[nfbwatlk] FW: [List] NFB Affiliate and Sidecar Initiative

Wed Feb 19 19:15:11 UTC 2014

Cindy,

This is excellent. I appreciate the insight here. Hope you are planning to or have provided input to the Seattle City Council on your thoughts and ideas about the transportation system.

/s/

Bennett Prows

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbwatlk [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Cindy Bennett
Sent: Sunday, February 16, 2014 6:52 PM
To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] FW: [List] NFB Affiliate and Sidecar Initiative

Hi,

Seattle is the home to a debate about rideshare services, and I have a lot of experiences with cabs and rideshares.

The rideshare I use is Uber. This is because it was the first I was introduced to. Other services in Seattle include Lyft, SideCar and a new service called Flywheel which may or may not have launched. There are also other services that are not exactly rideshare but not exactly cabs. The one I am thinking of is called East Side for Hire. These cabs are still called and cannot be flagged down, but they do not have the app interface. I do not know in what other ways they fall between what is known as a cab and what is known as a rideshare.

Before Uber, I used cabs and still do sometimes. Here are my experiences with cabs.
-unprofessional dispatch that gets even more unprofessional if you call in after your cab was stolen.
-cab drivers not making sure they are picking up the correct fare.
-disenchantment when I choose to use a credit card.
-When I use a credit card, even if the driver has a card swiper, they take an impression of my card. Thus, they have access to all of the numbers on my card long after I am gone.
-Comments about blindness, whether my father takes care of me, their religion will heal me, etc.
-If I try to report this feedback, I am sent to an answering machine and can trust that I will not get a callback.
-Experiences with guide dog using friends being refused their ride.
-Not being able to get a cab during busy times like after a game lets out, when the bars close, on holidays, etc.

My ethical problems with the cab system in Seattle are these. A limited number of cab licenses were sold and this limit has not been raised to reflect population increases and an increase in people wishing to take cabs. What this has created is a monopoly--very few cab drivers own their cabs. Instead, most rent from cab owners for ridiculous rates and are thus more desperate for tips and in my opinion, less satisfied in general which is reflected in the lack of customer service extended to passengers.

I think there are better cab companies than this, but living in the downtown corridor of Seattle, that is a summary of my experiences.

When Uber came out, it was expensive. It was meant to be a luxury experience, and I treated it as such--only using it if I went to a nice dinner with my boyfriend or something. However, Uber released UberX.
UberX until recently was metered the same as cabs, a metering system that is regulated by the city of Seattle. This consistency in price drew me to use UberX unless humanly impossible for several reasons.
However recently, UberX reduced its rates by 15% making it cheaper than the metered cab system. I am unfamiliar with how Lyft and Sidecar meter, but I think it is similar to the cab meter system for competition's sake. For Lyft, you choose to pay. You are given a suggested rate and can pay what you want. The catch-22 is that drivers can see what percentage of the bill you pay on average. During busy times, a driver might specify on their app that they only want to pick up riders who pay on average 90% of the fare. That means that if you have a reputation of not paying drivers close to what is recommended, you will be less likely to get a ride and this is probably amplified during busy times.

Here are my experiences with UberX
-I book my ride in a phone app. Currently, the Uber app is accessible on iOS, and less so on Android. I am less familiar with the accessibility of competitors' apps although I have heard some accessibility qualms. I do know that Uber has been responsive about talking to my Android-using friend for some accessibility suggestions.
Non-smart phone users can go to Uber's mobile site and book their ride from there. This does take away the ability to book it when you're out but not when you're near a computer.
-I can see in real-time how far my driver is from me, and there is a map so sighted people can see where their car is.
-My credit card is on file. The driver never sees it, and a computer system computes the rate so I know that it is consistent and fair with company standards.
-Because my credit card is on file, it is imperative the drivers pick up the correct fare. I have never had an Uber stolen from me. I have had Ubers cancel their ride minimally; I think that some of this had to do with more traffic than expected, but it has happened so seldom that I have yet to be late to an engagement because of this.
-Through the app, I can give feedback. I have had good and bad experiences with Uber, and whenever I leave feedback, I get an email reply. I get a reply whether it is good or bad feedback. On the occasion where the driver takes an inefficient route, the route is evaluated and I am returned the difference. On the occasion that I am not treated well because of blindness, I can give feedback and I have heard that the drivers see this feedback.
-Several car services including Uber and Lyft are insured up to 1 million dollars which is 3 times the regulated insurance amount for cabs in Seattle.
-The manager of Uber Seattle has offered Mike and I the opportunity to send information about blindness to share with their drivers. Overall, I am satisfied by the level of customer service.
-Uber regularly releases promo codes, gives incentives when your friends start using Uber, and holds contests for great prizes. They engage their customers.

The one negative about Uber is surge pricing, but I like the model.
There is a basic model of supply and demand. You see this before you are able to book. Surge pricing increases in levels of .25% depending on the level of demand. The most I have seen it is at 3 times the price and this was during the super bowl. If there is a certain amount of demand which would be considered high demand, Uber goes into surge pricing. This is supposed to encourage more drivers to get on the road. I have sometimes taken an Uber during surge pricing because I know the Uber will show up. However, I try not to use Uber during surge pricing. The surge pricing status updates every minute, so if surge pricing is on, I check every minute for about 5 minutes to see if it goes down before I give in and call a cab. Once you book a ride, you book it for the price you are shown. So if surge pricing goes into effect after you book your ride, you still pay the regular fare.
Consequently, if surge pricing ends after you book your ride, you are still charged the price you were informed of before booking.

Also, this has only happened to me once, but if you cancel a ride after it has been booked for 5 minutes, you are charged a fee.
However, the one time I did this, I got a warning email, so I think you get one chance and if you cancel accidentally, their customer service people will probably listen to your claim as they have been responsive and fair with my disputes.

The Seattle city council is currently making decisions about regulating rideshare services. There were some ideas on the table such as limiting the number of rideshare cars on the road to 100 and only letting rideshare drivers work 16 hours per week however, I think these are no longer options which is a good thing as I would not want to see these drivers' work be stifled. I believe rideshare services will have to get licenses and they plan to sell more cab licenses to even out the start-up costs involved with becoming a cab or rideshare driver. However, votes have not occurred. I will be very annoyed if Seattle stifles rideshares in any way.

Uber has launched in international cities--I know for a fact that it is launching in Dubai and Cape Town South Africa soon, so I'm sure they would be receptive to other international cities. I have mostly encountered Uber in bigger cities though. What is nice about rideshare services located in multiple cities is that all I do is open my app and if the rideshare service is available, it will locate a car for me and give me an estimated arrival time.

So those are my experiences. Summarized, if our cab system had better customer service, I'd probably take one if I was out and there were cabs around and reserve rideshare services for when I am at home because I would need to call a cab anyway. But the more secure payment interface is a huge reason why I prefer rideshare. If cabs developed similar payment interfaces and feedback mechanisms then I don't know which service I would use more often. If I lived in a city with reliable cabs, good customer service, and seamless payment, then I probably wouldn't have bothered to even try rideshare services for the sake that the system I use works. Unfortunately, Seattle is not this way, and I have had similar experiences with regulated cab systems in other big cities.

Cindy

On 2/16/14, Marci Carpenter <mjc59 at q.com> wrote:
> I have used Uber many times in Seattle and found it to be comparable 
> to or, on many occasions, cheaper than the regular taxis. They are 
> much better at customer service and much less likely to be talking on 
> their cell phones during trips. I have had very good experience with the services..
>
> Marci
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Feb 16, 2014, at 4:52 PM, "Lauren Merryfield" <lauren at catlines.com>
> wrote:
>
> Hi,
> I've heard they are expensive. They also seem more interested in 
> hiring drivers than taking passengers, from what I've read. But I do 
> not have actual experience with them or companies like them.
> Thanks
> Lauren
>
> advice from my cats: "meow when you feel like it."
> "There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats."
> ~
>
> Albert Schweitzer
> curious about Thirty-One? New spring lineup now available:
> www.LettingTheCatOutOfTheBag.com
> Purchase my new book:there's more than one way to be okay at:
> www.TheresMoreThanOneWay.com
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> www.catlines.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbwatlk [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Mary 
> ellen
> Sent: Sunday, February 16, 2014 1:00 PM
> To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
> Subject: [nfbwatlk] FW: [List] NFB Affiliate and Sidecar Initiative
>
> Have any of you in Seattle used SIDECAR?  The idea sounds intriguing; 
> I wonder how practical it truly is.  Rather than cluttering up the 
> list, perhaps it would be best for you to write to me privately at 
> president at cfb.ca.  I'll compile comments I receive within the next 
> week and forward them to the list in a single message.
>
> Thanks for the help.  If Sidecar turns out to be effective, we may try 
> to encourage its developers to work here.  (No doubt there will be a 
> lot of international regulations to plow through, but Groupon managed.  
> Grin!)
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Oriano [mailto:oriano at shaw.ca]
> Sent: Saturday, February 15, 2014 8:18 PM
> To: list at cfb.ca
>
> _______________________________________________
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--
Cindy Bennett
Secretary: National Association of Blind Students

B.A. Psychology, UNC Wilmington
clb5590 at gmail.com

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