer to get home.

Why the negative press[iv]? I can see councils missing out on taxi plate revenue and the large taxi firms missing out on their revenue and it is a change. To quote Brett Wilson[v] the taxi firms need to figure out how to compete and the cities need to figure out how to regulate ride share companies, like Uber. 

Is Uber cheaper for passengers, I don’t know and frankly I don’t care. The value the service provides is worth far more than the cost of the fare, dare I say it, I might even pay a premium. I am really looking forward to 2pm today when I can get my first Uber ride in Calgary. 

This article has not been approved, paid for, or requested by Uber. I am passionate about disruptive technologies, like Uber or Virgin, that focus on the customer needs not on that’s the way we’ve always done it. I also believe in the power of the crowd and finally I am really pleased to have Uber in Calgary.

[i] Median pay - https://www.buzzfeed.com/johanabhuiyan/what-uber-drivers-really-make-according-to-their-pay-stubs#.rsG841vXY

[ii] https://time.com/money/3678389/uber-drivers-wages/

[iii] https://newsroom.uber.com/2015/07/meet-the-uber-team-driving-our-women-partner-program/

[iv] https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/uber-enters-calgary-market-today

[v] https://globalnews.ca/video/2278294/brett-wilson-talks-about-his-first-calgary-uber-ride