I'm deaf and I always dread taking the cab. I write down the location prior to getting in but I am not sure if the driver can read English. If not, then I try my best to explain where I want to go. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
I've been kicked out of cabs right after being picked up and the driver learned who I am. They just didn't want to deal with me. It's embarrassing and tough to swallow at times.
A few drivers are very nice and personable and gave me no problems and took me where I needed to go as well as not doing the 'long tour'.
When Uber came out - it was a godsend! Everything is so easy and transparent. I do not have to sit in the cab and watch continuously and make sure I am going the right direction and get off at the right place. I can finally relax while riding.
The problem is taxis just don't come. There are relatively few areas of sf and times where you can reasonably street hail. So you're left with calling one of the multiple taxi services, and they make it readily apparent they don't give a fuck less about you. This worked as a business model only because there was no alternative.
My personal story: I had a badly broken leg (9+ months on crutches) and had to take taxis daily. From near mission/23rd (a population center), an 80% wait time for a taxi was approx 75 minutes and a 95% wait time 180 minutes. For a 16 minute drive to soma. They simply -- and a dispatcher admitted this to you -- lie when you call and ask the wait time. They couldn't follow simple requests like giving me a 5 minute warning call when they were about to arrive so I could crutch down stairs without making the driver wait. None of the services, even when told I'd be riding them 10x/week and had mobility problems, would come reliably.
I took a lot of ubers even when they cost thrice what taxis did, simply because when you requested one, they told you if they were going to come. So if the wait time was too long, you could be an adult and make alternate arrangements. Taxis just leave you wondering if they're going to come. The impact on your life of using taxis, thus having to leave 90 minutes before you want to get to the office (and leaving at 5pm/commute rush hour) is really shitty.
It's similar down the peninsula. I left sf and made the mistake of calling a taxi because a car was in the shop. Dispatch said 15-20 minutes. An hour in I called an Uber. Would you believe the driver has the giant balls to call 75 minutes after I requested a taxi to complain because I ditched and didn't call to cancel? I only waited 4 times their maximum estimate.
I'd love to take taxis instead of Ubers. I think Uber pays their drivers too little and is exploitative. Hopefully they will be forced to pay drivers more; I'll keep using them if so. But the utility of a taxi that either actually comes, or tells you they won't so you can make plans, is what keeps me using them.
Taxis are even worse until you own your own medallion and car. If you are on the low end of the totem pole in the taxi system, then taxis are way more exploitative than uber.
Personally, I don't want to be an employee. I already put up with that mess at my day job. I want to click a button on the app when I want to drive, get the person where they're going, sign off, and have no other obligations aside from that.
Simple, fast, and easy. No wonder the government had to intervene.
(Yes, I am slightly bitter.)
source: Know a few people who drive for Uber AND Lyft, they all like working for lyft a lot more
This was genuine. I certainly wouldn't expect them to conplain, but nobody fakes spontaneously talking about how much they love their job for twenty minutes.
If they're continuously gushing about it and extend discussion of that topic far beyond what you attempted, they're probably serious.
The cab was falling apart. One of the doors didn't open from the inside. The axles made horrible, periodic thunking sounds (I'd guess the CV joints but am no car expert). The engine light, the wheel stability light, and the SRS warning light lit up the dash. The cab driver drove 10-15mph over the speed limit and nearly side-swiped several other cars. I asked to pay with a card and was met with a grunt of disgust, even as I added a standard 10% tip.
I understand there are some regulation issues related to Uber in many cities, but given the experiences I've had, I can't wait to be rid of taxis.
I should add that in London I had the opposite experience, where the standard cabs (and official app) were fantastic, but Uber was price gouging during a tube strike.
The drivers have the knowledge admittedly but it is not enough. I give them 5 years. Max.
This avoids any fees, and also gets around the "We do not service this area" blockers.
I've never had a driver complain about it.
On the other hand, most airports have some sort of public transportation heading in a not-airport direction...
I tried riding a taxi once and the driver was rude and didn't want to do multiple dropoffs so we got out right away.