I still wonder why Uber is a thing. It makes no sense, it does not feel like something capable of reliable service and it got almost no use cases.
Is it just a passing fad of some sort, like fidget spinners?
Is it just a passing fad of some sort, like fidget spinners?
It's cheaper than some cab companies, but that's because it doesn't always comply with local regulation and because it's burning money from capital investors.
Uber doesn't make much sense in the UK, where you have the choice of taxis (can pick up from the side of the road, must use taximeters for pricing) and cabs (can't pick up from side of road, can pre-arrange a price).
You don't think calling cabs to your location, paying with your stored card, knowing the fixed cost beforehand is a valid usecase?
Or provide a reliable service in any other emergency or inconvenient situation - you don't use a taxi to go to the grocery store or to commute to work, you use it in emergencies.
I can see how an app to call a taxi and track rides is a good thing, but i can't see how having random people provide the actual rides is a good idea.
That being said, regular taxis used to be ripped off by the medallion and the car rental, so they might not do better.
There are calculators out there for this kind of stuff, in Canada I found https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/busines... and http://caa.ca/car_costs/ both of which strongly point towards 0.5 CAD per km.
Around 0.4 euro/km for long distances.
edit: that articles makes no sense to me. I recall having a minimum charge around £6 in London. How can he have trips paying only 3 dollars?
It has so much media exposure because on the one hand, it spends a lot of money on aggressively marketing itself (thus people talk about them), and on the other hand, in many places their business is entirely based on breaking local laws (thus people talk about them). Plus, they're beloved Silicon Valley unicorn (more talking) known for pulling off shady shit left and right (even more talking).
But beyond that, they're just a taxi company with a nice app and shitty attitude.