Never thought to use Uber. From the first lie about ride "sharing" where at the drop of an adverse weather forecast or holiday, you pay up to 1200% of the quoted fare, abusive drivers, refusal to pick up or drop off in redlined minority areas, Uber has been a joke. And now we find its leaders are almost as obnoxious as frat boys.
5
Uber management has been in free-fall since March! What has happened to that ridesharing company and what’s the forecast for its jobs? See http://worksnewage.blogspot.com/2017/05/ubers-terrible-horrible-no-good-....
Uber is going to have trouble in the relatively near future. Not for any of the reasons human beings might like. Not because of sexism in the workplace. Not because of underpaying / denying benefits to it's drivers. Not because of financial (mis) accounting. Not because of nights out at the KTV.
But rather, at some point, investors will want a return on their investment. Currently that works because there are new investors who are happy to pay a premium to old investors - in the hopes that there will be a new but different set of investors that they themselves can sell to.
Maybe uber can get out of it by issuing nonvoting shares to naive millenium investors in an IPO the same way Snap did. But at some point, the game of finding the greater fool ends. If you're still playing and haven't identified the fool greater than you - it's you. You're the greater fool.
But rather, at some point, investors will want a return on their investment. Currently that works because there are new investors who are happy to pay a premium to old investors - in the hopes that there will be a new but different set of investors that they themselves can sell to.
Maybe uber can get out of it by issuing nonvoting shares to naive millenium investors in an IPO the same way Snap did. But at some point, the game of finding the greater fool ends. If you're still playing and haven't identified the fool greater than you - it's you. You're the greater fool.
12
I was done with Uber after my account was hacked. Some intrepid individual took several lengthy rides (with tolls included) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam one evening while I was getting up for work on the other side of the world. I was forced to convert Baht to USD to figure out just how far in the hole I was ($300+) and correspond with Uber Vietnam via Google Translate in an attempt to report the fraud and rectify the problem. I prefer to captain my own ship and lighten my wallet at my own choosing.
9
"But what Uber lacks in autonomous tech it makes up for in autonomous customers. No matter what it does, a lot of us just can’t seem to quit Uber."
Indeed. Manjoo is a hypocrite; he admirably wags his finger at Uber's disgusting corporate culture, yet admits he continues to use the service even when other options (especially in New York) like Lyft and even cabs are readily available.
I've never had the Uber app on my phone, and never will. I do have Lyft, but I'm happier to pay for a real cab; the driver is getting paid and they don't get cheated out of a tip.
Indeed. Manjoo is a hypocrite; he admirably wags his finger at Uber's disgusting corporate culture, yet admits he continues to use the service even when other options (especially in New York) like Lyft and even cabs are readily available.
I've never had the Uber app on my phone, and never will. I do have Lyft, but I'm happier to pay for a real cab; the driver is getting paid and they don't get cheated out of a tip.
15
I have never used Uber. I think the business model is troublesome, and I think it underpays the drivers, who have to cover all kinds of exprnses they would otherwise not. The sexism, the Uber culture, ick!
14
Let's punish the guy on the street trying to make a buck for the behavior of the execs? Ya, that's a plan.
1
Stop slandering Tony Soprano.
7
True. I deleted them last year. Lyft is a good San Francisco substitute.
5
You took it three times in the last week? Why should we listen to a word you say, Manjoo? Did you just now have this epiphany or is this story just sort of wistful thinking? Maybe you can assuage your own guilt by convincing others not to sin as you do. For shame, Mr. Manjoo
14
You say Uber is safer? You've got to be kidding.
6
The "sexist comment" from Bonderman, the director, was completely blown out of all reasonable proportion. This is another witch hunt that has divested itself of reason and common sense.
5
I've had drivers who drive for both Uber and Lyft tell me that Lyft is better - for its drivers and its riders. But I stopped using Uber to vote with my wallet over the despicable corporate culture.
20
It's a complete mischaracterization (as is typical in Uber articles) to say one Uber exec (who is now fired) got medical records when someone "reported" a rape. For two reasons:
1. The victim filed a separate civil lawsuit against Uber for that (not just "reported"). As part of any such lawsuit, the defendant company would get access to medical records legally, I think, to verify the rape (or else anybody can file lawsuits left and right without any proof). That particular exec may have gotten the records from their legal department - which was wrong and he has been fired.
2. Uber never denied the rape, they gave their full support instead: they helped the government find the culprit and testified against him and got him jailed. They quickly added a bunch of safety measures, background checks etc to improve safety. They heavily condemned the act, include Travis Kalanick. They settled the separate lawsuit with the victim for 3 million dollars, which is a huge amount of money in India.
1. The victim filed a separate civil lawsuit against Uber for that (not just "reported"). As part of any such lawsuit, the defendant company would get access to medical records legally, I think, to verify the rape (or else anybody can file lawsuits left and right without any proof). That particular exec may have gotten the records from their legal department - which was wrong and he has been fired.
2. Uber never denied the rape, they gave their full support instead: they helped the government find the culprit and testified against him and got him jailed. They quickly added a bunch of safety measures, background checks etc to improve safety. They heavily condemned the act, include Travis Kalanick. They settled the separate lawsuit with the victim for 3 million dollars, which is a huge amount of money in India.
5
Organizations universally reflect the guy at the top. Randomly pick an organization and you can easily see how the culture flows down through the ranks and emits out to its customers. This is the cautionary tale for board rooms as they pick a CEO. What are the values you want your company to instill? For Uber, it's clearly money and nothing else.
It's unfortunate Mr. Kalanick is such a megalomaniac , especially when so many who work for Uber don't share his obnoxious attitudes. However, he filled his e-suite with too many men just like him and as employees witnessed the on-going lack of corporate and moral responsibility, they too probably felt it must be OK to behave that way.
Don't think this is true? Look at the Trump administration, as the guy at the top, everyone who works for him lies, lacks any respect for our democracy and the people who don't live in their tax bracket. Of course, there are plenty, albeit too few, organizations on the other end of the spectrum such as Patagonia. The CEO lives his values and consequently so do the employees. The result? A company with integrity producing superior products and providing excellent customer service. Taking the long view, this is always better for the company, its shareholders, employees, customers and the world in general.
It's unfortunate Mr. Kalanick is such a megalomaniac , especially when so many who work for Uber don't share his obnoxious attitudes. However, he filled his e-suite with too many men just like him and as employees witnessed the on-going lack of corporate and moral responsibility, they too probably felt it must be OK to behave that way.
Don't think this is true? Look at the Trump administration, as the guy at the top, everyone who works for him lies, lacks any respect for our democracy and the people who don't live in their tax bracket. Of course, there are plenty, albeit too few, organizations on the other end of the spectrum such as Patagonia. The CEO lives his values and consequently so do the employees. The result? A company with integrity producing superior products and providing excellent customer service. Taking the long view, this is always better for the company, its shareholders, employees, customers and the world in general.
4
We deleted our Uber app months ago. They don't deserve my business.
5
Anyone else find it really irritating that Farhad can't manage to click the Lyft app? He's used Uber 3 times this month? What???
7
As an Uber user who was unceremoniously "temporarily banned" from the service for no apparent reason "due to a systems generated verification", I totally agree with the author about the state of Uber. Arrogance seems to have taken better of their civic sense and responsibility towards their loyal customers. I have been an Uber customer for last 2 years, choosing it over Ola, and one fine day when I was abot to book my cab, I was told that my account has been suspended. I wrote several mails asking them the reason why....but I keep getting the same unemphatic, cold mails:"We have no reason". That's the end of it. My account is still blocked- and yet I keep getting their promos! - and I have sworn never to use them ever again!
6
Wait - why didn't the author use Lyft? That's like my telling my kids to "get off their screens" as I pull out my phone. Lyft is plenty available and their drivers who drive for both companies will tell you Lyft treats them better.
9
Our local Uber drivers are fine. Their working conditions are better than those of the local taxi drivers. So I should boycott them over something their 1% bosses do?
7
As HL Mencken said nearly a century ago, "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong."
The author has correctly noted that there are many problems with Uber. But his solution is too simplistic and knee-jerk. It reminds me of all the people who were outraged at United Airlines when a passenger was brutally yanked from his seat and claimed they'd never fly United again. Well, outrage lasts until you need a cheap and convenient flight.
Uber and its drivers offers a valuable service, but its corporate culture is now fully exposed as toxic. Yes, the toxicity probably should have been exposed five years ago, but that is water under the bridge. The board is taking responsibility and stepping in assertively to fix the processes and culture. Yes, the culture and behavior of the founders was responsible for the meteoric growth and the 70+ billion dollar valuation, the crippling of legacy taxi companies and the displacement of professional cabbies. More water under the bridge, unfortunately. Like coal mining jobs, cabbie jobs aren't coming back.
The the future success is about the low-cost and high quality ride share experience, and Uber's ability to guide it into a more humane future. Give them a little bit of time. Support the drivers who get you to destinations quickly, safely and cheaply. But treat the issue as nuanced. Uber needs to fix things. If they don't in reasonable time, the drivers and passengers will surely move on.
The author has correctly noted that there are many problems with Uber. But his solution is too simplistic and knee-jerk. It reminds me of all the people who were outraged at United Airlines when a passenger was brutally yanked from his seat and claimed they'd never fly United again. Well, outrage lasts until you need a cheap and convenient flight.
Uber and its drivers offers a valuable service, but its corporate culture is now fully exposed as toxic. Yes, the toxicity probably should have been exposed five years ago, but that is water under the bridge. The board is taking responsibility and stepping in assertively to fix the processes and culture. Yes, the culture and behavior of the founders was responsible for the meteoric growth and the 70+ billion dollar valuation, the crippling of legacy taxi companies and the displacement of professional cabbies. More water under the bridge, unfortunately. Like coal mining jobs, cabbie jobs aren't coming back.
The the future success is about the low-cost and high quality ride share experience, and Uber's ability to guide it into a more humane future. Give them a little bit of time. Support the drivers who get you to destinations quickly, safely and cheaply. But treat the issue as nuanced. Uber needs to fix things. If they don't in reasonable time, the drivers and passengers will surely move on.
1
I have the impression the times really doesn't like Uber and airBNB. I'm not sure why, though. I know part of it is that Uber came to the rescue by picking up passengers at JFK when the leftist element (the sort of people who shot a congressman yesterday) intimidated the taxis into not offering service. But there's got to be more to it than that. This article "I use them but I hate them" is a little bit softer sell than the other anti-Uber articles I've seen, but it's still not very subtle.
By the way, I've used Uber on four continents. Deal with it.
By the way, I've used Uber on four continents. Deal with it.
7
I have not used Uber, even though I live in NYC. To my baffled friends, I have simply said "I don't like their approach to law and their philosophy"...and this before I knew how bad their corporate culture is! Sometimes, we can and must vote with our wallet!
5
Why are we not seeing a groundswell of outrage among American Express platinum card members who recently learned that a perk included with their almost-25% annual fee hike will be $200 a year in credits with Uber. To cash in these credits, cardholders must open an Uber account. Has AmEx lost its mind? Note to AmEx execs: Are you reading this article? Do you imagine that your customers don't care about Uber's culture of sexual harassment, flouting of laws, threats to critics, and the danger of unvetted drivers? (Where I live, an Uber driver was arrested recently for driving drunk the wrong way on a bridge.) There are credit cards around with equal or better perks, so after more than 40 years as a customer, I am telling AmEx, "Thanks, but no thanks!"
5
Agree!
Husband and I deleted our Uber apps yesterday and replaced them with Lyft, which we see people using downtown. (https://www.lyft.com/signup). Should Uber come around, we'll know it, but there's no reason to give them our business right now.
3
I am on the fence. I certainly would never take a taxi cab.
1
Good article until I got to the part where the writer admitted they were still using Uber. C'mon, if you are gonna talk the talk, you gotta be walking the walk. Anything less is hypocrisy.
A mother brought her daughter to the Dalai Lama because her daughter could not stop eating candy. The Dalai Lama says to the mother, come back in one week. The mother and daughter return a week later. The Dalai Lama says to the child stop eating candy, its not good for you. The mother and child leave. One of the Dalai Lama's assistants asks the Dalai Lama why did you tell the mother to come back in a week if the only thing you were going to say was stop eating candy? Why did you not just say it the first time they were here? The Dalai Lama replies I had to see if I could stop eating candy first before I told someone else to do it.
Article would have been much better if the writer had decided to stop using Uber first before they wrote an article telling other people to do it.
Full disclosure - I have never used Uber. Always cabs and car service companies.
A mother brought her daughter to the Dalai Lama because her daughter could not stop eating candy. The Dalai Lama says to the mother, come back in one week. The mother and daughter return a week later. The Dalai Lama says to the child stop eating candy, its not good for you. The mother and child leave. One of the Dalai Lama's assistants asks the Dalai Lama why did you tell the mother to come back in a week if the only thing you were going to say was stop eating candy? Why did you not just say it the first time they were here? The Dalai Lama replies I had to see if I could stop eating candy first before I told someone else to do it.
Article would have been much better if the writer had decided to stop using Uber first before they wrote an article telling other people to do it.
Full disclosure - I have never used Uber. Always cabs and car service companies.
6
You share some very insightful reasoning for not using Uber. Then turn around and say continue to use the service. Pick a stance and defend, don't flip flop.
6
I wholeheartedly agree with the vote with your money policy to keep corporations in line no matter what the product or service. However it may not be practical all the time. Our lives are complicated enough. And while it's our job to be vigilant I think the press has to play the leading role in this case.
2
No phone, no app, no need!
3
Spare a thought for the Uber drivers who would be without work if they couldn't do this. How many of them are there?
It's not all about the customers, although where I live there's one bus that travels along the Post Road every hour or so, and public transport is not an option because it doesn't go where you want to go. Some years ago the NYT (I think) sent a reporter to take the bus from Bridgeport to Stamford, some 20-25 miles. Because of bad scheduling and busses that didn't connect, the trip took 3 hours. Uber is a godsend for customers and drivers alike. But if Lyft is available I would certainly consider using it.
It's not all about the customers, although where I live there's one bus that travels along the Post Road every hour or so, and public transport is not an option because it doesn't go where you want to go. Some years ago the NYT (I think) sent a reporter to take the bus from Bridgeport to Stamford, some 20-25 miles. Because of bad scheduling and busses that didn't connect, the trip took 3 hours. Uber is a godsend for customers and drivers alike. But if Lyft is available I would certainly consider using it.
5
Amex Platinum has just added an Uber credit. Maybe they should rethink and change to Lyft. Or maybe I should just ditch the Platinum card.
4
My wife and I visited New York City last December. We tried Uber several time and found it to be hopelessly unreliable. I had already given up on them long before the never-ending stream of revelations of their locker-room mentality began to emerge. A much more powerful message would come from its investors. Uber continues to subscribe to the Silicon Valley that profits don't matter and as a result continues to raise vast sums at ever-increasing valuations. A down round, or better still, the refusal of investors to fund this boy's club, would send the appropriate message.
2
Very easy solution. Use Lyft instead.
5
The problems referenced in the article are the tip of the iceberg. Uber's business model, which is fundamentally a taxi service, is based on classifying its drivers as independent contractors whereas they are almost certainly employees under U.S. law. Thus, there is no limit to the number of cars Uber can put on the street in the U.S. because Uber incurs no fixed costs of "employment." Uber is currently embroiled in numerous lawsuits over alleged misclassification, and the company's potential liability is growing with every ride.
3
I will continue to use Uber or Lyft, depending on which one is available and convenient at the time I need a car. Until taxis bring their rates in line with those companies I won't use them. When the service is good, which it always has been, I don't care about what board members or execs say or do. If I did, I would be wasting too much time investigating the places I shop and eat and not enough time on the more important things in life.
7
Uber's rates are subsidized: no one can afford to work for the true price of those rides.
5
Absolutely agree - Vote With Your Wallet. Vote your approval of their culture by using them, or vote your disapproval by not using them. If you, as an individual, want a company to change, nothing speaks stronger than sending a financial message.
6
I deleted the Uber app from my phone a few months ago because of what I read about the company & only use Lyft now. In Pittsburgh, most of the drivers I talk to drive for both companies so I don't think they notice a difference in ridership. I wonder if it's like that in most cities?
4
Alleged sexist remark by one board in response to Ms Arianna Huffington's desire for more female board members notwithstanding, why would the the whole board of directors, male or female - yes, that means including Ms Huffington herself - escape culpability?
No, they are not part of management but Susan Fowler was not the 1st whistleblower of the company. It has been known - and well documented - Uber would go after journalists and others who are critical of its operations. All the board members should have known but did nothing until much too late.
No, they are not part of management but Susan Fowler was not the 1st whistleblower of the company. It has been known - and well documented - Uber would go after journalists and others who are critical of its operations. All the board members should have known but did nothing until much too late.
3
I don't think they vet their drivers and I am not a fan.
I used uber all last winter in NYC when a family member was hospitalized. During my last uber ride from NYC to NJ the driver said he had been working for 13 hours straight. He was nodding off and I offered to buy him a cup of coffee which he refused.
We use uber for my elderly mother and her aide. One driver sold her $500. Worth of junk. Uber was of no help in trying to resolve the matter.
I used uber all last winter in NYC when a family member was hospitalized. During my last uber ride from NYC to NJ the driver said he had been working for 13 hours straight. He was nodding off and I offered to buy him a cup of coffee which he refused.
We use uber for my elderly mother and her aide. One driver sold her $500. Worth of junk. Uber was of no help in trying to resolve the matter.
5
Uber made mistakes, got heavily criticized for them -- perhaps much more so than they deserved -- but now they are doing a LOT to improve. Firing many execs, firing several people who did not have good conduct in the company, hiring two woman execs, got a deep report made about all the problems in the company of which they have adopted all recommendations. They even put their CEO on leave so he becomes back better and improves his shortcomings. This is a big deal - as they dont have any other leader at the top. I commend them for the efforts they are making. I am sure they will continue improving. Note that many of the criticisms they got all applies to other competitors, but since Uber is big and was in the firing line, they got all of it. Its almost unfair... But -- I dont think the mistakes they made are end of their story -- its a beginning of a new chapter where they will operate in a much better manner. I hope they continue on this path towards improvement and I support them.
6
There's nothing unfair about it the merited criticism of Uber. Uber originated as thugs and has been punking everyone it can, from its staff, to its drivers, customers and every community it operates in. And it shows.
Your pollyanna remark is not even hopeful, it is blinkered, baseless denial, pure and simple. Do you even perceive the inherent contradictions in your comment?
"This is a big deal - as they dont have any other leader at the top. ... its a beginning of a new chapter where they will operate in a much better manner. " ????
Your pollyanna remark is not even hopeful, it is blinkered, baseless denial, pure and simple. Do you even perceive the inherent contradictions in your comment?
"This is a big deal - as they dont have any other leader at the top. ... its a beginning of a new chapter where they will operate in a much better manner. " ????
4
Don't use it to begin with. Ugh.
17
I have never used Uber because its CEO is an arrogant, amoral Ayn Rand acolyte. I can't understand why so many people use this service without a single thought about the principles their dollars are supporting.
Character matters more than any convenience.
Character matters more than any convenience.
50
Ayn Rand is, to some extent, being vindicated, as the world she depicted in Atlas Shrugged comes to look more familiar. I'd say Henry Reardon's little brother would be the prototypical snowflake.
1
I'd love to give up taking cars in New York City altogether, but our subway is bursting at the seams and increasingly unreliable, not to mention there's many subway connections that have been lacking for decades. I guess I should give up Uber - good thing there's Lyft, Juno, Gett, and old-fashioned yellow cabs.
1
Uber is great, never had a problem in any major city. The drivers were always extremely polite and enjoyed the service they were providing. Easy to use!!!
8
I have never used Uber or any other ride-share operation. As a woman, I would rather not ride in a car with a stranger. At least taxi's are licensed and monitored. I view Uber like social media: seemed like a good idea, until you actually look at all the trouble it causes.
22
I will apply the appropriate disclaimers ahead here so you won't troll me or dismiss my opinion: I'm not a fan of Uber, I deleted their app, I don't support their policies, I do hold them accountable etc.
However, I don't like NYT telling me to boycott any business, private or public. I want you to tell me the news, not shame me when I make a business decision. Uber has a long way to go, but at least they're on the path to "better" and I for one will not hold their past against them. There are so many companies doing FAR worse things to women, minorities and the environment, and you don't put out front page articles telling me "think twice" before using them. Get off your high horse, my dear NYT, and please just provide the facts for me to make up my own mind.
However, I don't like NYT telling me to boycott any business, private or public. I want you to tell me the news, not shame me when I make a business decision. Uber has a long way to go, but at least they're on the path to "better" and I for one will not hold their past against them. There are so many companies doing FAR worse things to women, minorities and the environment, and you don't put out front page articles telling me "think twice" before using them. Get off your high horse, my dear NYT, and please just provide the facts for me to make up my own mind.
2
"Tech first" San Francisco allowed it. Our politicians—Newsom, Lee, etc.—profited by it. Now our streets are clogged with Ubercars driven by suburbanites who don't know the first thing about our city. They come in from the hinterlands and sleep in supermarket parking lots. It's awful. San Franciscans have come to depend on an exploited class of worker whose only skill is in knowing how to push the right buttons on a cell phone. Let them go. Let them find something more rewarding to do with their lives. There are lots of other options.
13
Bravo, NYTimes.
6
The sharecropping economy? No thanks. Uber has been a disreputable company for years if you were paying attention and its brethren are no better. I refuse to use any of them.
19
I think this article is spot-on. It's recommendation is spot on! If we as consumers continue to do what is convenient, at the expense of what is right, then we are doing our community a disservice. Convenience and doing the right thing shouldn't be orthogonal to each other.
What gets me about Uber is that they are quick to apologize when exposed but they show little interest in proactively solving their issues. This is disturbing and does not foster trust!
Anyways, despite the inconvenience, I stopped using Uber a while ago. Community first!
What gets me about Uber is that they are quick to apologize when exposed but they show little interest in proactively solving their issues. This is disturbing and does not foster trust!
Anyways, despite the inconvenience, I stopped using Uber a while ago. Community first!
15
Thank you for making it less likely I'll get a surge surcharge while using Uber.
2
There are already competing companies that don't use surge pricing at all
I agree with the main thrust of the article, but it became ridiculously giddy in the part about the supposed social virtues of ride-sharing. The jury is out on the question of whether Uber is reducing or increasing congestion. (Think of all the passengerless miles driven.) And it's a physical impossibility to reduce congestion by "replacing" mass transit with cars carrying 1 to 4 passengers. Uber cars are still "private cars—the most expensive, dangerous and inefficient machines we buy." I can see some promise in the older idea of "jitneys" with computer systems optimizing their routes to carry 8 or 10 unrelated passengers to different places. But I see no sign that Uber or Lyft want to take us to that future. What percentage of Uber miles even constitute "ride sharing" in the sense of bringing different passengers together?
12
I have switched to Lyft.
13
I'll alert the media--never mind.
Uber app is gone and has been replaced by Lyft.
It's very strange to see The Times make such a direct endorsement for NOT using a product or service. While the paper routinely reviews products, books, movies, etc., this article rises to a level of advocacy that just feels out of place. And I am not sure that a boycott is the most effective way to get Uber to clean up its act. This is where regulation, aggressive journalism (reporting, not opining), and improved corporate governance (as Holder is facilitating) have vital roles to play in reforming corporate behavior.
12
It baffles me how Uber can be valued in the tens of billions, they own nothing and their "technology," is not exactly unique... I only use them if I am in a city where there are no other options, in Miami I would recommend Lyft any time over Uber, even though many (if not most) of the drivers drive for both services at the same time, they all seem to be happier and more courteous when picking you up for Lyft as opposed to Uber. Also, with Lyft I have the option to tip, something Uber makes it impossible to do unless you carry cash, which I almost never do... All this being said, it seems clear that the drivers are the ones with the power... What they need to do is organize and I am certain UBER will listen, self driving cars are still well in to future and at the current time, without their drivers, Uber is worth no more than the paper their stock price is printed on...
12
Ride sharing services like Uber have made transportation, in the New York City area at least, less safe and more congested. Yes, the cost of a hired ride in the area has gone down, but it was not without a cost. There are still the same number of medallioned cabs on the road plus the additional fleets of Uber, Lyft, and the like circling for fares around Manhattan and clogging the access lanes at the airports. Forget street parking in Manhattan anymore. Surge pricing have eaten into the former cost savings over traditional car services. Ride sharing is not the godsend it was once heralded as being.
8
Use Lyft instead! They vet their drivers, and you get the same pick and delivery offered by Uber. I recently used Lyft while on a business trip in the DC Metro area and the drivers were amazingly courteous, clean cars, perfectly timed pick up and drop off (even though it was the Beltway traffic madness), and best of all I wasn't giving my money to Uber.
23
There are other car riding services that are just as good, less expensive and pay their drivers more. My favorite is Juno
3
Or the drivers can stage a protest and demand change for the actions of those in decision making positions, Board included or everyone goes and works with another ride service--the drivers have made Uber and the drivers are the ones who should demand the culture improve around those empowering them. we do not need to go back to taxis with the patronage around the medalions. I'm surprised this article did not cover the corruption and political patronage in traditional taxi businesses.
1
If you don't like your job, you quit and accept the consequences. You don't picket or vilify your employer in the media.
1
Says who? Why not? Whether you like it or not, society makes moral judgements. Why should anyone get a free ride, employers included?
It's a tough world. We all are continually judged by our peers and our own consciences. Why should capitalism and capitalists get a free ride?
I gave up using Uber about 6 months ago and I haven't missed it at all. I'm rather weaning my way back to using plain old taxi service which puts the money back into the local businesses. Moreover, I feel better using taxis that I know are properly maintained and licensed. On occasion I will use Lyft but it's rare.
16
I'm completely sympathetic to those who are subject to the awful culture at Uber headquarters, but nowhere in Uber's supposed reforms do I see anything about raising rates, adding a tip function to the app or (God forbid) Uber taking less than 20-40% of the fare a driver has earned.
I drove an Uber car for a year and watched my compensation drop by at least 30% during that time for the same amount of work. Their agenda is for us to make as little as possible so they make as much as possible, hence the refusal to add a tip function for their young, cashless customer base to add to the meager driver's take - the one risking his life and vehicle on the road hour after hour. Tips are money that Uber doesn't get a cut, so they're against it, and have dishonestly informed customers that it's "included in the fare". I've heard riders say exactly that, and it's pointless to try to correct the misconception.
Uber may have 12,000 direct employees subject to their horrible rules and culture, but there are more than 160,000 people around the world making them money who they are forcing to borrow against the future of their cars for cash today. The shame of it is, I actually enjoyed the driving as well as the extra cash in my pocket and would gladly still be doing it if it paid enough to make it worth the effort.
I drove an Uber car for a year and watched my compensation drop by at least 30% during that time for the same amount of work. Their agenda is for us to make as little as possible so they make as much as possible, hence the refusal to add a tip function for their young, cashless customer base to add to the meager driver's take - the one risking his life and vehicle on the road hour after hour. Tips are money that Uber doesn't get a cut, so they're against it, and have dishonestly informed customers that it's "included in the fare". I've heard riders say exactly that, and it's pointless to try to correct the misconception.
Uber may have 12,000 direct employees subject to their horrible rules and culture, but there are more than 160,000 people around the world making them money who they are forcing to borrow against the future of their cars for cash today. The shame of it is, I actually enjoyed the driving as well as the extra cash in my pocket and would gladly still be doing it if it paid enough to make it worth the effort.
12
And that's what you don't hear about- the risk the DRIVER'S take. A man in Charlotte worked for Uber and was murdered on the job. The community is stepping up for his family, but haven't heard a peep from Uber. It's definitely super cheap and convenient. I'd pay more for the service, but only if it goes to the driver's.
Transportation existed before Uber and will certainly exist after. Vote with your dollars, the only thing they appear to understand -- or and remember deleting the app doesn't really delete it - seriously what do they have to do with their user's information before the user's take back their business?
7
I originally thought uber was great. Uses it a few times in different cities as I travel for work a lot. Then came a trip to Minneapolis. I got an uber from my hotel to he office I had to go to. 1 mile, $5.00. Seems fine.
One week later I get a cryptic email from Uber wanting to know about my recent trip. There was some back and forth about which trip til we settled on the Minneapolis one. They wanted to know my side of the story. I wrote that the trip was fine. Then I was notified that the driver was charging me for the $250 "vomit charge". He said my luggage dented his car. I couldn't even remember who put my small bag in his trunk. I fought it saying that if the car was dented, the driver should have known right away, not a week later. They sent me a picture of the ledge by his trunk and I asked which of the many scratches was mine, again wondering why it was a week later and how he could know it was my fault.
The people at Uner were ridiculous. Charged my card anyway. I took it up with my credit card company and got the $250 back
Uber's response was that I owed them $250 and couldn't use hem til I paid. That worked for me as I would never use them again.
At least with a regular taxi they are insured commercially, licensed by the municipality and once you've paid them and said goodbye, there aren't any surprise charges
I wish I was in social media (well really not) to publicize this outrageous charge they can grow at you.
Uber = Ugh
One week later I get a cryptic email from Uber wanting to know about my recent trip. There was some back and forth about which trip til we settled on the Minneapolis one. They wanted to know my side of the story. I wrote that the trip was fine. Then I was notified that the driver was charging me for the $250 "vomit charge". He said my luggage dented his car. I couldn't even remember who put my small bag in his trunk. I fought it saying that if the car was dented, the driver should have known right away, not a week later. They sent me a picture of the ledge by his trunk and I asked which of the many scratches was mine, again wondering why it was a week later and how he could know it was my fault.
The people at Uner were ridiculous. Charged my card anyway. I took it up with my credit card company and got the $250 back
Uber's response was that I owed them $250 and couldn't use hem til I paid. That worked for me as I would never use them again.
At least with a regular taxi they are insured commercially, licensed by the municipality and once you've paid them and said goodbye, there aren't any surprise charges
I wish I was in social media (well really not) to publicize this outrageous charge they can grow at you.
Uber = Ugh
Yes, consumers do care about the culture and practices of the company. The thug like behavior of its drivers and culture at the company and the behavior of Uber and its founder really made me decide never to use it.
8
I watch them line up at our local airport with their different cars, some old, most old, some new, some identified with a decal as Uber cars, men, women, old drivers, older drivers all waiting, hoping for a call from someone on an incoming flight. No thanks. Who knows whether these people even have insurance, drivers licenses and, in SC, whether they can even see. Give me a Yellow Cab or car service.
11
Uber apparently has corporate and mangement issues. However, my son drives for Uber in Pennsylvania. He has "insurance, a drivers license and can even see." He works very hard to support his 2 sons, while putting in a lot of hours and wear and tear on his car, not to mention gas. Please do not disparage the drivers for the faults of management, And show me any corporation that does not try to make greater profits off the backs of their workers. Not to say this is acceptable, but please don't paint with too broad a brush. Thank you, sir.
13
Mr. Manjoo,
And you "used Uber three times in the last week?" Guess you have been missing the news of this "progressive" company for the past year or so. Now you write an article urging folks to use an alternative. A bit late to the party, wouldn't you say?
And you "used Uber three times in the last week?" Guess you have been missing the news of this "progressive" company for the past year or so. Now you write an article urging folks to use an alternative. A bit late to the party, wouldn't you say?
15
Uber, Lyft, and AirBnb are all cast from the same mold. All have flouted laws and gotten away with it. Part of their competitive advantage over pre-existing competitors (taxisc hotels) has come from breaking such laws -- so the public has been complicit in their successes and wrongdoings.
Moreover, a gullible media and public has been conned into believing they are "tech," and thus to be worshiped rather than evaluated like other businesses. But Uber and Lyft are essentially taxi services, with an improved dispatching service. Airbnb is a rooming house service that enllists private (hence unlicensed) residences, calling the subletting process "sharing", avoiding health inspections, and evading payment of hotel taxes.
Uber is merely the suppurating sore thumb of this hand of so-called "sharing" companies. Ethical consumers should look at them all with jaundiced eyes.
Moreover, a gullible media and public has been conned into believing they are "tech," and thus to be worshiped rather than evaluated like other businesses. But Uber and Lyft are essentially taxi services, with an improved dispatching service. Airbnb is a rooming house service that enllists private (hence unlicensed) residences, calling the subletting process "sharing", avoiding health inspections, and evading payment of hotel taxes.
Uber is merely the suppurating sore thumb of this hand of so-called "sharing" companies. Ethical consumers should look at them all with jaundiced eyes.
23
I couldn't agree more and would only add that the anecdotal stories (some to be found in the NYT) of people "retiring on Airbnb" or "supporting their way through college with Uber," are just that, i.e., anecdotal, and miss the bigger picture as you have so eloquently outlined above...
3
The problems with Uber and its culture have been there for all to see from early on. Years ago they were outed for using misogynist methods to target a female business journalist who dared to question some of their claims. But trend-dependent hipsters only see the brand, and would sooner die than be seen by their peers using a taxi. Reporting like the author's contributes to this shallow perception, with claims of disruptive innovation (*rolls eyes) and remaking the nation's infrastructure and blah blah. Any real evidence that any of this is happening, or that it will benefit anyone outside the urban elite? Plus the author admits to still using the same service that they're bravely urging YOU not to use--so much for putting your money to use for social justice. Because again, none of these recent revelations should surprise anyone who has been awake for the past few years. (Perhaps unsurprising from an author who also suggests hiring a limo as an alternative? And people say NYT is out of touch.) Uber is just a taxi service with an app, little to no vetting of its drivers, and a branding machinery that does all its heavy lifting. If you use it, you endorse its practices, and if your writing about it remains breathless and dictated by trend-dependency, very few in your target audience will pay it a bit of mind.
9
I am a young female physician who chose to have my continuity clinic in an underserved neighborhood in Boston. I dont own a car. on days that I finished my shift late I would have to call a cab as public transit was awfull. There were many days that I waited more than 40 minutes and the cab never showed up. Since uber became popular in 2014, I never again had to wait more than 10 minutes. I have been driven in Audis, toyotas, BMW (and a few oldies as well). My drivers have been women, young, old, black, white, foreigners, many generations Americans and vets. I am sorry the culture in the company is so poor, but for my it has been god sent. I am travelling in Brazil and have used it greatly here. Many people I know are relying on uber to make ends meet due to the bad economy. For me, cabs were terrible business with very rude drivers who could care less for its costumers.
20
No excuse. Lyft operates in Boston. Don't be part of the problem.
2
"Yet the Uber we have now is simply not up to that task."
"Yet the [POTUS] we have now is simply not up to that task."
Hello, US2017? The ethics/attachment to other people's realities seem about the same...
"Yet the [POTUS] we have now is simply not up to that task."
Hello, US2017? The ethics/attachment to other people's realities seem about the same...
7
I have only used Uber once because the Las Vegas taxis wouldn't come to the address. I try and support taxis over scam companies like Uber.
See the video of the Uber CEO screaming at an Uber driver who complained about a drop in pay for drivers... Then, tell me if you still support an abusive company like that.
See the video of the Uber CEO screaming at an Uber driver who complained about a drop in pay for drivers... Then, tell me if you still support an abusive company like that.
7
You conveniently or perhaps wilfully ignore the fact that the majority of local regulations exist only to protect the old guard businesses from real competition while lining local coffers with fees that, while not technically taxes, get passed on to the public.
7
The driver was WAY out of line. Like him or not the CEO is at the top of the food chain and isn't there for the drivers benefit. If I ever did that to my boss, I could expect a well deserved head slammed against the steering wheel.
1
Expecting upper management to change in response to popular, moral or ethical forces is hopeless, as our narcissist-in-chief demonstrates daily. Taking your business elsewhere works, as we and thousands of our fellow, former account holders have proven to a rapidly-sinking Wells Fargo. Simply delete the Uber app and upload and use Lyft if you don't already have it.
7
Leave it to the Times to attack business again. I have never once had a bad experience with the company. I take pride in helping my neighbors earn extra income as a driver. They are always polite and very accommodating. To vilify these hardworking folks on the basis of distant boardroom conversations is ridiculous. The mere suggestion to take a limo over hopping in the back seat of a blue collar worker should make anyone gasp at your arrogant attitude.
15
"I take pride in helping my neighbors earn extra income as a driver."
You mean you support a company that pays your neighbor less than minimum wage...
Uber driver should be vilified to some extent as they have broken many laws, they operate without business license, permits and have taken jobs from other blue-collar workers who rightfully paid hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars for the privilege of picking up passengers.
Uber has been used countless times for Florentine the disregard for Regulators, the rules and law directly in the face of our elected officials.
They've shown blatant disregard for the privacy of their passengers and the safety of their passengers.
Clearly you are either uneducated ill-informed or potentially work for Uber and have been paid to stick up for them.
You mean you support a company that pays your neighbor less than minimum wage...
Uber driver should be vilified to some extent as they have broken many laws, they operate without business license, permits and have taken jobs from other blue-collar workers who rightfully paid hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars for the privilege of picking up passengers.
Uber has been used countless times for Florentine the disregard for Regulators, the rules and law directly in the face of our elected officials.
They've shown blatant disregard for the privacy of their passengers and the safety of their passengers.
Clearly you are either uneducated ill-informed or potentially work for Uber and have been paid to stick up for them.
6
Uber shook up a fat, complacent industry. The 12 minute drive from my house to Newark airport with a local taxi company was invariably in an old "town car" with iffy suspension, iffy odors, drivers with iffy interest/ability, booked hours or days ahead with someone who let you know they were doing you a favor. Enter Uber with mostly very nice cars, courteous --and mostly good drivers, and always 25-35% the cost of Taxi service. On so many levels this is right and good.
Until yesterday I ignored reports of an unrepentant, rancid culture at Uber, but I too feel they have crossed a line. My Uber account is deleted and Lyft is what I will use in future.
Until yesterday I ignored reports of an unrepentant, rancid culture at Uber, but I too feel they have crossed a line. My Uber account is deleted and Lyft is what I will use in future.
16
I thank you, as an Uber customer, for deleting your account. Surge pricing is so annoying, and you have made it less likely.
2
I have never used Uber (shouldn't it be Über?) and I don't care what's happening with the people at the corporate headquarters. However, I do care that the Uber drivers shouldn't be exploited by the Uber management. By the way, I have the Uber app on my phone just in case there is an emergency.
1
Saving a few bucks requires dealing with what appears to be a very shady company. I'll pass.
11
I am tired of being told what to do as everything is wrapped around being politically correct. The anointment and strong push of the slogan " politically Correct" is leading us to the point that we all should have same beliefs or else.
Why?
Why?
8
Overblown, sensational reporting similar to NYT recent reporting about airlines. Both Uber and airlines are just fine. There are much bigger fish to fry in this world. Really NYT?
3
If Uber is the Great Satan, Lyft is only a minor underworld demon by comparison.
I used Lyft for a month when recovering from hip surgery and they were great. I made a point of asking every driver how long they'd been working for Lyft, and how they liked it. Most had been driving 6 months or less, some had previously been driving for Uber and switched, maybe 1-2 drove for both. Majority drove full-time, some supporting their families. Some described in detail the rental arrangements for those drivers who rent from Lyft, getting bonuses in return for "ride quotas". They all felt able to make money under that arrangement, and didn't grouse endlessly about being ripped off.
Although it's possible the Lyft drivers offered more positive answers than how they really felt, I didn't detect any seething edge of frustration to their replies.
I used Lyft for a month when recovering from hip surgery and they were great. I made a point of asking every driver how long they'd been working for Lyft, and how they liked it. Most had been driving 6 months or less, some had previously been driving for Uber and switched, maybe 1-2 drove for both. Majority drove full-time, some supporting their families. Some described in detail the rental arrangements for those drivers who rent from Lyft, getting bonuses in return for "ride quotas". They all felt able to make money under that arrangement, and didn't grouse endlessly about being ripped off.
Although it's possible the Lyft drivers offered more positive answers than how they really felt, I didn't detect any seething edge of frustration to their replies.
14
Maybe you're not aware of the recent reports that came out but 96% of drivers quit after one year.
That leaves the remaining 4% who likely stuck in a uber lease paying $1,200 a month for a Honda Civic.
Drivers are reprimanded for saying anything negative about Uber or Lyft and are often deactivated for posting such things on Facebook or Twitter.
If a driver complains to a passenger or states the truth and it's a negative comment the passenger will likely report the driver as being a bad driver or saying something negative or making them feel uncomfortable and they'll get reprimanded for it or threatened with deactivation so take everything your driver says with a grain of salt and pay attention to the facts.
That leaves the remaining 4% who likely stuck in a uber lease paying $1,200 a month for a Honda Civic.
Drivers are reprimanded for saying anything negative about Uber or Lyft and are often deactivated for posting such things on Facebook or Twitter.
If a driver complains to a passenger or states the truth and it's a negative comment the passenger will likely report the driver as being a bad driver or saying something negative or making them feel uncomfortable and they'll get reprimanded for it or threatened with deactivation so take everything your driver says with a grain of salt and pay attention to the facts.
1
Then why do they quit so soon ? 86% or gone within a year ? Could it be they tallied up car depreciation, endless car washing , vaccuming, and sub- minimum wage ? To say nothing of the tiresome nature of driving .
Are there people still using Uber? I thought we as a society collectively put aside our differences and all deleted Uber and switched to Lyft months ago.
6
I'm not going to stop using Uber. I'm not going to use a bus, train, or taxi. That's an absurd suggestion. Those modes of transportation are not always available. Your ridiculous idea would require me to punish the drivers who are innocent of any crimes. These drivers are often struggling students, single mothers, or retirees who badly need the extra income. Your plan would require us to hurt the most innocent and vulnerable people....the working class! Get a clue. The people at the top who have violated the law will lose their jobs or be forced to resign. Let the process work itself out. You advocate that we put our foot on the throats of those who need this income most to make ends meet.....all in the service of the latest du jour SJW cause. Is this the best you could do...This is outrageous. And we wonder why the abyss between the Democrats and the working class grows wider every year. Wow. Next time you decide to write a State of the Art editorial I advise you to do the State of the Art research and see who's lives your suggestion will destroy.
11
Thank you.
2
What about all the law-abiding innocent taxi drivers who lost their jobs over law-breaking Uber and Uber drivers who refused to pay their dues and taxes to the City by obtaining a license or proper insurance or even a business permit what you support is paying your neighbor or these hard worker so less than minimum wage for your own personal benefit so don't come off as holier-than-thou by supporting these blue collar workers who have stolen jobs from other individuals.
2
Nonsense. You can use Lyft or other similar services if available where you live. Most drivers do or can work for both Lyft and Uber, so if you boycott Uber, you are only hurting Uber. Your argument would support keeping the Gulag camps in business because they employed a lot of clerical workers.
1
Cops last year, airlines earlier this year, and now it's the ride sharing companies to get flogged by the media in their unceasing quest to create sensationalism and keep the lemmings worked up. I started using Uber two months ago ago while up in Providence. All of the drivers I met were incredibly nice people. All of the cars I rode in one were incredibly comfortable and fresh. Far, far more nicer experience than any I have had had with NYC taxis over the last 25 years. I am not deleting my app
9
I myself have never used Uber, and I'm quite happy not using it. The yellow taxi cabs here in New York City are more than adequate and usually with the most skillful drivers you'll find on the face of the Earth
5
Go back to the days before Uber and try getting a yellow cab in the rain... or on a Friday afternoon... or when you're not able to physically stand on a street corner to hail a cab (and when the car services wouldn't take a Friday booking unless it was to or from an airport.)
I was on crutches for a year in 2011/2012 and unable to walk a block or stand for more than a couple of minutes at a time. Uber was a godsend. There was literally no way on some days for me to get to doctors appointments - I remember being in tears begging the car service companies to accept my booking.
I'm not saying I agree with Uber's management culture, but there is a real need for these services among certain populations, and I, for one, would be loathe to go back to life without them.
I was on crutches for a year in 2011/2012 and unable to walk a block or stand for more than a couple of minutes at a time. Uber was a godsend. There was literally no way on some days for me to get to doctors appointments - I remember being in tears begging the car service companies to accept my booking.
I'm not saying I agree with Uber's management culture, but there is a real need for these services among certain populations, and I, for one, would be loathe to go back to life without them.
5
I have never participated in the Uber economy and have no intention of starting any time soon. If the car is not yellow or has a driver in a black suit, I am not getting into it. Otherwise, I will drive myself.
The whole disruption economy comes across to me like a bunch of Aderall teenagers trying to make a quick kill. I doubt they care about the mess they are leaving behind.
It is possible to try and disrupt too much too soon.
The whole disruption economy comes across to me like a bunch of Aderall teenagers trying to make a quick kill. I doubt they care about the mess they are leaving behind.
It is possible to try and disrupt too much too soon.
7
I'm guilt free, as I have never used Uber once. It's a good place to be, with all the revelations of how terribly their business is run.
3
Many drivers drive for their own convenience for Uber and Lyft and taxi and buses. Many riders choose to drive themselves or ride in any choices they have. If Uber disappears, consumers and drivers will have one less choice. Public transportation just doesn't work outside big, old cities if you're short on time. It would be better if public roads encouraged ride sharing (more lanes for multiple passengers). But that takes more coordination and enforcement so things like Uber makes it easy for many people to share rides. I enjoyed my Uber ride in LA with a female driver who did it just to earn enough to pay the amount she owed the IRS after tax season. West Coast doesn't really have efficient transportation since it's filled with sprawling cities. The rape case in India is sad but that's less to do with Uber and more about that country's horrible culture against women so it's unfair to blame them. I think majority of men are closet-sexist anyways so I don't care if the Uber executive said sexist stuff. Have you ever seen how women are treated in any industry, in any culture?
5
Wow. Talk about generalization.
1
Another thug like male board member bites the dust. We are holding you accountable
4
I already voted with my wallet, closing my Uber account and signing up with Lyft, after reading Susan Fowler's blog on the misogyny she encountered at Uber.
Actually , because Uber is in a financial black hole, it would hurt the company more to go ahead and take advantage of their services BUT when they go public (if they go public before they implode) DO NOT buy the stock.
Big pharma does same. Stop using pharmaceuticals according to this guy.
They have made mistakes. They also were the pioneer in helping me get out of the heckhole of NYC yellow cabs and I haven't been in one since.
6
Über does not service the poor in Richmond Va. The _geofence Über has is a electronic computer line box over certain areas within the city. Any person who tries to hail from within that _geofence will get a error message saying "We do not accept that form of payment" or "Invalid payment form, please use another form of payment" Yet the same customer will try the same form of payment on another Ride Share and it is valid on that platform.
If you delete the Über app it is still running on your phone deep partition. Install WireShark and watch how Über sends a SQL to your phone to retrieve SMS text messages emails and phone calls. If you are ok with these unethical Business Rules then keep funding their Artificial Intelligence building.
If you delete the Über app it is still running on your phone deep partition. Install WireShark and watch how Über sends a SQL to your phone to retrieve SMS text messages emails and phone calls. If you are ok with these unethical Business Rules then keep funding their Artificial Intelligence building.
1
I've been taking Taxis all my life. I was a taxi driver in New York City. Uber is a much better choice. The taxi industry is subject to pointless expensive regulation and engages in price fixing and the general gauging of the public. People need to understand that the world has changed and the gig economy is going to replace many different occupations as we move into the future. If there's a REAL accountability problem with Uber/Lyft, then pass sensible legislation or let riders know what the problems are. The Ubercat is out of the bag and it's not going back in anytime soon.
5
@Ross Salinger - I so agree, and would add one thing; where I live the cabbies/taxied often refuse to take (very) small dogs for emergency animal hospital visits. With Uber, no problem.
4
Clearly you are an Uber driver pretending to be a taxi driver or someone who works for Uber cuz the fact is is that over drivers currently make wages comparable to 1970 and this is the year 2017 so how could you tell me that it's price gouging.
Why do we lend so much emotional energy to this company? Liberate yourself - call a cab.
4
And wait .............................................................
2
Why take Uber in NYC? I've boycotted Uber and use Lyft and it's great. Quick and easy! I even used Via for shared rides for $5.95 for any ride below 125th St. in Mahattan. Last night I shared the ride with another person from 44th and 9th to the West Village where when one passenger got out the car was able to pick up another passenger. The route was direct, no detours or backtracking, taking the direct route to my place even as it picked up a passenger. It was as fast and easy as if I were in an Uber or Lyft in a clean, spacious air conditioned Black Toyota Highlander. Never again over rated Uber that is run dishonestly and corruptly as if Kalanick and cronies were Putin comrades!
3
Lyft has an infinitely better PR team. They ride Uber's coattails while Uber clears the roadblocks by setting legal precedences, then go on to claim vague garbage like being "woke".
Uber's PR management is lacking, made worse by rabid tabloid writers and brain dead readers. To this day, Uber's attempt to get people home *36 minutes after* the JFK cab driver strike was over is still seen as trying to break up a strike. Surge pricing was turned off to avoid gauging stranded travellers. Meanwhile, Lyft ALSO picked up passengers, WITH surge pricing in effect, and yet got away unscathed. 5 months later you still have trashy NYT articles expounding the virtues of the latter.
Uber's PR management is lacking, made worse by rabid tabloid writers and brain dead readers. To this day, Uber's attempt to get people home *36 minutes after* the JFK cab driver strike was over is still seen as trying to break up a strike. Surge pricing was turned off to avoid gauging stranded travellers. Meanwhile, Lyft ALSO picked up passengers, WITH surge pricing in effect, and yet got away unscathed. 5 months later you still have trashy NYT articles expounding the virtues of the latter.
3
Gee folks, what I am reading in many comments is that all of Uber's prior, egregious behaviours were ok, but throw in a sex scandal of some kind and it's suddenly serious, suddenly time to boycott.
1
I interviewed for Uber as a software engineer a couple of years back. It was one of the most demoralizing experiences of my life. Their contempt for values such as honesty, integrity, and respect was on full display. Coupled with their bizarre worship of their CEO as some deity, complete with quotes such as "What would Travis think of ..." and "What would Travis do if he ...", was a complete shock. They did not offer me a job, not that I would have taken it if they did. They did, however and with absolutely no shame, take my model and my ideas I created for their "pre-interview" 12 hour project that was supposed to be a "simple technical test" and, according to my friend who worked there, implemented those ideas into production.
Why would anyone be surprised that Uber is disrespectful towards women? Its like someone being surprised that they found a bunch of nasty, venomous snakes in a swamp. Uber is a breeding ground for this mess, and I bet they will be fixing this for a long time before they clean it up.
I only ride Lyft. I hope you will too.
Why would anyone be surprised that Uber is disrespectful towards women? Its like someone being surprised that they found a bunch of nasty, venomous snakes in a swamp. Uber is a breeding ground for this mess, and I bet they will be fixing this for a long time before they clean it up.
I only ride Lyft. I hope you will too.
I will not ever be comfortable surrendering the transportation system over to Uber. That is a recipe for a monopoly and a colossal disaster, and everyone should be familiar with Travis Kalanick's stance on employing people (he doesn't like to do it and thinks it's a relic of the past). I'm fine with Uber and other ride-sharing companies going where they belong. In the garbage.
5
Kalanick is right and you can thank propel like FDR with the artificial creation of restrictive labor laws to Obama and his left wing interpretation of them.
Horror stories re Uber have reached fetish proportions within the media. Try taking to a driver and ask why, why, if the company is so horrible do they still work for them. I take Uber all the time. No more horrible dispatch, dirty, poorly maintained cabs for me, thank you. But in each and every instance I always chat with the driver and ultimately ask, why Uber? The answer is always the same: Their technology gave them their lives back. No more 8-5 (assuming they could get it). Flexibility. The ubiquitous reality that many people can't find full time work and use Uber, et al to fill in those unscheduled hours. For many it is a God send. The pay isn't great, all agree. But then again, they are employed in the role of driving, about the most common skill available in developed countries. Literally ANYONE can do this job. Want higher pay? You need a skill somewhat less common than being able to drive a car. All say that if it was legislated away by politicians that their lives wouldn't be the same. Thanks, politicians, for endlessly carrying the taxi cab lobby's water! Nary a politician who gets before a microphone makes some slobbery statement about creating jobs - as if they could other than with someone else's money! Government has grown to such a size and reach that it now actively works against the efforts of a free people yearning to earn a living and have a shred of respectability. The first person killed in the John Brown/Harper's Ferry raid was a free black man.
8
Even if a firm's behavior from top to bottom can be outlandish, it seems to me that calls to boycott outlandish firms often fail. I think calls for boycotts fail because of a lack of connection between the person who is sending the message to boycott (however earnest) (in this case a NYT writer) and the persons who are supposed to heed the advice. So, when I read that a writer named at the NYT says boycott Uber because their CEO is bad, my first reaction is not "Uber CEO is bad therefore boycott", but rather, whose Manjoo and why is he so upset with Uber? If I'm going to do something, like boycott a business, I think I need to now something about the person who is asking me to do one thing or another. But since I don't know Manjoo, and therefore have no basis for trusting his advice, I, like millions and million, simply shrug my shoulder and say, "Oh." I think this is why many boycotts fail, because its not about the message but often the messenger; as I am indifferent toward Manjoo,I am therefore indifferent toward his call for boycott.
1
What got me to move off Uber was the fact that every driver that drove for both Uber and Lyft told me that Lyft treated them better.
3
Never have used Uber, and certainly never will. Good riddance.
3
Im happy to say that Ive never used Uber. My friends are addicted to it though. When we go to Gay Pride this weekend, we will ride a taxi. I bet it will be the first time some of my frienda have actually been in one.
I dont see why everyone hates the taxi. Maybe in Denver the service is just better. Regardless, Ive known Uber is evil for years. Im glad people are finally catching up. If I ever ride-share (otherwise known as use an illegally licensed or non-licensed taxi) I will definitely use Lyft.
Ride sharing and the sharing economy is a bunch of drivel though. As far as I can tell, Air BnB is just people making money through the use of illegal hotels. Uber makes money by using illegal taxis. The innovation of both of these companies was to break the law and get away with it.
I dont see why everyone hates the taxi. Maybe in Denver the service is just better. Regardless, Ive known Uber is evil for years. Im glad people are finally catching up. If I ever ride-share (otherwise known as use an illegally licensed or non-licensed taxi) I will definitely use Lyft.
Ride sharing and the sharing economy is a bunch of drivel though. As far as I can tell, Air BnB is just people making money through the use of illegal hotels. Uber makes money by using illegal taxis. The innovation of both of these companies was to break the law and get away with it.
5
While I hate the behavior and management style of Uber, there are drivers that have an investment in working for UBer. They suffer because of their bad boss. Haven't we all worked for someone that we thought was a jerk and hated being punished for their behavior not ours?
1
Yeah...the lofty promise of the "sharing economy" is not looking so hot now.
In practice, it appears to be more like a hipster euphemism for "trickle down"
In practice, it appears to be more like a hipster euphemism for "trickle down"
41
On top of everything else it doesn't seem as if Uber has ever made a dime in profit for anyone. So much for the Genius of the Free Market. The last time that Gawker leaked some of their financials Uber was leaking about $20 million dollars a year and had been doing so since inception. If you look at their drivers they're working for the equivalent of minimum wage if theyr're lucky.
The business model seems to be to use venture capital to flood markets at much less than cost until competing forms of transit are destroyed and then jack the rates up sky-high after the competition is gone.
The business model seems to be to use venture capital to flood markets at much less than cost until competing forms of transit are destroyed and then jack the rates up sky-high after the competition is gone.
6
I've never used Uber - I guess I'm old enough to remember when cabs did everything Uber does. You could call ahead and they'd show up; drivers were (usually) polite and cabs were (generally) clean if you used a dependable company. Plus cab drivers are insured and tend to know where they are going. I challenge any ride-sharing user staring at his or her phone to get a ride more quickly than stepping onto the sidewalk and raising an arm. I wonder how many Uber users have never even tried a cab?
5
There are a vast number of locations where cabs don't cruise the streets. The "raise an arm" technique works in very few places. And I'd venture to say most all Uber users have tried cabs and understandably prefer a cheaper, cleaner, more dependable alternative. But they must ditch Uber for one of its rivals. The company won't change until its pocketbook feels the pressure.
1
Uber might have problems with management but there is a reason it's popular. Taxi services are inconvenient for most outside of city center, they are too costly, they are ugly and uncomfortable, and the drivers are dangerous. All the problems with taxi services have to do with over regulations.
5
Not sure where you get your information but I can look up any story right now and find dozens and dozens of women who have been molested or raped or like for instance the guy that was smashed in the head and lost an eyeball by an Uber driver in San Francisco or the guy that went on a shooting spree while driving is Uber and killed six people.... What's wrong with you.. where was just recently found to be hiring criminals using Prop 47 they hire criminals and even outside of the criminal background check that they're supposed to do they for found a higher murderers that were in prison for 27 years and then you just got released and did 1400 trips and child molesters who were behind the wheel picking up children.
I recommend that people needing a transportation support/service use Lyft. I have relied on this company and it's drivers on numerous occasions. I have been 100% totally pleased with the service. The drivers are courteous and informative. The cars were clean and operated well. They picked me up on times. No complaints, nada. People have other options. If Uber wants to treat their customers and employees disrespectfully and inappropriately... so be it. They have competitors that provide excellent service that does more than "fill the gap".
9
Uber works great - I'll use it every time, great fares, great customer service, no tips (for the most part), works in many countries - super technology that copy cats are busy trying to replicate. Go Travis! Driver Harder...Create more software jobs...
Can't wait for Uber, Tesla, Apple and Google for the driverless technologies.
For those news readers who are advocating riding bicycles..; beyond 10 miles or so, riding a bike will make you hungrier than usual and food is definitely more costly than fuel.
Can't wait for Uber, Tesla, Apple and Google for the driverless technologies.
For those news readers who are advocating riding bicycles..; beyond 10 miles or so, riding a bike will make you hungrier than usual and food is definitely more costly than fuel.
1
Did you hear this guy he doesn't like the tip what a loser when what's this about food is more classy than fuel this, guy's an idiot in represents the quintessential Uber users.
Playing whack-a-mole by pressuring individual companies is ineffective. Whether pressuring for better pollution controls, safer products, or more transparency, whack-a-mole doesn't scale, and Uber would only need to give the 'illusion' of change (aka lie) to foil the plan. Instead, resolve the underlying issue.
The Free-market Economy lends itself to inappropriate behavior as often as not. It still works extraordinary well at determining the factors of production; however, constant adult supervision is needed in the form of legislation. Either Uber broke the law and should be prosecuted, the law needs to change, or pick the best product and move on people.
The Free-market Economy lends itself to inappropriate behavior as often as not. It still works extraordinary well at determining the factors of production; however, constant adult supervision is needed in the form of legislation. Either Uber broke the law and should be prosecuted, the law needs to change, or pick the best product and move on people.
3
I deleted the Uber app some time ago. At least here in New York City, I use Arro. Works with yellow (and green) cabs. Same price every time, no surge pricing, no problem getting cabs even here in Bed Stuy.
7
Austin got rid of Uber and it worked great. It is possible to live without Uber. (Although unfortunately they weaseled their way back in here.)
3
Yuppies talk a big game but when push comes to shove they will chose conspicuous consumption over all other concerns, every time. Consumerist hedonism is their ethos.
3
I had decent experiences with UBER, but after reading about dangerous insurance potential NON coverage, the idea of trusting my life in the hands of a potentially bad driver, or a convicted felon, I gave up my account 3 years ago. The uber personnel threatened," if you cancel your account now, you can never open one again". That only infuriated me more. Frankly LYFT is no better. Why trust your life in the hands of a part time driver whose livelihood does not depend on driving you safely nor may not have enough experience driving safely?
1
Why walk on the street - there's people driving around that you can't control! You have to take some risks to just live!
1
Don't listen to that other guy about risk about walking on the sidewalk that's idiotic some risk or necessary taking an Uber with a criminal history Allowed by Prop 47 is an unnecessary risk versus a necessary risk.
I deleted my Uber account after the sexual harassment story from the engineer was published earlier this year. Because that was on top of the reports that Uber stole ride sharing technology from Alphabet. Which was on top of Uber admitting to using technology to evade regulators in markets where it operated illegally. Which was on top of its mistreatment of drivers. The treatment of a rape survivor I hadn't heard of, but totally unsurprising.
I actually laughed out loud when I saw that an Uber board member -- at an event about sexual harassment! -- made a sexist joke publicly, inadvertently revealing how very, very little effort the board has made to even understand the basics of how to behave respectfully in a work environment. ("Step one: Don't interrupt a woman in order to make a statement implying all women are incapable of keeping their mouths shut.")
Who will we blame in 5 years when Uber has driven all competitors into a hole and Uber begins to charge surge pricing all the time? Does anyone think they won't charge the maximum they can?
We are selling ourselves for a slick interface.
I actually laughed out loud when I saw that an Uber board member -- at an event about sexual harassment! -- made a sexist joke publicly, inadvertently revealing how very, very little effort the board has made to even understand the basics of how to behave respectfully in a work environment. ("Step one: Don't interrupt a woman in order to make a statement implying all women are incapable of keeping their mouths shut.")
Who will we blame in 5 years when Uber has driven all competitors into a hole and Uber begins to charge surge pricing all the time? Does anyone think they won't charge the maximum they can?
We are selling ourselves for a slick interface.
6
Far more people should be riding bicycles, and the more people on bikes instead of in cars, the more biking's downsides are diminished. Sometimes the simplest, and best, solution is the one already available to you and staring you right in the face.
2
Licensed or not, (US) taxis have been horrible forever: Not answering their phones; being rude when they did respond; saying they'd scheduled a pick up that never materialized; relying on dirty, cramped, smelly, loud vehicles; being ignored when hailing a ride on the street; suffering bad & rude drivers while being taken out of your way; etc. Until ride-hailing apps, I used anything but a cab whenever possibloe. Now I'll give Lyft a shot to help ensure alternatives, so thanks for the suggestion.
2
Drivers I know use both Lyft and Uber. Since the Uber's scandals, I've deleted Uber and so did my husband. I have a hard time believing we are the only ones.
3
You're getting a ride to the airport not marrying the CEO or going to church with a board-member. Who cares what the corporate culture is. Those who don't want to work there can quit.
How much time do people have to contemplate the corporate culture and morality of companies and products they use!
My gosh.....move.
On.
How much time do people have to contemplate the corporate culture and morality of companies and products they use!
My gosh.....move.
On.
3
can you read?
There’s a lot at stake. Ride-sharing, as an industry and a civic utility, is too big an idea to be left to a company like the one Uber is now. The company that wins this industry is bound to become one of the world’s most powerful corporations. Its executives and culture will indirectly shape how we build cities, how we use energy, how we employ and pay people. We will entrust it with the safety and the security of our families, our streets, our private data and even, conceivably, the national infrastructure.
There’s a lot at stake. Ride-sharing, as an industry and a civic utility, is too big an idea to be left to a company like the one Uber is now. The company that wins this industry is bound to become one of the world’s most powerful corporations. Its executives and culture will indirectly shape how we build cities, how we use energy, how we employ and pay people. We will entrust it with the safety and the security of our families, our streets, our private data and even, conceivably, the national infrastructure.
1
This guy's uneducated and proud of it geez must be nice walk through life not really knowing or caring what things represent how they affect other people or why people do what they do.
Mr. Manjoo raises an interesting point, but couldn't this be said of many other large scale companies that disrupt the status quo? The Times had a disturbing profile of life for employees at Amazon last year. I like the question of whether or not we want our futures being crafted by a bunch of jerks for whom normal social conventions and even the law are to be ignored at all cost to grow. Too often Manjoo has been the cheerleader of these companies ambition and scope throwing critical thinking out the window and failing to ask the question whether or not these are the people we want crafting our future. Glad the question was asked about Uber--now ask it about a bunch of other companies.
1
I have no such leverage; I would generally prefer to walk across town than take an Über car. Aside from their corporate awfulness, the drivers are frequently awful drivers who make getting around town far worse than it needs to be for anyone else on the road.
Anyone with a car, a clean license, and a pulse can drive for them, there's no requirement that they know where they're going or actually be good drivers. They are often from far out of town and drive for an extended (and unregulated) shift after their long commute into the city, they are slaves to the app who do what the app says no matter what that entails, and they must jump at every chance to accept a new passenger if they want to get ahead at all. Sudden right turns from the left hand lane, sudden stops in the middle of the block, creeping along at a snail's pace for no apparent reason, driving like a bat out of hell on other occasions. I now honk like a New Yorker when I have to drive across town, and bicycling in town now seems like a worse idea than ever before despite more bike lanes than ever before.
I am slightly more sympathetic to Lyft drivers, they seem slightly better probably because they are under less pressure, but overall I detest the lot. Perhaps society is to blame, certainly Über is to blame, but the bottom line is that there are many thousands of new bad drivers on the road and I am quite willing to give the individual behind the wheel their share of the blame for making city life worse.
Anyone with a car, a clean license, and a pulse can drive for them, there's no requirement that they know where they're going or actually be good drivers. They are often from far out of town and drive for an extended (and unregulated) shift after their long commute into the city, they are slaves to the app who do what the app says no matter what that entails, and they must jump at every chance to accept a new passenger if they want to get ahead at all. Sudden right turns from the left hand lane, sudden stops in the middle of the block, creeping along at a snail's pace for no apparent reason, driving like a bat out of hell on other occasions. I now honk like a New Yorker when I have to drive across town, and bicycling in town now seems like a worse idea than ever before despite more bike lanes than ever before.
I am slightly more sympathetic to Lyft drivers, they seem slightly better probably because they are under less pressure, but overall I detest the lot. Perhaps society is to blame, certainly Über is to blame, but the bottom line is that there are many thousands of new bad drivers on the road and I am quite willing to give the individual behind the wheel their share of the blame for making city life worse.
2
why would you want to use a service that feels they shouldn't do background checks on there drivers not require insurance , this looks to me like they are tring to put taxis and limos and buses out of buesness from what I'm readind the playing feild is tilted so far towards them that the livery business has noware to go sounds like a loss of jobs and as far as people who have had ytoo much to drink using them if they don't use taxi service or designated drivers it is doubtfull they would use ride shareing
1
Ignoring its missteps, I have rarely had a bad Uber driver experience. Mostly, they are young people just making an extra buck or, in the case of most older drivers, even driving Uber full time. People like us.
I had one Uber car that, upon bending over to get in and one inhale of air, smelled like the inside of a 1970s bowling ally cigarillo smokers league night. The car floor littered with old newspapers too. Before I contaminated myself with the tobacco stench, I got out of it by saying I am allergic to tobacco. (Which is kind of true. It and its contaminants kill me if inhaled directly or indirectly.)
I also had a gassy driver once. I cracked the window. (Note to drivers: When you pass one before you pick up, open all the windows to blast it out. Dangling a bunch of evergreen car deodorizers from the dash vents is never a good idea. Plus: Beano works.)
Still, I would use Lyft but, strangely, I cannot sign up for it as Lyft claims my mobile phone number is a VOIP (it isn't!) But, why should that matter at all?! Very frustrating. Uber gets the customer experience and technology.
I had one Uber car that, upon bending over to get in and one inhale of air, smelled like the inside of a 1970s bowling ally cigarillo smokers league night. The car floor littered with old newspapers too. Before I contaminated myself with the tobacco stench, I got out of it by saying I am allergic to tobacco. (Which is kind of true. It and its contaminants kill me if inhaled directly or indirectly.)
I also had a gassy driver once. I cracked the window. (Note to drivers: When you pass one before you pick up, open all the windows to blast it out. Dangling a bunch of evergreen car deodorizers from the dash vents is never a good idea. Plus: Beano works.)
Still, I would use Lyft but, strangely, I cannot sign up for it as Lyft claims my mobile phone number is a VOIP (it isn't!) But, why should that matter at all?! Very frustrating. Uber gets the customer experience and technology.
I live on UBER, I'm not quitting anything! Some board member insinuates that women talk too much and you want his head.....grow.......up.
3
It's called "the Elephant of the Valley" here in Silicon Valley. In a 2016 survey, 60% of women working in Silicon Valley experienced unwanted sexual advances! The survey found that 87%(!) of the 220 women interviewed had witnessed demeaning comments from their colleagues. In the 10 years I ran my Silicon Valley company, the board included women and the majority of leadership positions were staffed by women. We grew a 1000%, were highly profitable and never had an issue! As to convenience, many Über drivers are also Lyft drivers; Mr. Manjoo only has to load the app. "I used Uber a dozen times in the past month...I use it for the same reason you do — it works really well." I use to use both in the past, doing an "auction" on costs. I am deleting Uber now until their board changes and their attitude changes. Was it a Lyft conspiracy? Nope. Just unbridled Ego & Hubris. WAKE UP!
3
We've switched from Uber to Lyft whenever possible. The service is good but the surge pricing is inexcusable.
3
I want to quit Uber for the very reasons mentioned in this article but I tried Lyft and more than once their drivers couldn't find me on a busy NYC street. Rather than call me they just gave up! When I went to request a refund from the Lyft app, it was too confusing. I finally just gave up. Then Lyft seemed to deduct Extra money from my Paypal acct .. I'm not sure for what. That was enough for me to quit Lyft! Has anyone else had similar problems with Lyft
1
no! if you write to them and complain they always pay you back! please do that!
"When you're [worth billions of dollars], they let you do it. You can do anything."
5
where is Travis ?
the half-baked looking narcissist is walking away with $6 billion and is laughing all the way to the bank. he'll startup another empire to spite everyone. another day in the life of San Fran / Silicon Valley narcissistic greed and power. the CEO culture of Wall St that Silicon Valley mocked for decades has finally come home to roost right here on Market St, SF. The so-called "toxic culture" is encouraged and rewarded by today's Trumpian standards and now finds it's resting place with the nerds of Silicon Valley.
Uber is not a ride-sharing company. that is a politically correct marketing campaign. it's an exploitation of the labor force to seduce the unemployable workforce to exhaust their time, health , car millage, personal expenses and dignity to make ends meet in today's competitive society.
the half-baked looking narcissist is walking away with $6 billion and is laughing all the way to the bank. he'll startup another empire to spite everyone. another day in the life of San Fran / Silicon Valley narcissistic greed and power. the CEO culture of Wall St that Silicon Valley mocked for decades has finally come home to roost right here on Market St, SF. The so-called "toxic culture" is encouraged and rewarded by today's Trumpian standards and now finds it's resting place with the nerds of Silicon Valley.
Uber is not a ride-sharing company. that is a politically correct marketing campaign. it's an exploitation of the labor force to seduce the unemployable workforce to exhaust their time, health , car millage, personal expenses and dignity to make ends meet in today's competitive society.
4
Travis is walking away with $6 Bn? Not likely. It's not cash in hand - That is the approximate value of his Uber shares, at the price per share paid in the last investment round. Uber lost $2.2 billion last year - so its near certain they'll have to raise money again. Given all the bad publicity about Uber's self-inflicted problems, you can be sure that their revenue growth will slow or reverse, and the next round of investment will comes in a much lower price.
1
Sounds like Uber is Trump - despite heavy criticism, unlawful activities, and distasteful behavior, they continue to rise.
4
Excuse me. Uber violates local laws with impunity in order to build 'market share.'
Why is this allowed?
Why aren't these people in jail?
Why is this allowed?
Why aren't these people in jail?
6
how about if I use whatever services are best for me and treats me best. I'm not sure if the author or any of us can judge Uber as more or less evil or virtuous than any other service providers. They have gotten a lot of press. Let's all try not to hold our beliefs and judgements and self-righteousness to tightly, eh.
Where I live, Uber drivers routinely flout all traffic rules - they are a serious new road hazard. There aren't enough police to ticket them and perhaps give them an incentive to obey traffic laws. Certainly, someone will be killed. I will never take an Uber, a Lyft, or anything that is not regulated and hiring qualified drivers.
3
The self driving car is almost here and will put an end to all of this strife.
1
Never used Uber, never will.
It embodies all that is wrong with this "religion" we call capitalism.
Get rid of capitalism and then we can truly "ride" share....
It embodies all that is wrong with this "religion" we call capitalism.
Get rid of capitalism and then we can truly "ride" share....
5
"One Way to Fix Uber: Think Twice Before Using It"
Great idea. That's really hurt all the executive salaries, won't it?
Not nearly as much as the drivers who probably clear $10-$12/hr
Great idea. That's really hurt all the executive salaries, won't it?
Not nearly as much as the drivers who probably clear $10-$12/hr
Want some believable driver-generated data on what Uber drivers make? Try this link.
https://www.ridester.com/how-much-do-uber-drivers-make/
Not so rosy.
https://www.ridester.com/how-much-do-uber-drivers-make/
Not so rosy.
they can move to lyft
I deleted Uber app as soon as I read Susan Fowler's article. I've always known that Uber operates shadily but her account of how things were run finally did it for me. No wonder a friend of mine, who left his job at another big tech company in NY to join Uber in SF, quit and returned after barely 9 months. That is how toxic a place Uber is. He didn't delve into specifics but he said he wasn't comfortable working there and things didn't work out.
I now use Lyft and our old faithful yellow cabs when I need a ride
I now use Lyft and our old faithful yellow cabs when I need a ride
4
"I deleted Uber app as soon as I read Susan Fowler's article."
I have this vision of a nature program about small furry creatures hurling themselves off cliffs.
I have this vision of a nature program about small furry creatures hurling themselves off cliffs.
1
Farhad,
You are just as evil as Uber and Lyft. Speculating naively that the cost of travelling in a fellow citizens car should be the price of public transportation shows me that you are an evil human who believes someone else should subsidize the comforts and entitlements of others.
Do you not understand that public transportation's gas is subsidized but not rideshare drivers? Public transportation vehicle maintenance is covered from public subsidies--not rideshare drivers. And running air conditioning is covered by our taxes on public transportation, but its not subsidized for rideshare drivers.
Do you not know that drivers have to pay for the gas to pick up riders? For instance, sometimes the rideshare algorithm sends drivers on long jaunts to pick up a $5 tally that after the rideshare company gets their cut, it can whittle down to $1.48 in earnings per person on a carpool ride. I've seen it that low. And I've seen it that low being the cost undercharged that I and other drivers make up the fiscal difference in basically giving away free transportation. It happens everyday drivers drive. Its no escaping it unless you swallow the fact that you will suffer the penalties of denying Uber and Lyft carpool schemes.
You are just as evil as Uber and Lyft. Speculating naively that the cost of travelling in a fellow citizens car should be the price of public transportation shows me that you are an evil human who believes someone else should subsidize the comforts and entitlements of others.
Do you not understand that public transportation's gas is subsidized but not rideshare drivers? Public transportation vehicle maintenance is covered from public subsidies--not rideshare drivers. And running air conditioning is covered by our taxes on public transportation, but its not subsidized for rideshare drivers.
Do you not know that drivers have to pay for the gas to pick up riders? For instance, sometimes the rideshare algorithm sends drivers on long jaunts to pick up a $5 tally that after the rideshare company gets their cut, it can whittle down to $1.48 in earnings per person on a carpool ride. I've seen it that low. And I've seen it that low being the cost undercharged that I and other drivers make up the fiscal difference in basically giving away free transportation. It happens everyday drivers drive. Its no escaping it unless you swallow the fact that you will suffer the penalties of denying Uber and Lyft carpool schemes.
I haven't used Uber for the past 6 months for all the reasons you stated. I don't understand that the columnist wrote an article explaining all this and then says he used it 3 times last week... Put your money where your mouth is.
You need to THINK. Your "Article" is not Thoughtful. You aren't thinking about the incomes you're affecting, the situations drivers are in. Honest? In the way a Yelp review is honest, perhaps. Intelligent? Oh, you're smart, but not enough to see the real story, about how power affects people, perhaps about alcohol or drug abuse that goes on in leadership ranks and detracts from the mission, perhaps about my awesome experience as a male driver in Cincinnati, but take a glimpse at the female experience? Write THOSE stories. Necessary? Your article isn't necessary. My suggestions are. Kind? Kindness would have identified that you reduced my rider count this evening significantly. Lyft operates here, but to a lesser degree. I submit this response as my application to the NYT to replace you. This article is simply fodder that gives the GOP/right legitimate material to point to when they want to diminish the legitimacy of the times.
2
I would love using Uber if the drivers weren’t working for serf’s wages after expenses, and if the corporate culture wasn’t disgusting. As it is, I’d rather walk.
Our corporate culture in America is discouraging. There’s no sense that we’re all in it together, that the success of a good idea means everyone involved: the drivers, the office workers, executives, everyone, are benefiting from the success. I was revolted by the exchange between Kalanick and the Uber driver. We’re becoming a nation of overlords and serfs. If you can’t make ends meet after driving for me all day, you need to take personal responsibility. In other words: it’s not my problem that you’re a loser. Be grateful to me that you work at all.
And please don’t tell me about how Uber has improved life for drivers in India. It reminds me of how ‘improved’ living in China became for workers when we moved our manufacturing over there. Being crammed in a dormitory with twenty other people while working for slave wages is great only when you’re used to starving. There’s this nasty undercurrent that American workers have things way too easy whenever a billionaire starts to talk. They’d like nothing better than to cram us all in dormitories, working for peanuts. They don’t get that globalization is supposed to bring other countries’ standards of living up to ours, not drag ours down to theirs.
Inject some humanity into your success, Uber.
Our corporate culture in America is discouraging. There’s no sense that we’re all in it together, that the success of a good idea means everyone involved: the drivers, the office workers, executives, everyone, are benefiting from the success. I was revolted by the exchange between Kalanick and the Uber driver. We’re becoming a nation of overlords and serfs. If you can’t make ends meet after driving for me all day, you need to take personal responsibility. In other words: it’s not my problem that you’re a loser. Be grateful to me that you work at all.
And please don’t tell me about how Uber has improved life for drivers in India. It reminds me of how ‘improved’ living in China became for workers when we moved our manufacturing over there. Being crammed in a dormitory with twenty other people while working for slave wages is great only when you’re used to starving. There’s this nasty undercurrent that American workers have things way too easy whenever a billionaire starts to talk. They’d like nothing better than to cram us all in dormitories, working for peanuts. They don’t get that globalization is supposed to bring other countries’ standards of living up to ours, not drag ours down to theirs.
Inject some humanity into your success, Uber.
5
We'll be landing at JFK tomorrow afternoon. I just ordered a car online to pick us up. Not Uber.
4
Early in Uber's rise, there were reports that Uber executives had used ride data to put together a series of trips by an investigative reporter doing an in-depth view of Uber, and from it drew conclusions about that reporter's movements - and personal life. As in, where he was dropped off in the evening, where he was picked up in the morning, and conjecture about where he'd spent the night. I have not ever downloaded its app nor will I use this service. Appalling ethics (lack of same) with more ugly pieces emerging. Who wants Uber's spyware on their phone?
When people ignore sexism and misogyny in the president that they select for their country, how do you expect them to take this into account when they call for a taxi? Unfortunately the problem lies somewhere deeper...
2
I use Uber all the time. Its a great service. No idea what this writer is talking about. There are bad eggs in every business. They get weeded out. Many of the cab companies are run by the mafia. Many cabs are dirty, old, and smell like smoke from the drivers. Often the drivers have bad attitudes and arent friendly. Cabs take forever to get. Uber is minutes away with friendly people and clean cars. And not just minorities like someone wrote, but often retirees and people with time to kill during their jobs. I couldnt disagree more with this writer.
2
You want to see questionable ethics? Go work for a cab company. Uber is Boy Scout clean-cut by comparison.
3
I wouldn't want to use Uber at all. I do not like the idea of getting just any old driver, any old car, and hoping that the driver and the car are trustworthy. I'd rather see a good public transportation system in place than something like Uber which seems to hurt everyone, employees and users, each time we turn around.
At least when I call a taxi service I have a place to complain to if things go wrong. Uber reminds me of Amazon in that no one appears to be responsible.
At least when I call a taxi service I have a place to complain to if things go wrong. Uber reminds me of Amazon in that no one appears to be responsible.
6
Is it OK if I just use Uber to go from place to place and leave the worrying about whether Uber's management is good enough to take my money to the article writer, Uber's owners, the courts, and the government?
5
One reason I choose Lyft over Uber is that Lyft allows tipping directly via its app. I don't understand why Uber refuses to do that. I'm pleased that Lyft is gaining market share. I arrived in Newark airport a few days ago and summoned a Lyft. It arrived in 60 seconds--no exaggeration. I hadn't even stepped through the terminal doors yet. The only hassle was trying to find the car in the Newark airport traffic chaos. Fortunately, I was able to connect with the driver by phone, and we linked up. I was home in no time, at a significantly lower cost than a taxi would have charged me. And I was able to easily tip via the app; no cash needed. I'm a fan.
7
When I get a taxi at the airport, I don't even have to even wait 60 seconds nor get on an app, and I can just get in the car that is there waiting rather than trying to figure out in the chaos where -my- lyft or uber ride is. And all taxis can take credit cards, no cash needed either. As for costs, you may have won, but at the costs of more urban congestion, and lower worker pay, benefits, and assurance for the driver. As is, these 'low costs' aren't sustainable. I was in Miami a few weeks ago, and the chaos from the Uber and Lyft crowd was maddening at times. Drivers stopping in the middle of the road, pulling onto sidewalks, making illegal turns, blocking driveways etc. sometimes to drop off, but often in some confused mess to try to 'connect' and find the right person on the sidewalk looking for their ride. If I was a resident there, I'd be up in arms over the traffic, chaos, and danger to pedestrians and other drivers that these companies have unleashed upon the urban core.
2
Wow. A couple of dollars in a cash transaction. What a bummer.
Unfathomable, how did anyone ever manage that in the deep dark past?
Unfathomable, how did anyone ever manage that in the deep dark past?
1
I don't disagree about the chaos. Away from the airport, though, being able to summon a car with an app when you're in an unfamiliar neighborhood that is not heavily trafficked is a big plus. That's one reason these services are so popular in San Fran.
This article contains good advice. For those worried about the income of the drivers, remember that many of the drivers, especially in large cities, use both Uber and Lyft, so by avoiding Uber, you will not be negatively impacting the income of most drivers.
7
The writer mentions traffic scholars giddiness over Uber's potential to improve traffic congestion, then suggests instead of building fixed bus lines cities subsidize Uber rides. If the average city bus holds 55-60 people, and a Uber vehicle 2-4, how does subsidizing Uber rides reduce traffic congestion?
I understand how carpooling and actual ride-sharing can do that, but not how using Uber rides in place of a bus system to move the masses commuting to, from and within the city would.
I understand how carpooling and actual ride-sharing can do that, but not how using Uber rides in place of a bus system to move the masses commuting to, from and within the city would.
13
In NYC, Chicago and maybe Portland, OR, where many people already use buses and other mass transit it seems to me you are correct. (We have Access-a-Ride here in NYC which serves our less abled population as a ride-share but must be reserved in advance and has other cumbersome features.)
But in other cities where very few people take a bus or train the ride-sharing concept might help with congestion. Getting the cost down to a feasible (politically acceptable) level probably requires those driverless cars we keep hearing about.
But in other cities where very few people take a bus or train the ride-sharing concept might help with congestion. Getting the cost down to a feasible (politically acceptable) level probably requires those driverless cars we keep hearing about.
Mass transit is not used by "many" people in portland, oregon.
Our systems are an underutilized money pit and always will be.
Pop density needs to be like nyc or chicago for such a system to work....at least until the lowlife factor is solved.
Our systems are an underutilized money pit and always will be.
Pop density needs to be like nyc or chicago for such a system to work....at least until the lowlife factor is solved.
Because you do not have to buy the bus, pay the bus driver, buy fuel, pay for security, etc. I suspect it would work better along the Super-Shuttle model.
You vote with your dollars every time you open your wallet.
12
I guess that means RJ Reynolds is one great Company! They certainly have a lot of dollars rolling in ;^).
I wonder what the actual environmental costs of Uber - and the other ride sharing companies - might be. You have people driving around in hot spots, or taking up parking spaces while hoping that they are the closest to where someone needs a ride. These people are not removing cars from the roads but adding to them as they circle.
I know San Francisco has started to look at this. Other cities may well also be looking at how many cars the ride sharing companies add to the road.
I think we should not see it as a way of reducing dependence on private cars but rather a way of forestalling what we really should do which is build a better public transportation infrastructure.
I know San Francisco has started to look at this. Other cities may well also be looking at how many cars the ride sharing companies add to the road.
I think we should not see it as a way of reducing dependence on private cars but rather a way of forestalling what we really should do which is build a better public transportation infrastructure.
8
I have a disabled son who uses Uber with no problem in the Los Angeles area. Were it not for Uber, he would be home bound more as government does not support his disability (autism), cannot handle public transportation and Uber is financially reasonable (and so is LYFT). Obviously the problems are far more complex than the article or comment section alludes to. For the public to boycott Uber as a way of holding it accountable is unconscionable. There are far more issues in society we as individuals and groups could support for a better quality of life for all. I agree, the writer is a spoiled self-centered millennial. P.S My son is 24, millennial, how about writing an article about the lack of support for Autism?
5
The concept, business model, and operation of Uber are so wrong on many levels.
I choose not to use its services.
I choose not to use its services.
15
Way to specify. I find the ability to provide a service at a mutually agreed-upon rate refreshing. I think the significantly diminished DUI incidents are not wrong on many levels. Uber backing me up as a driver on numerous occasions isn't wrong on many levels.
You're clueless.
You're clueless.
1
CJ13, I absolutely agree. Luckily, NYC has widespread taxi service so it is easy to avoid Uber.
2
@Clifford, perhaps a better solution for you is to lay off the booze.
ah, disruption, disruption, disruption! Too many young billionaires about, heedless and eager to take advantage.
We have regulations for a reason. They may be burdensome, but they are reactions to real-world situations.
Employees need stability and benefits. Yes, some people need work who can't get it, but how is it solving that problem to create a whole class or drivers who have no privileges. Sooner or later, they will need health care or get old and discover they're out of luck.
Our whole society is focused on making bucks, first last and always, without regard to the fabric of humanity that is best served by community and mutual caring.
Ridesharing sounds good, but if somebody at the top is taking advantage, that needs to be fixed, not admired.
We have regulations for a reason. They may be burdensome, but they are reactions to real-world situations.
Employees need stability and benefits. Yes, some people need work who can't get it, but how is it solving that problem to create a whole class or drivers who have no privileges. Sooner or later, they will need health care or get old and discover they're out of luck.
Our whole society is focused on making bucks, first last and always, without regard to the fabric of humanity that is best served by community and mutual caring.
Ridesharing sounds good, but if somebody at the top is taking advantage, that needs to be fixed, not admired.
16
Why on earth do we do this? User pioneered a much needed service that improved the way we get around metropolitan areas. And from the start, the long knives have been out for them, as though Uber was carjacking people on the streets and forcing them to drive their cars. And now the social media echo chamber will require Uber to abandon its corporate aggression and become a model of political correctness and workplace harmony.
I can remember when there was a similar effort to destroy Microsoft.
I use Uber because it provides me a wonderful service at a reasonable price. When and if someone surpasses Uber in service and price, I will use them. Do we really want to destroy a successful and innovative company over matters mostly tangential to what the company is in business to do?
I can remember when there was a similar effort to destroy Microsoft.
I use Uber because it provides me a wonderful service at a reasonable price. When and if someone surpasses Uber in service and price, I will use them. Do we really want to destroy a successful and innovative company over matters mostly tangential to what the company is in business to do?
8
This article is not journalism. It's a Yelp review inflicted upon the NYT and its readers likely due to the happenstance of a bad ride experience. Shame on this imposter journalist for diminish the ride count and incomes of thousands of drivers willing to undertake the risk to make an honest buck.
2
Please stop using the dishonest term "ride-sharing" for Uber's business. By doing so, you help Uber maintain the fiction that their taxi service is a warm, fuzzy favor to the community, that their drivers are hobbyists and not employees, and that pesky laws and regulations should not apply to them. Uber is rotten to the core.
23
Why exactly should there be any regulations? I'm willing to pay Uber to find me a driver, and he's willing to take my money to do it.
1
While I can agree with exploration into another term, Uber is more than a favor to me. It's my income between jobs to sustain so much. It's me not filing for unemployment and instead letting somebody else take your tax dollars. It's a significant reduction in DUIs. No doubt the headlines have not made it easy on us drivers, and I warmly welcome the complete and thorough reception of the Holder recommendations. But please, get specific and get upset over the higher-ups becoming problematic and likely, power-drunk alcoholics.
1
There are people here I know who have refused to use Uber. Not long after I heard about them, a driver ran over and killed a small child in San Francisco. Uber argued that they were not liable for any damages as at the moment of the accident, there was not a paying customer in the car. I was appalled, as were many here. The DA here did not buy that argument and they were found to be liable. This, along with repeated chiding from many countries and local governments, poor labor relations have led to a number of persons I know who refuse to use it.
12
My friends and I use the taxicabs (via Flywheel). They provide better drivers, the drivers backgrounds are checked more thoroughly, the drivers know the city w/o having to stop in the middle of the street to read their GPS, and they aren't exploited like the 'indie contractors' at Uber & Lyft. There is also recourse to a real company, not an app, if there are any problems. And no added surge fees. These 'sharing' companies where the top brass get all the dough and don't share with their employees need to be regulated in terms of employee protections, customer protections and the sheer amount of vehicles overcrowding our city's streets. The added traffic has become untenable here and regulation is long overdue. The SFMTA has been totally hands off in regulation and not charging these companies for their use of public thruways. It's disgraceful how city officials have bought into the sharing economy and are subsidizing their windfall.
7
I never liked Uber. I used it maybe three times, but it made me feel creepy. It has also greatly exacerbated the NYC traffic, so I resent it. I like yellow NYC cabs. I use the "Curb" app to hail and pay for cabs. When I am in Atlanta, I use the taxi companies that I used as a kid (their phone numbers will be forever stuck in my memory). I am tired of unregulated businesses acting like big shot bullies.
28
New Yorkers - use Juno. Same service, same cost, but only 10% taken by company. Drivers make more.
20
I gave up on Uber a long time ago and after they targeted reporters and others who wrote critically of their heavy-handed business practices. Additionally, I would ask and drivers almost always complained about their treatment under Uber. I switched to Lyft and you don't read much about their business practices versus Uber - considering there are yet more options today I will vote with my wallet.
18
What thinking person does not have the Lyft app on their phone?
1
I don't- I take the subway or hail a cab the old way. However, to the point of this article, I will never have Uber on it. I may some day decide to use one of its competitors but Uber is, as was written, toxic.
3
A: those who think the tip option is a cheat to get more money from customer that lyft should fold into its final cost and that not doing so is just sleazy.
Ones unhappy with Lyft's key investors and partners (like CEO of GM) being deeply integrated into Trump's administration.
1
The academic promise of Uber transforming transportation and traffic problems are real cute, but ultimately is just hopeful parroting by those optimists that make the mental gymnastics to embrace every new technology hoping that it will just solve our problems. Thinking Uber will transform transportation is just as silly as saying Taxis solve congestion. Of course they don't - if anything, they cause more congestion because you end up having a lot of cars on the road 'circling the block' until they pick up the next rider, who is usually traveling alone. Subsidizing that vs building real infrastructure like trains and dense land use is as ridiculous as subsidizing Taxis. The ONLY way Uber is different than plain old taxi companies is that Uber can use their app to maximize the gap between the willingness of a rider to pay and the willingness of the single most HUNGRIEST MOST DESPERATE DRIVER to get paid. This means lower wages for drivers and more profits for shareholders, pure and simple.
18
it has transformed transportation. Clearly.
1
Transformed cab-hailing, sure. Transportation - nope, not at all.
3
In San Francisco, each of the 2000 cabs is required by the City to be clean burning whereas TNC's like Uber regulated by the State are not so required. Why are cabs regulated by the City and UberXs regulated by the State? Boy are you dumb. One is prearranged pickup like Limos while the other is on demand. That is why Uber advertises itself to be not prearranged even though state law says that is why they are regulated by the State. Confused? Join the crowd. Uber don't need no stinkin' regulations.
1
"To encourage a better Uber, it’s time to play the only card you’ve got: If it backslides or otherwise fails to live up to the promises it’s making now, stop using Uber."
"There’s an Uber app on your phone. Think twice about tapping it"
Conducting personal thought experiments-for-one doesn't send any kind of message to Uber. It needs to get hit in the only way its current culture cannot tolerate: by LOSING to its competitors and to other forms of transportation.
So, the only truly effective action is to delete the Uber app and only reinstall it when Uber has publicly demonstrated, over a long period of time, that it is capable of acting ethically, responsibly, lawfully, and fairly.
"There’s an Uber app on your phone. Think twice about tapping it"
Conducting personal thought experiments-for-one doesn't send any kind of message to Uber. It needs to get hit in the only way its current culture cannot tolerate: by LOSING to its competitors and to other forms of transportation.
So, the only truly effective action is to delete the Uber app and only reinstall it when Uber has publicly demonstrated, over a long period of time, that it is capable of acting ethically, responsibly, lawfully, and fairly.
15
It's time to stop using the "ride sharing" misnomer. You're not sharing a ride with anyone: you're hiring a driver to take you to your destination; it just happens to be in the driver's personal vehicle. This is nothing more than a high-version of what used to be called "gypsy cabs". Resist Uber's attempt to make itself seem more "eco-responsible" than it actually is. I've seen the term "ride hailing" used to label the concept, which is a more accurate description
98
I hate to say it, but this column exemplifies why many baby boomers see many millennials as spoiled, whiny, and entitled. Here's a young tech writer who has been cataloging all of Uber's many sins -- yet he admits to having used Uber a dozen times in the past month and three times in the past week! When there are alternatives (such as Lyft) that require exactly nothing in the way of sacrifice.
Having seen Uber for what it is from the beginning, I have never used it. Instead I use Lyft - which has more or less the same app and even the same drivers. Every time I use Lyft I survey the driver about their experience. Every driver I've had (and I do mean 100%) works for both companies and prefers Lyft because of its better pay scale and treatment of drivers. Add that to the sexism and abuse going on at Uber headquarters and it’s really a no-brainer as to which company deserves our support. The only reason they drive for Uber is because more customers use Uber.
So listen up, Farhad Manjoo and the rest of you Uber users: It’s easy to be principled: Spend a few seconds to download the Lyft app and then click it instead of the Uber app the next time you need a ride!
Having seen Uber for what it is from the beginning, I have never used it. Instead I use Lyft - which has more or less the same app and even the same drivers. Every time I use Lyft I survey the driver about their experience. Every driver I've had (and I do mean 100%) works for both companies and prefers Lyft because of its better pay scale and treatment of drivers. Add that to the sexism and abuse going on at Uber headquarters and it’s really a no-brainer as to which company deserves our support. The only reason they drive for Uber is because more customers use Uber.
So listen up, Farhad Manjoo and the rest of you Uber users: It’s easy to be principled: Spend a few seconds to download the Lyft app and then click it instead of the Uber app the next time you need a ride!
82
Yes, my guess is that an NYT tech writer lives in a city with many transportation options of the sort he details. I too have never used Uber seeing early on how toxic it was.
But beyond individual actions the writer needs reminding that there are these things called public space, politics, and public policy which are entirely missing from the column. Why should it be up to us as consumers, and not as citizens, to do something about this scourge?
But beyond individual actions the writer needs reminding that there are these things called public space, politics, and public policy which are entirely missing from the column. Why should it be up to us as consumers, and not as citizens, to do something about this scourge?
12
This an insightful comment, both on Uber itself and on the article, and rightly challenges Mr. Manjoo on the glaring dichotomy between what he writes and what he actually does.
1
Carl Icahn, Peter Thiel, GM's CEO, are all deeply involved with the Trump administration, and Lyft. The only reason you don't hear about them is because Lyft's new buddy, Google, controls the news. It's no wonder they get so much free publicity and fanboys (and girls) advertising for them.
There is nothing good about the gig economy. Supporting Uber and Airbnb are another way to bust unions and keep most of us poor.
54
Let's say you are an artist or musician or person who can't work predictable hours consistently.
Pray tell what suitable non-gig economy jobs do you know of please?
Pray tell what suitable non-gig economy jobs do you know of please?
2
"What if, instead of building fixed bus lines, cities subsidized Uber rides, allowing people the flexibility of car travel for the price of a bus?"
I shudder to think of a future in which fleets of driverless Ubers have replaced public transit. Fifty Uber passengers, each in his or her own hyper-efficient driverless vehicle, is still 50 more cars on the road compared to a single bus.
Not that public transit doesn't have its problems and imagination failures. But as a society we need to design more bus rapid transit and bicycle lanes, along with the transit-oriented development that makes using both those modes easier and more appealing. I see Uber most generously as a disrupter of the taxi industry, not of our entire transportation system.
I shudder to think of a future in which fleets of driverless Ubers have replaced public transit. Fifty Uber passengers, each in his or her own hyper-efficient driverless vehicle, is still 50 more cars on the road compared to a single bus.
Not that public transit doesn't have its problems and imagination failures. But as a society we need to design more bus rapid transit and bicycle lanes, along with the transit-oriented development that makes using both those modes easier and more appealing. I see Uber most generously as a disrupter of the taxi industry, not of our entire transportation system.
26
When Uber was at its height of the user app download, it lied to riders when it stated the "tip is included." That simple untruth has affected drivers more than anything else, I believe. It created the thought process that no matter how low the cost of a ride, Uber adds a tip for the drivers.
It never has. That was a lie.
That, along with consistently lowering fares, is breaking the drivers. While rideshare still exists, PLEASE TIP YOUR UBER DRIVERS!
It never has. That was a lie.
That, along with consistently lowering fares, is breaking the drivers. While rideshare still exists, PLEASE TIP YOUR UBER DRIVERS!
27
The biggest irony is that before Uber yellow cabs were indeed hard to find vacant. Now, with all the competition yellow cabs are often available - I see them go by as I wait for my Uber. I would suggest first to hail a yellow cab as they as less expensive and safer.
12
I would never use Uber. They have outsourced all the risk to "independent contractors," formerly known as "employees." Any company that wants to take all the benefits and foist all the hassles/expenses/costs/risks onto the most vulnerable members of their value chain doesn't deserve my business.
66
I started using Uber many years ago, when all you could call was a black car, and have hundreds of rides logged with the service (nearly all of them positive). But since reading Susan Fowler's harrowing account of her experiences at the company, I have found the thought of using the service unconscionable. I expected the transition to be difficult, but I've found that Lyft and other alternatives have provided the same or better level of service at the same or lower cost.
That being said, those who are calling for a boycott on ride sharing services are tilting at windmills. While NYC has excellent taxis, the same cannot be said for other cities -- indeed, it was the terrible quality of taxi service that drove me to pay a premium for Uber's black cars years ago. The medallion system has long misused public resources for private gain, and has too often enabled medallion holders to cheat drivers and riders alike. It cannot meet a quick enough end.
That being said, those who are calling for a boycott on ride sharing services are tilting at windmills. While NYC has excellent taxis, the same cannot be said for other cities -- indeed, it was the terrible quality of taxi service that drove me to pay a premium for Uber's black cars years ago. The medallion system has long misused public resources for private gain, and has too often enabled medallion holders to cheat drivers and riders alike. It cannot meet a quick enough end.
9
It's frankly astonishing that anyone continues to subsidize this toxic company. Their moral failings are well publicized, and there are real alternatives. Don't be complicit. And simply from a merely practical standpoint, don't rely on a company that has a completely unsustainable business model — when it fails, it will fail fast.
25
Uber's structure and leadership are separate and unrelated to the user experience and it's app. Besides, the disruptor attitude there and elsewhere are the very thing that allowed them to make the inroads they have against entrenched parochial interests.
3
Before Uber, I did just fine walking, biking, taking public transportation and occasionally renting a car. I took a taxi a few times a year. I have to admit Uber was convenient and cheap and I got hooked on it but I learned from the Uber drivers that they weren't making much money. They also all hated UberPool. Can't say I blame them. So I stopped using Uber (and Lyft) at the end of last summer and deleted my Uber account in January. I can't live without the Internet or a smartphone but I can live without Uber. It's just inconvenient sometimes.
16
Use Via in NY :)
Uber treats its people terribly. I was outraged when I found out their drivers are earning so little and really do need tips to get by. So dishonest. It's Lyft for me, which has the tip option built into their app. This maintains the convenience of cashless transactions and ensures drivers are not working for slave wages.
16
I use uber in Kiev and Riyadh - drivers love it. If they don't, they just switch off the app and never need to turn it on again.
And In Saudi Arabia, women can finally move around without needing permission from male guardians. Ride sharing is a revolutionary technology that is making the world more efficient and less polluted.
Soon, however, all cars will be driverless and the benefits to global society from this will be enormous.
And In Saudi Arabia, women can finally move around without needing permission from male guardians. Ride sharing is a revolutionary technology that is making the world more efficient and less polluted.
Soon, however, all cars will be driverless and the benefits to global society from this will be enormous.
I stopped using Uber a few years ago after one of the drivers had picked up two riders from a Chicago airport (they flew in for Thanksgiving from India to visit family), drove down an expressway the wrong way, killing both riders and himself. This accident occurred at 2 AM in the morning. There were also other incidents of sexual assault by different Uber drivers. I'm sure the majority of these drivers are safe, competent and trustworthy. However, you never know. At the very least, since I don't drive, I need to feel safe whenever someone is behind the wheel. After all, my priority is MY life.
18
People will continue using uber as long as it's working for them and conveniently overlook it's faults, just like they will continue to buy cheap consumer products even though they disagree with child labor and consume factory farmed livestock whilst being horrified by its inhumane practices.
When you're barely getting by financially, you lose the luxury of ethically informed choices regarding how to spend your money.
When you're barely getting by financially, you lose the luxury of ethically informed choices regarding how to spend your money.
10
If you are just barely getting by you are not using Uber. That is a luxury. You are taking the bus or some other form of public transit.
14
You're right about people willing to pay for the cheapest services and goods. It's human nature.
Using Uber and Lyft is not what I would call ethically informed choices. When Uber first started in San Francisco, people I know who used said it was convenient to order service through an app and it's cheaper than hailing a taxi. I don't see their decisions as "ethically informed." If anything, they are complicit in exploiting the drivers who get paid spare change and have to pay for his/her own health benefits, and additional car insurance.
Every day I see people in San Francisco getting picked up by Uber drivers. They are not what I would describe "barely-getting-by" type. If anything, they're Millenials dressed in their hip outfits with eyes glued to their smartphones, and/or younger Baby Boomers (think 50-something) who don't want to pay more for taxi service.
Many people who are "barely getting by" are those I see getting on the buses.
Using Uber and Lyft is not what I would call ethically informed choices. When Uber first started in San Francisco, people I know who used said it was convenient to order service through an app and it's cheaper than hailing a taxi. I don't see their decisions as "ethically informed." If anything, they are complicit in exploiting the drivers who get paid spare change and have to pay for his/her own health benefits, and additional car insurance.
Every day I see people in San Francisco getting picked up by Uber drivers. They are not what I would describe "barely-getting-by" type. If anything, they're Millenials dressed in their hip outfits with eyes glued to their smartphones, and/or younger Baby Boomers (think 50-something) who don't want to pay more for taxi service.
Many people who are "barely getting by" are those I see getting on the buses.
3
What happens when there is no bus route (or it runs once an hour) and someone needs to pick up 2-4 children after school? You'd be surprised how many people outside of large cities don't have cars.
What happens when someone can no longer drive due to their age, but still needs to go shopping, see doctors, visit friends? Not so easy to just say no when the only other alternative is a rundown cab company that takes 20-40 minutes to come (don't bother calling when it rains or snows) and is 40% more expensive? Yes, there are other companies than Uber, but they are not available everywhere. Plus, the problems the company is having at the top has nothing to do with the people at the bottom--people needing to get somewhere and drivers trying to make a living.
I've used Uber quite frequently in the past (no other alternative) and never had problems; almost always had a very nice driver and a pleasant trip. I'm very aware of how much drivers make and always tip extra--just as I do in most situations where tipping is "not required, but appreciated".
The biggest problem we have in this country is most people are not paid enough and the workers at the bottom can't survive on what they are paid. Uber is a symptom of that problem, boycotting it because of board members and other high-ranking personnel are acting poorly is not going to solve the problem. Expect to pay more if you want people to be able to make a living wage. Many people in this country aren't willing to do that.
What happens when someone can no longer drive due to their age, but still needs to go shopping, see doctors, visit friends? Not so easy to just say no when the only other alternative is a rundown cab company that takes 20-40 minutes to come (don't bother calling when it rains or snows) and is 40% more expensive? Yes, there are other companies than Uber, but they are not available everywhere. Plus, the problems the company is having at the top has nothing to do with the people at the bottom--people needing to get somewhere and drivers trying to make a living.
I've used Uber quite frequently in the past (no other alternative) and never had problems; almost always had a very nice driver and a pleasant trip. I'm very aware of how much drivers make and always tip extra--just as I do in most situations where tipping is "not required, but appreciated".
The biggest problem we have in this country is most people are not paid enough and the workers at the bottom can't survive on what they are paid. Uber is a symptom of that problem, boycotting it because of board members and other high-ranking personnel are acting poorly is not going to solve the problem. Expect to pay more if you want people to be able to make a living wage. Many people in this country aren't willing to do that.
2
Much is being made of the behavior and issues facing Uber as a corporation. It's unlikely that customers will desert Uber because of this, any more than they deserted Apple when stories broke about the working conditions at their factories in China.
The more potent story, and one about which there has been no recent news, is the harassment of customers by drivers. That will drive people away...maybe.
We're an addicted society. Travel at your own risk.
The more potent story, and one about which there has been no recent news, is the harassment of customers by drivers. That will drive people away...maybe.
We're an addicted society. Travel at your own risk.
To show what kind of company Uber really is reports from the UK say that after the recent Westminster terrorist attack, while people were trying to flee and black cabs were offering to get people away for nothing Uber switched on its surge pricing increasing fares up to 400%.
19
Well. The surge pricing is controlled by a computer. Is the computer supposed to automatically detect terrorist attacks too now? They turned it off as fast as they could.
Also, it appears that last time Uber turned OFF surge pricing AFTER the 6-7pm anti-Trump strike at JFK was OVER, they got nailed for supposedly trying to steal customers. So in your opinion, when an event happens and there are more riders needing rides, should they leave surge on or off?
Also, it appears that last time Uber turned OFF surge pricing AFTER the 6-7pm anti-Trump strike at JFK was OVER, they got nailed for supposedly trying to steal customers. So in your opinion, when an event happens and there are more riders needing rides, should they leave surge on or off?
2
I don't think comparing a life threatening situation with a protest is valid. Snarled traffic and vulgar chants don't exactly lead to loss of life.
What I think this event shows is the ability of flesh and blood companies - the famous London Taxis - to respond immediately. They didn't have to wait for someone to turn off a bloody computer. Their drivers were free to use their brains and compassion.
What I think this event shows is the ability of flesh and blood companies - the famous London Taxis - to respond immediately. They didn't have to wait for someone to turn off a bloody computer. Their drivers were free to use their brains and compassion.
Enjoy Uber while it lasts, because it is not clear to me how it is viable as a long-term going concern. Part of the reason Uber is so cheap is that at least 20% of the cost of every ride is paid for not by the riders but by the venture capitalists who invest in Uber. Does Uber think they are going to travel the path of Amazon and keep investors on board for 20 years until they reliably return a marginal profit?
Uber’s “plan” appears to follow two tracks: First, grow market share by undercutting competitors on price. Presumably, the end game here is to drive competitors out of business so Uber can later raise prices high enough to sustain their business. So much for “cheap”. Track two is self-driving cars – which do not yet exist in a form that can safely ply the roads, and may not exist for many years.
Uber’s “plan” appears to follow two tracks: First, grow market share by undercutting competitors on price. Presumably, the end game here is to drive competitors out of business so Uber can later raise prices high enough to sustain their business. So much for “cheap”. Track two is self-driving cars – which do not yet exist in a form that can safely ply the roads, and may not exist for many years.
7
Uber came about because of high priced cabs. If Uber raises their prices high enough, competitors will enter the market at a lower cost or better service. Capitalism. Who knew?
5
A more likely Capitalism scenario is the eventual take over of all ride-hailing by Mega Hail. Good luck on lower cost and better service.
I don't care about all the political correctness and will certainly not use Uber any less if it's the most convenient mode of transport.
5
What a fine fellow you are! We're all proud of you.
1
Seriously? The competition cannot take on Uber in a fair manner and have to resort to discrediting them on irrelevant issues that dont affect the consumer?
7
Correct. It's difficult to compete with unfair business practices. That's why they are called "unfair."
5
I know a young woman who drove for them, although she was reckless prior to her employment and had multiple speeding tickets, and an accident with a passenger in her car. Her license has been suspended now. No effect on the consumer, to get in cars with people who work for an irresponsible employer? Check out Uber's behavior toward the rape victim in India, from the highest executives there. It's not "the competition" saying this. I have zero to do with it except as a kind of horrified witness to what I've seen here.
2
This all sounds great until I consider my options. Before Uber, I used taxis and car services which were in general even more ethically sketchy than Uber. Part of why Uber thrives is that the drivers are actually a pretty good bunch and they are who I really interact with. I wouldn't share an Uber with Travis K, but I don't have to. I hope that bears eat him, but I hope his company thrives. Free enterprise is funny that way.
10
I would argue that the reason Uber thrives in Los Angeles is that it's the closest thing that the city has resembling comprehensive public transit.
I can agree that taxis can have ethically sketchy practices at times (like when they insist on cash to avoid reportable income -- I find it easy enough to say no and still pay with a credit card, or when some of them avoid picking up people of color). But this is what I think is most poignant:
" the drivers are actually a pretty good bunch and they are who I really interact with", and what I think you mean here is that Uber is full of younger white (or at least whitesh) people while taxis are often driven by older minorities and foreign nationals. I feel that indeed, many people choose Uber over taxis not based on price or convenience, but off of their personal comfort of only wanting to interact with people 'of their own kind'. And that is what makes me dislike Uber more than anything, it has enabled a sort of transportation segregation.
" the drivers are actually a pretty good bunch and they are who I really interact with", and what I think you mean here is that Uber is full of younger white (or at least whitesh) people while taxis are often driven by older minorities and foreign nationals. I feel that indeed, many people choose Uber over taxis not based on price or convenience, but off of their personal comfort of only wanting to interact with people 'of their own kind'. And that is what makes me dislike Uber more than anything, it has enabled a sort of transportation segregation.
5
Well put!
1
I should not be shocked, but always am at the hypocrisy of my fellow lefties. We campaign for $15 minimum wage and fair housing laws but worship the sharing economy corporations -- uber airbnb --whose sole business model is avoiding regulation. Millennial children won't know this, but it started with Craigslist successful legal battle to be exempt from fair housing laws on advertising that apply to print ads.
Put money where mouth is or shut up.
Put money where mouth is or shut up.
13
I'd rather all the lefties just shut up
And yet, Mr. Manjoo, you freely admit that you are part of the problem. You've used Uber 3 times in the past week? How far do you have to reach to get to your Lyft app? In other words, I agree with your advice. Please follow it.
13
Living in San Francisco where Uber is able to run roughshod over the quality of life here is a nightmare. Virtually unregulated, Uber clogs the streets full of drivers who have zero knowledge of the city including many who don't even understand how to drive in a city. The drivers are not trained and think that they can stop wherever they want and in whatever lane of traffic. Often, they are on the wrong side of the street from the address for pickup forcing passengers to cross in the middle of a block & in heavy traffic. Right turns from the left lane - no problem. Left turn from the right lame - sure. I've used Uber a lot in the past & I can tell you from experience that the stress of being driven around by someone who mainly pays attention to his phone while driving is an unpleasant experience. Of course, as we all know, the drivers themselves have taken a beating from Uber & will be shown the door if & when driverless cars are the norm. Despite these problems, Uber is huge in San Francisco because its impossible for the most part to rely on SF's Muni bus to get you timely to your destination. Add in the corporate culture & their flagrant disregard for regulations & it's time to say Uber is Over. As the engine that runs the company, we the customers must speak with our wallets. #takedownuber #uberisover
27
I share your sentiments. Uber and Lyft drivers are the worst (and they are everywhere in this town). It's like they forgot all the rules about road safety. Each day, I witness at least a few sudden U-turns and/or sudden stops without signaling—causing cars behind the to be stuck in the block when the lights turn red. They double-park wherever they want, not realizing they're blocking traffic. They run stop signs because they were busy looking at their smart phones. At least with yellow or red taxi cabs, one can spot them and anticipate sudden stops or turn onto another street to avoid them. I blame Uber for not instituting high performance standards to ensure their drivers earn a good driving reputation.
People who use their service don't care if the Uber driver takes illegal turns or dangerous moves as long as s/he gets them to their destination.
People who use their service don't care if the Uber driver takes illegal turns or dangerous moves as long as s/he gets them to their destination.
2
"If it backslides ..." Mr. Manjoo was on track, then with this weasely conditional, undid whatever he'd accomplished up to that point. That's morality in the 21st century—boycott BP, unless they're 5 cents a gallon cheaper ...
If you're appalled by the way Uber treats its drivers, female employees, passengers, and legitimate regulators, the only moral thing to do is to stop using it. Don't wait and see if things will improve.
If you're appalled by the way Uber treats its drivers, female employees, passengers, and legitimate regulators, the only moral thing to do is to stop using it. Don't wait and see if things will improve.
16
What the heck?? I was all ready to applaud the author for taking a stand and rallying people to boycott Uber, but then he admits that he himself has used Uber three times in the past week? Come on, walk the walk, buddy. Don't expect others to do the work for you just because you don't want to be inconvenienced!
28
this should obviously apply to ANY company - starting with google....
3
there's nothing to cheer in the loophole/gig economy. fewer protections for consumers and workers. More opportunities to exploit people (vehicle leasing and financing) and the obvious long term goal of monopoly with "demand pricing" (pay a fortune in a rainstorm). Uber/Lyft makes more sense for places that have low density and limited public transit options more than in cities, but w/o regulation, they'll just screw everyone.
11
Good point that people can vote with their actions. Same is true about global warming (buy a car that does not pollute), choosing your president (vote when you get the opportunity), influencing laws (donate to your congress person). It does n ot need to be an app to make a difference.
5
No one thinks like this.
Totally ineffective
Totally ineffective
I stopped using Uber. But will not use taxis when I need an alternative to public transportation: it's almost impossible to schedule them reliably, they are most of the time dirty and a lot of time I had some with duct-tape repairs, have all these video ads and pseudo TVs which are the last thing you need, make you feel like a criminal behind all these screens and to top it off are most of the time 2x the price of Lyft.
1
When it comes to Uber we're at a point where we can no longer say we didn't know. The ugly toxic law breaking environment that is Uber has been revealed for all to see. Now if we choose to use the service we're letting Uber know that convenience is more important than ethics. That says just as much about Uber as it does us.
12
I love Uber and will continue to use them because the real thieves are the taxi companies and the municipal tax commissions (at least in DC). Seems to like Uber has already made strides in attempting to change their culture (can't say that about banking, chemicals, the military, etc!!!) let's celebrate that and not try to tear down an amazing company.
12
Taxi service, in DC, has been repeatedly "disrupted" by congress to keep fees low for them and their staff while residents out of their zone foot the bill.
1
People will not stop using Uber until they have a bad experience. Bad news "away" from you does not impact the average user. If they have a good experience they will continue using it. Just because there are some issues in the company does not mean I will change.
5
The reason Uber prospers is because the industry it is replacing is a complacent government connected monopoly. The best way to beat Uber is to make it easy for the small business person to compete. Change the system where taxi medallions are owned by the company and make it easy for individual drivers to have their own service. Reduce the cost of a taxi medallion. Then use technology so drivers can pool their resources to dispatch themselves where they are needed. I don't think a duopoly of Uber and Lyft will get the private car service to any better place than a single taxi company had done in the past.
3
Fundamentally, it's all about supply and demand. If you need to go somewhere, and there are no substantially equal options, you're going to choose Uber. Boycotting takes a lot of concerted effort to deliberately go against common sense in this case, and that's something I think a lot of people won't do. Fundamentally, convenience matters more than anything else to the average person. Foxconn treats their workers so badly they have to install suicide nets, but that doesn't mean people don't buy devices that go through Foxconn factories. The bad treatment allows them to be more profitable/charge less for services, and thus, allows the devices they manufacture to be cheaper and more desirable to the public.
The only real way to force change is to regulate the industry and/or punish those companies that behave badly by making them a less desirable option to the public.
The only real way to force change is to regulate the industry and/or punish those companies that behave badly by making them a less desirable option to the public.
1
I am puzzled by the notion that it is the leadership and owners of Uber who will be hurt most if we refuse to use the service. Most of the drivers I've encountered are immigrants and/or minorities, and I assume that if there better jobs available to them, they would not be driving for Uber. If Uber provides an income to a lot of people who would otherwise be unemployed, shouldn't we support them by buying what they offer? If they are unhappy enough with their employer, they will quite or find a way to disrupt service. In the meantime, I am reluctant to refuse to hire them, knowing that their income is directly affected by my decision.
2
Without Uber, people would still need rides, and there would be jobs for drivers, and one would hope better jobs than with Uber.
4
I guess I'm surprised that people think that the toxic conditions at Uber are unique. I would say that it's closer to the norm than not.
2
"Taxis and buses are the wave of the future", said the progressive.
1
I only use Lyft because I met a driver who worked for both and said Lyft did a better job screening drivers.
11
Even this article, critical of Uber, calls the industry, "ride-sharing." That's a deliberate misnomer by Uber. It is a car service, and aside from taxis there are many alternative companies, that will take passengers from one place to another. If you repeatedly take a particular route, getting to know a small car service, or even a specific driver, works much better. When I flew into JFK as my father was dying, the small car service my family habitually used made sure to send a driver I knew. In turn, that driver had more recent information than I did, and took me directly to the hospital. Keeping those small companies afloat is another good reason to avoid Uber (or Lyft) whenever possible.
8
Uber and Lyft spent something like 9 million dollars in their attempt to defeat an Austin proposition that would have required fingerprinting drivers. One of their tactics was to fund a recall of one of our city council members. Their bullying efforts failed and they left town the next day. Other companies, including a non-profit, managed to fill the void. During its recent session the Texas legislature passed ride-sharing bill that prohibits cities from requiring fingerprinting. It would be interesting to know how much Uber/Lyft money is lining the pockets of Texas legislators. Uber and Lyft returned as soon as that bill was signed. Many local residents will never use these companies again but they will do well with the tourist crowd.
16
That is just appalling!
I am unclear which transportation experts you talked to who said that Uber would increase transportation access for disabled persons. The experience of myself and other disabled persons is that Uber drivers will turn away people who use wheelchairs or have service dogs. Uber (and AirBNB and other 'sharing' companies) keeps promising that this will change, but until the DOT, DOJ, or state or local agencies actively enforce access laws, disabled people will be left at the curb.
8
Uber is a great company built around a great idea. When I using Uber, I always ask drivers how do they like it and yet to hear a negative response.
Uber is a blessing for low-income people without a college education.
In every big company, there are some unhappy people, rather than handpick them, check glassdoor.com, that provides statistics on overall feelings of employees. Uber scores 4.1 out of 5.
It disgusting, that people like Farhad organizing smear campaigns and focus on negative sides. Obviously, without relevant education, he lacks the expertise to talk about business or technology.
Uber is a blessing for low-income people without a college education.
In every big company, there are some unhappy people, rather than handpick them, check glassdoor.com, that provides statistics on overall feelings of employees. Uber scores 4.1 out of 5.
It disgusting, that people like Farhad organizing smear campaigns and focus on negative sides. Obviously, without relevant education, he lacks the expertise to talk about business or technology.
1
What exactly is so disgusting about reporting the results of an investigation sponsored by the company itself? How is reporting the truth about events in India and elsewhere a smear campaign?
5
Travis, is that you?
1
So you know more about Uber that the employees who worked there? Uber is toxic, and needs a change of face and direction. I have a friend who worked there but in 9 months because he couldn't stand how Uber operated.
Glassdoor reviews aren't always accurate and by no means the only way to judge a company. I know of a company where the HR team created fake accounts to post 5* reviews. For every negative review they would post two glowing reviews.
I too have spoken to many Uber and Lyft drivers. Some are happy, some feel they have been short changed. And by large drivers are happier with Lyft than with Uber.
Im sure you also event read about how Uber tried to circumvent law enforcement and even Apple engineers, and it took a strong word from Tim Cook for Kalanick to stop his cheap tactics. (BTW, Cook threatened to pull Uber off the app store, Kalanick left Apple office trembling)
Glassdoor reviews aren't always accurate and by no means the only way to judge a company. I know of a company where the HR team created fake accounts to post 5* reviews. For every negative review they would post two glowing reviews.
I too have spoken to many Uber and Lyft drivers. Some are happy, some feel they have been short changed. And by large drivers are happier with Lyft than with Uber.
Im sure you also event read about how Uber tried to circumvent law enforcement and even Apple engineers, and it took a strong word from Tim Cook for Kalanick to stop his cheap tactics. (BTW, Cook threatened to pull Uber off the app store, Kalanick left Apple office trembling)
So the writer used Uber three times last week after knowing about all the toxicity?!? Way to practice what you preach.
15
If you think Uber is bad now, wait until they bully and vanquish all their competitors. They will have no reason to be nice. They will have huge power to stamp out any embers of competition. They will drive prices down and absorb losses until the competition withers. Deleting Uber is about more than pulling support from an evil company. It is also about keeping the evil company from enveloping the earth.
8
I don't use Uber. When I need a ride I go down to the street and hail a readily available yellow medallion taxi. No phone, no apps, and I have some idea as to what the fare will be.
18
Left and Via are two excellent alternatives in Manhattan. If you're OK with more earth friendly shared rides you can also keep you wallet happy. I've stopped using Uber and still seem to wake up each morning.
12
I just am gonna feel sorry for the un-commercially licensed, 1099 un-employees, driving their own un-inspected cars who will have to find another way to make a living when corporate Uber comes crashing down, as it must.
7
"What if, instead of building fixed bus lines, cities subsidized Uber rides, allowing people the flexibility of car travel for the price of a bus?" I am so tired of hearing this poorly thought out concept. I sedan with a driver can carry 3 passengers. One bus can carry 45. 45 passengers would require 15 sedans which equals traffic congestion. Second, "This year, I met drivers in India who said the company had significantly improved their lives." There's as many folks who say that Uber has ruined their lives, some former drivers and some were victims of sexual assault or in an accident with Uber. Please, will someone tell the full story? What about instead of a new infrastructure built outside of existing infrastructure we use technology to get better efficiency from existing infrastructure, busses, rail, taxis, bicycles, etc?
25
Having heard about its obnoxious business practices, toxic culture, and unenlightened CEO, I did precisely that - I canceled my Uber account, and I made sure to say exactly why when the app prompted me for my reason(s). So glad I did. The hubris of this company (and apparently not only its executives but also some of its directors) offends me.
20
It's a $70 billion dollar "taxi service". And this is the wave of the future? We really need to rethink where we're headed when companies like this are supposed to be demonstrating or advancing our technological acumen. Apple-yes,Amazon-yes, Google-yes. Uber taxi service-no.
14
Come to D.C., where the Metro is falling apart and the taxis are third world level. You'll be glad to take UBER.
I wonder about the legitimacy of the "transportation scholars" who are "giddy" about the potential of Uber and the rideshare model, because all the traffic reports done so far seem to point to rideshare vehicles significantly increasing the amount of traffic and congestion. I don't how you conclude that these extra cars WOULDN'T contribute to more traffic. If you drive your own car to the store, it leaves the street when you get there. Take an Uber to the store? It drops you off and then remains on the street. Then multiply that by the thousands of people taking Ubers instead of their own cars/public transit, and you have tons of extra cars on the streets simply moving between fares causing extra traffic, burning extra gasoline, and causing extra wear and tear to the roads.
I wonder if anyone in the first dotcom boom ever envisioned that the future of tech would be a slimy jitney dispatch service worth $70 billion.
I wonder if anyone in the first dotcom boom ever envisioned that the future of tech would be a slimy jitney dispatch service worth $70 billion.
23
I don't think you're fully grasping the concept here.
Firstly, the model is EXTREMELY different in big cities vs. not big cities.
In big cities, services like Uber and Lyft are causing significant numbers of personal vehicles to disappear from the streets. I myself got rid of my car, because the cost is more than I spend using public transport and the occasional Uber. There just is no more need for a car, and the cost/benefit analysis also leans in favor of using these services, or things like zipcar.
So yes, ride sharing and zipcar business models are actually reducing the number of vehicles from the roads, and thus reducing congestion, air pollution etc.
Firstly, the model is EXTREMELY different in big cities vs. not big cities.
In big cities, services like Uber and Lyft are causing significant numbers of personal vehicles to disappear from the streets. I myself got rid of my car, because the cost is more than I spend using public transport and the occasional Uber. There just is no more need for a car, and the cost/benefit analysis also leans in favor of using these services, or things like zipcar.
So yes, ride sharing and zipcar business models are actually reducing the number of vehicles from the roads, and thus reducing congestion, air pollution etc.
1
So would public transportation, Dilly, and better effects all around with that. We need to pursue that politically instead of making excuses for exploitation on that ground.
4
I fail to see how more Uber drivers will fix the congestion problem. Could someone explain the math in that?
17
Uber offers ride sharing. So instead of three people taking three taxis to a destination (Logan airport to Boston suburb, for instance), we three people get into one Uber car. So two fewer cars on road. And the price is 1/3 of normal taxi. Multiplied across the globe, it's billions of miles of cars taken off streets and countless tons of CO2 removed from atmosphere.
1
PLEASE STOP REFERRING TO UBER AS A "RIDE SHARING" SERVICE!! It's no such thing. It's merely an exploitative, non-union taxi service. Real ride sharing like car pooling and slug lines fills empty seats in cars already on the road going somewhere. It benefits the environment and riders' pocketbooks. If riders chip in for gas, it benefits drivers also.
We desperately need someone - my choice would be the government - to write a non-profit app matching riders willing to pay a few cents per mile with drivers already on the road going their way. Nationwide! I admit this would look like hitchhiking - terrifying word; I do it all the time - but it would have the built in safeguard of being able to email instantly photos of riders, drivers, or license numbers.
I'm seventy-three. I've been taking annual trips, hitting the road for nine or ten days with a 10¢/mile sign. I've been doing this for the past four years in the South and the Midwest. It's difficult - made so by America's fear industry - but it's proven to be anything but dangerous.
We desperately need someone - my choice would be the government - to write a non-profit app matching riders willing to pay a few cents per mile with drivers already on the road going their way. Nationwide! I admit this would look like hitchhiking - terrifying word; I do it all the time - but it would have the built in safeguard of being able to email instantly photos of riders, drivers, or license numbers.
I'm seventy-three. I've been taking annual trips, hitting the road for nine or ten days with a 10¢/mile sign. I've been doing this for the past four years in the South and the Midwest. It's difficult - made so by America's fear industry - but it's proven to be anything but dangerous.
6
They were called buses, and we had them once. We could again, if we could pry the hands of oil and gas from control of our political "representatives".
5
The government is not in the business of being in business. We're not a socialist country, we're a capitalist country...
The power of consumers and the market will determine Uber's future. I made my consumer statement by deleting the Uber app from my phone.
7
HAHAHA, okay... power of the consumer. They decided to pick people up from the air port and not increase their rates during peak times? Those terrible no good rotten capitalist how could they...
1
Quite the opposite actually. They surge priced rides when the yellow cabs were on strike, specially at the airport. Those terrible no good rotten capitalists!
Uber has deeply divided my sensibilities almost from the beginning. Obviously it had the potential to remake affordable local transportation. But Uber's spongy (at best) ethics troubled me. And they only got worse as time passed. I turned to Lyft as an alternative many months ago.
The Uber app remains on my phone, unused and un-updated. Whether it is ever used again depends on Uber.
The Uber app remains on my phone, unused and un-updated. Whether it is ever used again depends on Uber.
3
The obvious course of action is to have a public, non-profit version of Uber's ridesharing app that lets drivers set their own prices and lists the qualifications of the driver and track record of the rider.
3
I despise the way Uber has attempted to run roughshod over local municipalities, ignoring licensing regulations and laws, avoiding inspectors as the Times so ably documented a few months ago and generally acting like spoiled children. Not interested in rating or being rated by a driver. The idea that they're creating jobs while taking them away from taxi drivers is ludicrous--they're just spreading the money around.
On the other hand, taxi service in some places is just so horrible that an Uber was bound to come along eventually and upend the market. I just hope that whatever replaces Uber is a better citizen.
On the other hand, taxi service in some places is just so horrible that an Uber was bound to come along eventually and upend the market. I just hope that whatever replaces Uber is a better citizen.
6
I love not using Uber. One minor reason among other better reasons: They, like so many other companies, have ruined (or watered down or infantilized ) a really good word: uber.
7
I have always thought the very concept of Uber was toxic and had never used it until a recent trip to LA where I had to choose a taxi from a line of taxis managed by the airport. I ended up with Uber and the hotel I was using ended up being rather close to the airport. The driver reamed me out because the distance was too short and he would have to get back in that long line of taxis again and couldn't make any money. Believe me, I am not a convert. It would be fine to see Uber learn some manners, if not human decency.
24
OK, but did you use the rating feature in the Uber app to call out the inappropriate behavior? The point here is that if you had taken a taxi on the same trip, you may have had the same reaction from the driver, and no recourse at all.
1
When I want a ride, fast, easily available, efficient and affordable with the price is known up front I use Uber. I actually love that there is no tipping option. Drivers know the rates, they can opt to drive or not at that time given the rates. It's perfect supply and demand option.
I maintain a high rating and am respectful of showing up when and where I say I will be. It's quid pro quo driver and passenger know the deal.
If I had to make a values based judgement on how companies treated it's poor downtrodden labor every time I made a purchasing decision, I wouldn't be able to make a purchase.
The fact that Uber is acknowledging the issue and is making some changes, great!
I maintain a high rating and am respectful of showing up when and where I say I will be. It's quid pro quo driver and passenger know the deal.
If I had to make a values based judgement on how companies treated it's poor downtrodden labor every time I made a purchasing decision, I wouldn't be able to make a purchase.
The fact that Uber is acknowledging the issue and is making some changes, great!
6
I agree completely with this post. However, I live outside of NYC but visit family there frequently, Turtle Bay area. I lived in NYC for five years; I know my way around, owned a car in NYC and have taken taxis for years. In the past month, on two separate yellow taxi rides in Manhattan, I was taken a COMPLETELY roundabout route to my destination. I knew where I was going, and I knew how to get there. My cab drivers didn't go that way, despite my increasingly vehement protests. Did I look like a tourist? Did my pick-up and drop-off spots "give me away?" Regardless, my taxi fares were through the roof, and I knew it and the drivers knew it. Uber is a disgusting company, I don't have an app, but someone in a position of oversight is going to have to come up with a compromise that gives medallion drivers a fair shot at a fare, because the desperation of taxi drivers in the face of Uber, as discussed in the article, is clear.
3
Never used it, never plan to. While I feel Uber has every right to do what they do, I prefer taxi companies I already have experience with and trust.
Never have had a problem getting a taxi when I needed one. Maybe it's because I plan ahead instead of waiting until the last minute and expecting someone to magically be waiting around to provide me a ride.
Never have had a problem getting a taxi when I needed one. Maybe it's because I plan ahead instead of waiting until the last minute and expecting someone to magically be waiting around to provide me a ride.
5
I've used Uber twice, when visiting NYC and taking my elderly Auntie out to dinner. It was a positive experience--both drivers were wonderful. Generally I take mass transit. But sometimes mass transit isn't a possibility. When I'm taking my Auntie out to dinner on my next visit, I'll use Lyft and not look back. Can't imagine the circumstance in which I'd use Uber now.
6
There is no such thing as a "ride sharing service".
Uber is a taxi company using manipulative grammar and deception and outright criminal efforts to avoid the law, to bypass proper regulation and accountability to its employee drivers and the public.
Uber is a taxi company using manipulative grammar and deception and outright criminal efforts to avoid the law, to bypass proper regulation and accountability to its employee drivers and the public.
56
Most internet companies just use semantics and grammar to bypass laws. That's the whole "tech revolution" isn't it? Reinventing something, but making it via computer interface rather than paper or whatever the previous method was, claiming it's completely different (I've been to several interviews for a "digital copywriter" position where I asked how it is different from copywriting for print and broadcast TV only to get lots of gobbledygook), and evading established rules. "The parrot's not dead, it's resting."
3
I am sick and tired of the constant criticism leveled at Uber. So their corporate culture is toxic? I don't care. You know what I care about:
Before Uber it was literally impossible to get a reliable Cab at an affordable price in 80% of the country. Now we can. No more cabs that simply don't show up, or are an hour late when you need to get to the airport. No more cabs that charge $80 for a 20 minute drive.
No more trying to hail a cab at 5pm in Manhattan and being told they can't take you because they have a shift change.
What about the single mom in a midwest town without public transport who might lose her job when her car breaks down? Now she can just take an Uber until it's repaired.
Uber's CEO could shoot a man of Fifth Ave every day of the week and I would still use Uber every single time I need a cab, because it's so much better than what we had before.
Before Uber it was literally impossible to get a reliable Cab at an affordable price in 80% of the country. Now we can. No more cabs that simply don't show up, or are an hour late when you need to get to the airport. No more cabs that charge $80 for a 20 minute drive.
No more trying to hail a cab at 5pm in Manhattan and being told they can't take you because they have a shift change.
What about the single mom in a midwest town without public transport who might lose her job when her car breaks down? Now she can just take an Uber until it's repaired.
Uber's CEO could shoot a man of Fifth Ave every day of the week and I would still use Uber every single time I need a cab, because it's so much better than what we had before.
14
Totally agree.
"Toxic management" matters very, very little to me. I am a capitalist. If a company can provide a better product or service at a cheaper price then they win. My dollar is my vote. I am not supporting the "culture" of the companies office place. I am supporting the service provided at a lower cost.
If that "culture" ever effects the service I receive I will switch my vote.
I'm not into this whole idea of me undergoing some inconvenience to teach some abstract entity (the culture) a moral lesson.
"Toxic management" matters very, very little to me. I am a capitalist. If a company can provide a better product or service at a cheaper price then they win. My dollar is my vote. I am not supporting the "culture" of the companies office place. I am supporting the service provided at a lower cost.
If that "culture" ever effects the service I receive I will switch my vote.
I'm not into this whole idea of me undergoing some inconvenience to teach some abstract entity (the culture) a moral lesson.
3
I'm an Uber driver, have no control over the management but I'm retired and Uber is allowing me to supplement my income at my convenience. I tried driving for Lyft and the navigation was so bad it dropped me 1/2 mile from my rider and I had to call him to find out where he was. He said if I would take him to a restaurant and wait for him he'd give me a big tip - guess what? - no tip. I appreciate that people are disgusted with Uber management but you're punishing the drivers when you refuse to call Uber. At least with Uber when I do a good job and someone wants to give me a tip, I get it.
4
Hallelujah! My life is so much better with uber and I've never met a driver who would prefer the terrible working conditions (no bathroom breaks) of 20th century monopolistic taxi and "livery" services.
So many friends have sold their cars and use only Uber - what a boon for the environment! I meet great young uber drivers using the money they make between classes to fund their education, or open new businesses.
I love the fact that uber drivers talk to me and we treat each other with respect. I know their name and they know mine. In fact, I've become friends with a few over the years.
Uber needs to fix its culture, of course, but going backwards to horse and carriages is not feasible.
So many friends have sold their cars and use only Uber - what a boon for the environment! I meet great young uber drivers using the money they make between classes to fund their education, or open new businesses.
I love the fact that uber drivers talk to me and we treat each other with respect. I know their name and they know mine. In fact, I've become friends with a few over the years.
Uber needs to fix its culture, of course, but going backwards to horse and carriages is not feasible.
2
I only use Lyft now. Had great experiences with Uber before all the bad news hit, but won't use them again. Lyft is exactly the same and the world will be better if Uber is held accountable.
13
No, don't think twice before using Uber, just don't use it at all. I got so disgusted with Boy Kalanick and his band of bros that I uninstalled the Uber app. The fact that the app promised drivers X minutes away, but always connected me with somebody 2X or 3X minutes away only hastened my decision to get Uber out of my life. I haven't looked back. If a company wants my business it needs to behave responsibly and deliver on its promises. Customers who insist on less should be ashamed.
12
What I like about Uber is that it's an adventure. What kind of a car is going to pick me up? Will the driver know what he's doing? Will Uber make sure they get their cut, not pay taxes, and so on? That's what I like about Uber, getting less for less.
8
Never once took an uber. I own a flip phone. Do my emailing texting while sitting down at a computer and or not driving.
I lived in NYC for 10 years and maybe took a dozen Taxi rides total. Now I live in drunken Asheville, NC where friends and tourist will take an uber instead of a 5 minute walk (same friends complain they're broke).
Always prided myself on walking navigating the bus or subway in a city I'm visiting to "get into it". (often with a map - remember those? Cool to look at, improve your understanding of direction/place, the battery doesn't die and it never needs to recalculate).
You are ALL lost and look like a bunch of distracted lemmings.
I lived in NYC for 10 years and maybe took a dozen Taxi rides total. Now I live in drunken Asheville, NC where friends and tourist will take an uber instead of a 5 minute walk (same friends complain they're broke).
Always prided myself on walking navigating the bus or subway in a city I'm visiting to "get into it". (often with a map - remember those? Cool to look at, improve your understanding of direction/place, the battery doesn't die and it never needs to recalculate).
You are ALL lost and look like a bunch of distracted lemmings.
35
Heh heh, aint it the truth.
Consumers need to focus on the consumer experience.
Executives can focus on the boardroom.
Law officers can focus on legalities.
Don't pretend you understand a remote 6th-hand skewed media account of what is really going on.
I guess that makes sense.
Executives can focus on the boardroom.
Law officers can focus on legalities.
Don't pretend you understand a remote 6th-hand skewed media account of what is really going on.
I guess that makes sense.
Even concentrating on the experience, Uber can be wretched -- perhaps it was because I was a woman.
3
our household recently had one female uber use, and it was ...well it was a quick(few minutes from request to pickup), reasonably priced(1/2 price of cab in a newer camry), eventless(best route during a mundane conversation with driver) , and speedy dropoff (45 minutes from airport to home 35 miles away). driver helped unload luggage, and waved before leaving.
as for your "wretched", without specific stats, thats meaningless.
as for your "wretched", without specific stats, thats meaningless.
Never Uber. Never Uber. Never Uber.
If you normalize Uber, it's like normalizing Trump. Don't!
If you normalize Uber, it's like normalizing Trump. Don't!
26
I do think twice now, and encouraging my kids to use Lyft instead.
5
This woman would like some assurance that drivers have had thorough background checks. I will not use Uber at night if I'm alone. There have been too many cases nationwide about sexual attacks on women.
6
My experience with Uber is nothing less than thug like. One can only ask for refunds for fare skimming and unjustified no show fees so many times. The app is unreliable, and so are the drivers, when they do show up. My last ride, and hi do mean MY LAST RIDE, the driver stopped at a destination half way to my home. When I tried to explain to him he was mistaken, he showed me the phone as if the crummy app was some kind of infallible reference and hi didn't know where I was going, and asked me to leave the car in the middle of nowhere to me. And since he parked on the left hand side of a one way street when I opened my door it was hit by another car. Karma decided that car would be a taxi.
I haven't set foot in a Uber since, as you can imagine.
I haven't set foot in a Uber since, as you can imagine.
18
You failed to say: Did you delete your Uber app, Farhad?
4
Just deleted Uber app. Thank you for the wake up to the power I hold as consumer.
7
There is no place in a just and decent society for people like this.
I would encourage anyone to contact Miami University's Farmer School of Business and demand that Ryan Graves be removed from their advisory council. They simply cannot claim to be an inclusive program and have someone like Graves on their board.
As a Miami alumnus, I'm disgusted by this, and I did contact Miami and received an incredibly condescending response. What a surprise...
The university president is the next person I will contact.
My guess is all these Uber folks are on some board or other, but they shouldn't be, and if enough people make enough noise, they won't be anymore.
I would encourage anyone to contact Miami University's Farmer School of Business and demand that Ryan Graves be removed from their advisory council. They simply cannot claim to be an inclusive program and have someone like Graves on their board.
As a Miami alumnus, I'm disgusted by this, and I did contact Miami and received an incredibly condescending response. What a surprise...
The university president is the next person I will contact.
My guess is all these Uber folks are on some board or other, but they shouldn't be, and if enough people make enough noise, they won't be anymore.
2
It's never too late for that. But what took people so long to realize this?
I deleted Uber well over a year ago. The more I read about this Trump-like mentality named Travis Kalanick and the entire culture of this obsessed, cult-like group of "disrupters" the more I was disgusted by them.
If you believe in human decency and kindness, if you believe in a world where we all get an opportunity to share in its wealth and productivity and if you believe in a world where no one group has the "right" to monopolize any industry and "hog it all" than you'll join the rest of us and STOP using Uber!
I deleted Uber well over a year ago. The more I read about this Trump-like mentality named Travis Kalanick and the entire culture of this obsessed, cult-like group of "disrupters" the more I was disgusted by them.
If you believe in human decency and kindness, if you believe in a world where we all get an opportunity to share in its wealth and productivity and if you believe in a world where no one group has the "right" to monopolize any industry and "hog it all" than you'll join the rest of us and STOP using Uber!
8
I gave them up when they became strike-breakers.
7
UBER is too easy and convenient to use. Their upper culture has nothing to do with the drivers or users.
No one can touch their system
No one can touch their system
In Paris, I'll take a taxi over Uber thugs any day.
Birds of a feather flock together.
Birds of a feather flock together.
I was an Uber driver last year. I also drove for Lyft. I made a lot of money driving in Cook County, more than double what I was making as a chef. But I have sinced moved to South Florida, and I decided to drive for Lyft only. Here, the rates are so low, you barely cover your vehicle depreciation, let alone make any profit. People wonder why there is a dearth of good uber drivers, drivers like me. It's because they have all left the app. Uber, in a reckless abandon to undercut competitors (taxis, Lyft, etc.) has cut the price so low that there is no incentive for the driver to take their own personal vehicle and depreciate it for nothing. So here's what I did. I got a job as a chef, and traded in my 16 year old minivan for a brand new 2017 Mazda 3, and I'm not looking back. Why would I depreciate this vehicle so a company like this can make money (on that note, they're not making money, they're burning it, hand over fist). And for times that I need to hire a rideshare, I turn to Lyft. It pays better, is generally cheaper for the rider, and overall has much better drivers, customer service, and most importantly, business ethics. If more people moved to the Lyft platform, they wouldn't miss Uber for a second. I know I haven't.
15
Lyft is just another criminal enterprise using the same scam Uber has. The quality of service etc does not matter, the existence of the company as a "rise sharing service" is a crime as it is a taxi company and until they all admit to this and submit to the regulation that all taxi companies do they are criminals.
Even if they do come into the law they still have to answer for the years of being outlaw and the harm that did.
Even if they do come into the law they still have to answer for the years of being outlaw and the harm that did.
4
I switched to use only Lyft when Uber failed to step up to help the stranded people caught up in Trump's travel ban. Whether Lyft acted altruistically or opportunistically, the fact is they acted--in the right way--to help people.
Drivers who work for both company tell me that Lyft treats drivers way better than Uber, and thanked me for using Lyft rather than Uber.
Drivers who work for both company tell me that Lyft treats drivers way better than Uber, and thanked me for using Lyft rather than Uber.
5
These recommendations are thoughtful and powerful in changing the corporate culture of Uber, but until this company even begins to consider that its drivers deserve as much respect, transparency, and benefits as their internal employees and executives, their culture will remain the same.
2
Why do people shop at Wal Mart ? Low price , same goes for Uber. It is all about best price.
4
Largely agree with the column, but this is ridiculous:
"What if, instead of building fixed bus lines, cities subsidized Uber rides, allowing people the flexibility of car travel for the price of a bus?"
This is civic poison, plain and simple. A giveaway of public infrastructure and taxpayer dollars to enrich a private corporation. I realize that it's what our Wall Street and Silicon Valley overlords want, but it puts everyone at the mercy of corporate boards' whims. How about rediscovering the importance of public investment instead? It works very well elsewhere in the world, you know.
"What if, instead of building fixed bus lines, cities subsidized Uber rides, allowing people the flexibility of car travel for the price of a bus?"
This is civic poison, plain and simple. A giveaway of public infrastructure and taxpayer dollars to enrich a private corporation. I realize that it's what our Wall Street and Silicon Valley overlords want, but it puts everyone at the mercy of corporate boards' whims. How about rediscovering the importance of public investment instead? It works very well elsewhere in the world, you know.
34
I tried to use it once in Boston and the driver couldn't find the address so I caught a regular cab sitting there.
One and done with Uber.
One and done with Uber.
15
If there was ever a topic that brings on a bi-polarity of opinions in me, its Uber and AirBnb, both of which have made my travel experiences away from home immeasurably better. Wherever I travel I now arrive at the airport and step into an Uber knowing that I will be taken to my destination without anxiety. And my destination is likely to be a perfectly great AirBnB in a great area. Gone are the tortures of taxis, rental cars and hotels. However, and its a big however, I live in San Francisco. My neighbors on either side of me are long gone, renting their homes on AirBnB to a parade of strangers. And the streets around me are clogged with drifting and often ill-trained Uber drivers, driving in ways that nobody could describe as professional or courteous. The data says Uber is 15% of all cars on the streets at any time, but as is the case with data, its deceiving because that 15% is concentrated in the city's few square miles of a core. The bottom line for me is that these services are great, and headed to a place where transportation (and lodging) will catch up with technology. I can only hope governments help refine them with nuanced oversight, rather than ruin what makes them great with a slew of clunky regulations.
10
I don't know that I buy the idea that "whichever company wins this fight will control the future of the ride sharing industry." This premise makes no sense to me. There is nothing about this industry that demands a single global corporation dominate it.
8
Big fan of Via as an Uber alternative.
2
I unhooked from Uber when Travis Kalanik joined Trump's economic advisory council. So few rebellions are left, you see. When in NYC I am amazed at the black Uber cars double parked, waiting with engines running, clogging the streets. Yellow cabs are more environment friendly and the drivers much more helpful. San Francisco is another matter. Cabs are harder to find. I will now be getting a bus pass.
11
Did you unhook from Google when you learned Eric Schmidt is on Trump's advisory board, or from Facebook bc Sheryl Sandberg is on Trump's advisory board?
2
You've got a lot more unhooking to do lol.
Uber is a case study in what happens when a business started on the basis of revolutionary ideas and meritocracy tries to open up and please the SJW crowd and lets collectivists like Huffington and Holder in. From now on it appears to be all downhill for uber valuation.
2
Especially for Women: Just say no. Until the boys can even ATTEMPT to control their behavior, take a pass. I am.
28
I've tried Uber in the past and it was a disaster. In LA the driver didn't know where the airport was. As a result I've started using Lyft.. Now, another reason to skip Uber
1
Uber's bad publicity and the shenanigans of its CEO caused our family to switch to Lyft 3 years ago. Drivers who have worked for both say They get better treatment from Lyft. Uber, Lyft and other ride shares have forced the taxis into offering better service, easier summoning, and cleaner cabs. Encouraging corporate responsibility is the consumer's strength.
7
I deleted my Uber account during one of the many scandals, about 4 months ago. I have not missed it or felt a need to re-open my account at all. It's amazing how many options are in front of you when you actually look. And beyond the company's atrocious business practices, I was tired of being gouged on rush charges over and over again for seemingly no rhyme or reason.
8
By the way, sexism is going to be rampant anywhere you find a high enough concentration of male engineers. I went to engineering school with guys like that, so you can't tell me that the culture for women is any better at any of these high tech companies. Uber is being singled out, but I don't think women are being treated any better anywhere else.
111
smartest thing i've read all day
4
Well, I reckon we can start changing it here as well as anywhere else, can't we?
2
It really doesn't matter whether Uber is being singled out. What matters is that harassment and misogyny are being singled out as practices that are unacceptable, and the message that a business that tolerates them can find its prospects diminished.
2
Uber has clogged San Francisco with far too many vehicles and drivers coming in everyday from across the state, only to serve a small percentage of residents and tourists. Total amateur hour. Can't wait until we can call it Ober.
15
"Despite months of scandal, with the hashtag #deleteuber sweeping Twitter, Uber’s growth has been essentially untouched." So here we see just how effective a hashtag, and articles like this, and the flamefest in these comments sections, is - just ineffective noise.
2
Still using Uber, eh Peter?
4
Anytime you must “think twice” to going somewhere it would be better to stay where you are at. Until, you are sure, then find the most practical means (time and money) to get where you want to go safely. Uber is an application. The organization as any organization is run by people.
2
Besides rating drivers and riders, the platform should open up to rating the company itself – only four stars and above will allow it to run . . .
4
Lyft is great. For taxis, if Curb is not yet in your city, get the business card of driver who owns their own small cab company and you can bypass the sometimes unreliable cab switch operators.
4
From my perspective, using Uber is the moral equivalent of being an NRA member. No way, any day. Every dollar spent on Uber validates the "bro" culture (and no, the Holder recommendations are not a solution).
Also, remember the end-game for Uber involves self-driving cars. I'm very concerned about this technology and the displacement it means for thousands of drivers. Personally, I like interacting with my driver and getting to know them. At some point, technology does more harm than good.
Reject this company and all it stands for.
Also, remember the end-game for Uber involves self-driving cars. I'm very concerned about this technology and the displacement it means for thousands of drivers. Personally, I like interacting with my driver and getting to know them. At some point, technology does more harm than good.
Reject this company and all it stands for.
28
One of the main reasons I love Uber is because unlike yellow cabs, their drivers are not constantly on their cell phones. Only since using Uber have I been able to have conversations with real human beings behind the wheel. For the last 10 years sadly the only voices coming from yellow taxis are the incessant annoying television advertising. I loved the days before the cell phone when you could get to know your driver, but now that's only possible with ridesharing companies that prohibit dangerous behavior like constant cell phone use during the drive.
I never used Uber nor do I plan to. Use Lyft, use a taxi, or drive.
6
From the Uber forums, it sounds like a lot of drivers aren't in it for the money - many appear to be just breaking even - but because in today's economy it's better than sitting at home in front of the TV.
2
DESPERATELY needs ??? Come on now
1
Riders who use Uber don't really care. They obviously don't care about the license taxi drivers who have been put out of business, so why should they care now?
7
Right. I should taken an honest yellow cab.
1
You get what you pay for, one way or another. I have a young friend who worked for Uber--low pay, low safety, depreciation of the vehicle, zero responsibility from Uber, and for what gain to any but Uber's bosses--these slimy young sharks who never tire of showing off and congratulating themselves on the latest way to skirt laws and use people they find.
There are other, better ways to fight congestion, public transportation being at the top of that list, if we're sincere about that as a goal (and we should be).
Taxi and other rightfully regulated companies do some public good, pay taxes, abide by regulations, provide something near living wages. Ultimately, the workplaces you wreck and the low-wage exploitation you enable in using Uber and such is the world you create for yourself and your own children.
There are other, better ways to fight congestion, public transportation being at the top of that list, if we're sincere about that as a goal (and we should be).
Taxi and other rightfully regulated companies do some public good, pay taxes, abide by regulations, provide something near living wages. Ultimately, the workplaces you wreck and the low-wage exploitation you enable in using Uber and such is the world you create for yourself and your own children.
7
I had already deleted my Uber app. Just went to the App Store on my iPhone and typed in a search for Lyft. Apple's search result listed Uber's app FIRST, then Lyft. So is Apple being paid to promote Uber?
Will delete right now.
8
Too little, too late Mr. Fanjoo.
We needed this tough questioning of Silicon Valley ethics years ago while you and TechCrunch fawned over every last "innovation" from these charlatans.
Where were your ethics then?
Hope that app that brings you toilet paper on demand was worth it.
We needed this tough questioning of Silicon Valley ethics years ago while you and TechCrunch fawned over every last "innovation" from these charlatans.
Where were your ethics then?
Hope that app that brings you toilet paper on demand was worth it.
12
Seriously. I have never once been remotely tempted to take Uber since it started, it just seems so sleazy, unethical, unsafe and possibly unpleasant. If only everyone had had the same reaction this wouldnt be any kind of issue now.
Haven't used Uber in months since reports of all the unsavoriness. I've found Lyft to be more efficient as well as often more affordable.
5
Uber drivers greedily sucked up the space when NY cabbies struck over Trump's first Muslim ban, proving they’re scabs. Money is their only civic virtue. They’re robber barons that provide cheap transportation because they underpay their employees, classify them as independent contractors to avoid commercial liability and auto insurance, workers compensation, and employer contributions to Social Security and Medicare. They deceive regulators and hope people forget why society regulated for hire transportation to protect passenger safety. Insurance companies will balk at claims from a horrific crash caused by an independent contractor, tossing victims on the trash heap like wrinkled rinds. Uber drivers believe bus loading zones are simply an idea as they pull in front of buses to park and choke traffic. I will never use a ride hailing app until they play by the same rules for every cab and bus company.
3
Give me a break. I don't need this sanctimonious browbeating. If a company is providing a superior service, I'll continue using it. If a better company comes along I'll use that one. I'm not going to get bent out of shape because a board member said a "sexist remark" and the CEO is a super bro. PC culture at work bigly.
8
You're ripe for the dog eat dog world such as you are creating all right.
5
Why is the NYT so obsessed with Uber?????
I don't see any articles about the "toxic" cultures at companies like AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, Yelp, etc.
You guys are flooding the paper with uber articles. It's getting to be uber-annoying especially when at least half the people who comment on here probably work for some company that sucks also. Despite your nonstop slaughter of Uber, its employees are generally pretty satisfied with things like pay and benefits.
I don't see any articles about the "toxic" cultures at companies like AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, Yelp, etc.
You guys are flooding the paper with uber articles. It's getting to be uber-annoying especially when at least half the people who comment on here probably work for some company that sucks also. Despite your nonstop slaughter of Uber, its employees are generally pretty satisfied with things like pay and benefits.
10
@GZ: How would YOU know that Uber's "employees are generally pretty satisfied with things like pay and benefits"?? There is a mountain of evidence to the contrary. But hey, maybe your name is really Travis.
2
Are you joking?? Everytime I get in a regular cab I put my life into an completely unaccountable persons hands. I have saved my own life multiple times in cabs by watching the road and warning them. What do I do, call up the dispatcher and tell him "Your cabbies suck?". No, it's pointless.
I use uber, I can leave comments, rate the driver, and get out at any point without any repercussions.
Thanks, I'll stick with Uber.
I use uber, I can leave comments, rate the driver, and get out at any point without any repercussions.
Thanks, I'll stick with Uber.
14
Yes! I travel around the world for business and have been cheated and threatened by taxi drivers dozens of times over the years. Uber has eliminated this nauseating part of global travel, and I am extremely grateful for it. Of course I do not condone illegal or unethical behavior of its founders, but that is a separate question.
3
A former Uber driver in California was arrested for the extremely violent murder of his wife. He had been arrested before for domestic violence and assault of a police vehicle, and had known mental health issues. A decent background check should have revealed these, yet he was allowed by Uber to drive strangers around for who knows how long. It's incredibly creepy and I would not trust anyone else that is contracted for Uber of Lyft. You just don't know, because they just won't regulate their hiring process, and it is not worth your safety.
6
How is this even on point? Former cabbies never commit assault or murder?
Good product, good service. I'll keep using it. Corporate scandals do not affect me. Many if not most large corporations have their issues.
5
You can change Uber by deleting it from your phone.
7
Why is there such a disproportionate number of prominent articles critical of Uber?
I haven't seen a sexual harassment allegation against another company on the front page of the Times in recent memory, let alone a constant drumbeat of negative reporting.
There are companies where workers die on the job in accidents -- haven't seen a drumbeat of stories on the front page.
Companies that are cited for serious environmental violations -- haven't seen a drumbeat of stories.
Smells like some kind of strange agenda.
I haven't seen a sexual harassment allegation against another company on the front page of the Times in recent memory, let alone a constant drumbeat of negative reporting.
There are companies where workers die on the job in accidents -- haven't seen a drumbeat of stories on the front page.
Companies that are cited for serious environmental violations -- haven't seen a drumbeat of stories.
Smells like some kind of strange agenda.
7
The more I've learned about Uber's corporate culture these past few months, the more I've been inclined to use its service. It's refreshing to hear about a company that doesn't kowtow to the mavens of political correctness these days. This article was a nice icing on the cake--I think I'll order an Uber to get to my lunch reservation!
1
@Maximus: I'm sure you'll enjoy your side-order of harassment and sexism, bro. It's people like you that keep the world safe for frat-boy bro behavior. Some day perhaps you (and Travis) may grow up.
1
Several years ago, when I heard about Uber exes flying in on their private helicopters to badger the East Hampton town administration over their ban on Uber, I knew I would never use their service. Arrogance breeds contempt for everyone, workers and customers. Take public transportation; you have already paid for it.
192
Apparently you haven't been riding NJ Transit and/ or the Subway system. Governor Cuomo has deferred maintanence in the billions but wants the Feds to pay for it so that he can spend his time on North Carolina travel bans and free education for the children of tax cheats abusing the cash economy!
1
For what I suspect are the majority of Uber trips, public transportation is simply not an option.
In NYC I use the Curb app to get a taxi. There is a reason that there is a limited number of taxi medallions (to prevent traffic congestion) and the omnipresent black SUVs have made traffic in the city worse.
Elsewhere I use Lyft. So far it hasn't suffered the same issues that Uber has demonstrated in terms of corporate culture, flouting (and breaking) laws, and so on. And the issues they did face with drivers were actually addressed.
Elsewhere I use Lyft. So far it hasn't suffered the same issues that Uber has demonstrated in terms of corporate culture, flouting (and breaking) laws, and so on. And the issues they did face with drivers were actually addressed.
6
Uber is in trouble. And they brought it on themselves. No sympathy. Hope riders find any option other than Uber.
7
Why the hating on Uber? Like taxis are some paragon of virtue. I suspect since the taxi unions stuff dollars in the pockets of politicians all is forgiven. Liberals really hate innovation and the free market. I'll only take Uber from now on.
3
I vote with my wallet. And me and my wallet choose Lyft, because Uber is a failing venture on so many levels. Can't get more "free market" than that...
5
When people use bizarre and obtuse words like, "Liberals really hate innovation and the free market" it only underscores the type of mentality supporting Uber---essentially the same mentality supporting Donald Trump.
Thanks, "M," for pointing out what many of us have already concluded. I'll never take Uber from here on out.
Thanks, "M," for pointing out what many of us have already concluded. I'll never take Uber from here on out.
5
Have never used Uber here in Austin. The city council decided some time ago they did not want to play air with others.
1
Traffic congestion at Philadelphia International Airport has increased since Uber and Lyft became legal here last fall. The same is true at other airports (e.g. Los Angeles).
I prefer subways, trains and buses when they're available. I take traditional taxis when public transportation isn't an option.
I prefer subways, trains and buses when they're available. I take traditional taxis when public transportation isn't an option.
7
Great column and advice I"m taking. But what few seem to get is that the Uber business model is built on a house of cards. Low cost fares means Uber loses 40% on each ride. Even at its scale this requires billions to sustain it. Adding autonomous cars will take years and will just add to the costs. It will be 5-10 years before cares will run with no driver.
2
Lyft: tips via the app; someone actually inspects the car. Uber: neither. Whenever I can-Lyft.
5
Agree, that's accurate. I especially like tipping in the Lyft app. HOWEVER, I use both Lyft and Uber in five major cities, including NYC, and I always engage the drivers in a discussion of their work, satisfaction with their partners. I have had maybe 2-3 out of hundreds of drivers tell me anything overtly negative about either. Taxis should not exist primarily to provide wages for drivers, but for service at competitive prices. I drove an airport cab at strange hours in my late teens and early 20s, shared fares with the car owner. It was one of a few jobs I held simultaneously. I was pleased to earn what I could. I don't want government(s) dictating wage rates, livable or otherwise. Teens and unskilled people need work too. If you can't live on what you earn, then work more, get as many extra jobs as need be.
3
"If you can't live on what you earn, then work more, get as many extra jobs as need be."
Okay then, why not reinstitute slavery; that'll give you all you need to "live on." Won't it?
Okay then, why not reinstitute slavery; that'll give you all you need to "live on." Won't it?
3
@Danny B: what do you do for a living -- TODAY, not back in college? Would you want that business model for YOUR employment? piece-work? freelance? paid according to "surges"? no insurance or benefits? And the excuse would be that "doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, etc. ... their jobs should not exist to provide wages, but for service at competitive prices'?
I often see Uber passengers struggling to figure out which of the dozens of black cars on the street is picking them up - even as plenty of empty yellow cabs drive by.
Besides, Uber is nothing new. It used to be known as "calling a cab". When I do use an app to hail a cab - I always make sure its NOT Uber - a company that runs at at a huge loss, with venture capital to back it, whose main mission is to put independent car services with their own apps out of business.
Besides, Uber is nothing new. It used to be known as "calling a cab". When I do use an app to hail a cab - I always make sure its NOT Uber - a company that runs at at a huge loss, with venture capital to back it, whose main mission is to put independent car services with their own apps out of business.
35
Until recently I've never used any of these car services but finally gave it a try, specifically Lyft, as Uber had too much baggage to use it in good conscience.
Turns out this service doesn't work so well at all.
I can't tell you the times I've requested a car and the amount of time stated on the app for the car to arrive is nowhere near as long as it takes so I just call a cab as I always had. Not a great service when tine is of the essence. Further after an event lets out and everybody is waiting for a Lyft (or Uber) it's complete confusion as to who gets which car!
Unreliable service will never get my on going business, I'll just call a taxi.
Turns out this service doesn't work so well at all.
I can't tell you the times I've requested a car and the amount of time stated on the app for the car to arrive is nowhere near as long as it takes so I just call a cab as I always had. Not a great service when tine is of the essence. Further after an event lets out and everybody is waiting for a Lyft (or Uber) it's complete confusion as to who gets which car!
Unreliable service will never get my on going business, I'll just call a taxi.
8
Uber is at a major disadvantage when it comes to fighting climate change. Taxis companies that own fleet vehicles can upgrade their vehicles all at once if the company decides. Uber drivers own their own cars so Uber can do very little there in terms of clean energy upgrades. They can apply standards for prospective drivers' cars. But they can't take advantage of the economy of scale that comes when the company owns the vehicles and only hires the drivers.
Also, it feels creepy to me to ride in someone's personal car. I prefer the emotional distance provided by a traditional taxi. There's nothing personal about that. You don't rate each other. It's just a ride. And usually taxi drivers know the roads better than Uber drivers who have to use navigation software to get down the street.
Also, it feels creepy to me to ride in someone's personal car. I prefer the emotional distance provided by a traditional taxi. There's nothing personal about that. You don't rate each other. It's just a ride. And usually taxi drivers know the roads better than Uber drivers who have to use navigation software to get down the street.
10
Uber is a strange animal, I can't believe its so popular when it remains uncertain who your driver is, whether you will be protected in an accident, etc. As a woman, I mad ea choice not to use it at all. There are other options, yes they might cost a bit more, but they are safer (especially for women). Uber's prices are so low b/c they are trying to put cabs on competition out of business and then the prices will rise. I also don't use Air BnB, because I detest the unregulated short term (illegal) vacation rentals in my own neighborhood that make my life miserable during the winter season. I'm not going to give business to these crooks and that is really what they are, they flout zoning and safety rules and tax obligations.
33
Uber and Lyft are playing a game of let's pretend. They pretend and expect the world to believe that their is a sharing economy in which they merely provide a service/software platform to bring self employed drivers and potential customers together. No question that the fares are inexpensive, but anyone who uses their services without paying a substantial tip is taking part in the exploitation of the drivers.
15
It's an ingenious business model, because it dumps ALL of the costs and risks on low paid, free-lance drivers -- who must use their own vehicles, mileage, insurance, gasoline.
ALL the company is doing is providing the software. No risk, all profit.
ALL the company is doing is providing the software. No risk, all profit.
I discovered Lyft in Denver before I even heard of Uber and have been a devoted Lyft rider everywhere I travel ever since, never have had even a minor issue. Many drivers drive for both and I frequently ask them if they detect a difference between Uber and Lyft patrons. I almost always hear that Uber passengers act like they are using a black car service ( i.e. a limo) while picking up Lyft passengers is more like giving your good friend a ride. A generalization, yes, but something to ponder as Lyft seems to just be cruising along while Uber ...
7
I hope to see Uber's drivers ultimately unionize, which they should, and have every right to do. At the very least, let's recognize that they are not freelance or independent contractors, no matter what Uber says. This allows Uber to get away with extraordinary allowances many companies do not: a compliant non-employee workforce that can't set its wages, and for whom Uber doesn't have to pay taxes or workmans comp.
7
You can impact Uber without impacting most drivers. I talk with the drivers every time I use a car share service, and I use the services frequently. Every driver I've spoken to drives for both Uber and Lyft. So I use Lyft ever since the Kalanik rant video came out. No one should be treated in such a manner. Lyft also makes it easy to tip the driver. The tip is reflected in my receipt, simplifying expense report processing. Win/win all around.
14
Can we stop calling it "ride sharing"? There's no more sharing going on here than in traditional taxi services. The main difference is the assumption of vehicle cost and risk by individual drivers.
86
Actually, both Uber and Lyft (at least in some cities) offer carpooling options--UberPool and LyftLine. This is not something I have seen a conventional cab company offering.
2
@Erik: I agree. It's not "ride sharing"- rather, it's "high-end gypsy cabs with an app". I don't ride in gypsy cabs, and I don't ride in Ubers.
6
I use Uber to share rides with people almost every time. It's cheaper and better for the environment. I don't support terrible management, but Uber is a boon for drivers, riders, the environment, and ultimately, the city.
If you live in a city there are plenty of taxi apps like Flywheel that get you a ride just as quickly and easily. IMO, the influx of Uber and Lyft amateur drivers has made traffic worse. Some Uber/Lyft drivers are from out of town and unfamiliar with the city.
7
Absolutely. Every other car on the street in SF these days is a fake taxi. Ridiculous.
2
The societal benefits of Uber are grossly exaggerated thanks to its tremendously successful lobbying efforts at the state and local levels. Uber has steamrolled progressive cities such as Austin and won exoneration from virtually all consumer-protection regulations imposed on the taxi industry. When San Antonio resisted, Uber pulled out of negotiations, portraying San Antonio as hayseed and unwilling to negotiate. Uber came back, quietly, and was willing to "grant" to SA the right to apply some of the protections applicable to taxis (liability insurance, driver background check, etc.).
To survive this un-level playing field AND to provide the cheaper (time-dependent) service Uber provides, the taxi industry as a whole must lobby to lift some of the more onerous regulations that have nothing to do with public safety (e.g., high annual license fees) and lobby to have the same regulations apply to both services.
To survive this un-level playing field AND to provide the cheaper (time-dependent) service Uber provides, the taxi industry as a whole must lobby to lift some of the more onerous regulations that have nothing to do with public safety (e.g., high annual license fees) and lobby to have the same regulations apply to both services.
24
Luckily we have Lyft as an alternative, and thankfully Lyft seems to pride itself in ethical behavior. They are not perfect, but they seem to genuinely try to be a good corproate citizen.
I have asked drivers who have worked for both companies their thoughts - they like Lyft better on the whole, and mostly end up with a common sentiment: Lyft cares about drivers and passengers, Uber only cares about money at the expense of both.
I have asked drivers who have worked for both companies their thoughts - they like Lyft better on the whole, and mostly end up with a common sentiment: Lyft cares about drivers and passengers, Uber only cares about money at the expense of both.
42
Uber has been criticized by the media but they are taking very strong measures to improve. I commend that.
Don't believe Lyft is any more ethical just because media is not attacking it.
Don't believe Lyft is any more ethical just because media is not attacking it.
there's a long history of private infrastructure development in our country (public transit, communications, water, energy etc). the only way to rein in the monopolistic power that comes from operating infrastructure privately is through forceful and effective regulation. it won't work to rely on ethical decision-making on the part of the 'consumer', even when there do happen to be alternative options
6
This is "blame the victim". Of course, people who feel repulsed by Uber's behavior should certainly consider alternatives, where practical (I just signed up for Lyft for that reason). But laying responsibility for corporate behavior primarily on the complicity of customers is counterproductive. (And, really, how much better are taxi companies?) It leads, among other things, to CEO's claiming, "See, our customers didn't leave us, so they must support our behavior".
Don't like oil companies? Then don't drive. Don't like the food industry? Don't ... well, you get the idea. Your daily life can't be a referendum on corporate behavior. Corporations should behave better, regardless of whether they "get the customers' vote".
Don't like oil companies? Then don't drive. Don't like the food industry? Don't ... well, you get the idea. Your daily life can't be a referendum on corporate behavior. Corporations should behave better, regardless of whether they "get the customers' vote".
16
Maybe not totally, as some aspects if modern life are non-negociable, such as using fossil fueled transportation, but the food industry can easily be avoided, by proper dietary choices.
3
I have nothing against oil companies per se. It's not a social media kind of liking or disliking here. The reason not to drive would be to step in to save the world from climate change.
We can't just stop driving, period. But we can choose what we drive and who gives us rides. I won't use either Lyft or Uber, because their cars are owned by their drivers and so those companies can only respond to climate change one driver at a time. A taxi company that owns its vehicles can potentially do much, much better.
We can't just stop driving, period. But we can choose what we drive and who gives us rides. I won't use either Lyft or Uber, because their cars are owned by their drivers and so those companies can only respond to climate change one driver at a time. A taxi company that owns its vehicles can potentially do much, much better.
1
You've got Lyft in Boston area so you have a choice. Use it.
2
I overheard a woman at a restaurant announce to her group, "I ubered over here." It's become a verb, meaning transportation, and molestation, evidently.
Well, it's capitalism, and you are absolutely right, Farhad. Don't buy the service. I don't. But Uber is one of those services that keeps the middle class afloat as wages decrease. It's like cheap Chinese goods from a country that arrests its dissidents. We buy them because they are cheap. Now China owns the supply chain, so we are forced to make things over there.
Were Uber to own the transportation market, we'd just put up with its recalcitrance for that cheap passage across town. Uber is acceptable corporate behavior. We have a president who demeans and insults people; his followers admire him for that behavior; so he's the model for corporate governance.
But you are right, Farhad. We can vote with our pocketbooks.
Well, it's capitalism, and you are absolutely right, Farhad. Don't buy the service. I don't. But Uber is one of those services that keeps the middle class afloat as wages decrease. It's like cheap Chinese goods from a country that arrests its dissidents. We buy them because they are cheap. Now China owns the supply chain, so we are forced to make things over there.
Were Uber to own the transportation market, we'd just put up with its recalcitrance for that cheap passage across town. Uber is acceptable corporate behavior. We have a president who demeans and insults people; his followers admire him for that behavior; so he's the model for corporate governance.
But you are right, Farhad. We can vote with our pocketbooks.
15
Uber sounds like it has the ethics of Enron. Let's face it, bottom line; you like it because it is high tech. You can't summon a bus or subway on your iPhone, so, like music CDs, it's not cool.
And how does moving millions around in Uber vehicles reduce dependence on big, bad private cars? Uber vehicles are cars, they are private, they carry one person. No different than a privately owned vehicle.
And how does moving millions around in Uber vehicles reduce dependence on big, bad private cars? Uber vehicles are cars, they are private, they carry one person. No different than a privately owned vehicle.
22
Simple. Use Lyft.
How are they different from privately-owned vehicles? They don't require massive amounts of space at the destination for parking.
Same difference. Private cars. Taxi companies have fleet vehicles and can upgrade all their cars at once.
2
You state that "The company that wins this industry is bound to become one of the world’s most powerful corporations." Why should society tolerate such monopolies in the first place? The web-enablement of an industry does not have to be a centralized, winner-takes-all affair. This is an investor-driven ambition that can be contained with forward-thinking regulatory intervention, not a technical requirement. The voting public must demand that regulators to promote federated, open-access protocols in emerging sectors before network effects allow monopolies to take hold.
24
Don't care about taxis, don't care about Uber. Could never afford.
2
Mr. Manjoo's idealistic hopes for solving real transportation problems are laudable. Yet he doesn't really say why a private, app-based solution is the best answer. If companies like Uber seem like the solution to problems long ignored by governments, then perhaps the answer lies in a public transportation solutions -- without the need for the kind of safety problems and price-gouging associated with a company that basically skims money from the work of mostly unregulated employees. Indeed, it is hard not to think of a company like Uber as little more than a middleman where there didn't used to be one. Perhaps Mr. Manjoo is out of touch with reality. He says we all have the Uber app on our phone. But we all do not. At least in a place like NYC, it is usually MORE convenient to just hail a yellow cab in the real world. I have watched, with amusement, people immersed in their phones, checking on their "ride share" reservation while I simply raise my hand and get in a yellow cab. Mr. Manjoo should realize that many of us do not run our lives via apps. I have never used an Uber (or similar), and probably never will. Most of the time I take the subway anyway.
55
Places with entrenched, politically well-connected cab services, like NYC, feel competition from ride shares and try to keep the upper hand. Many places in suburbs have poor cab services that cost too much. Ride shares increase transportation options greatly. These are also places with limited buses. So don't judge simply based on the experience in Manhattan.
6
Ever take a ride service? Many of them do Uber AND Lyft ...... it's not like employees of the gig economy are working for one firm. It doesn't work that way. So avoiding Uber, in some ways, does little to "punish Uber" ~ what it does is punish the Uber drivers who have not diversified their gig portfolio to drive for multiple companies. Also, I saw Kalanick speak, about 18 months ago, and after that, I began asking Uber drivers if they had ever heard him or met him or seen him. I have yet to meet an Uber driver who knows who Travis Kalanick is ....
4
The name of the CEO doesn't matter to the drivers. It matters whether the company systematically and deliberately cheats them. Uber does. And that's true whether they know it or not.
4
When insights about Uber's culture first began to appear and be confirmed, I removed the app from my phone and replaced it with Lyft, and put cab services in my contact list. While it's a good thing that a business model humbled the previously intractable monopoly of taxi unions, the playing field needs to be leveled in a fair way, one in which taxi drivers and their unions can coexist with companies like Lyft. Taxis have some real advantages in most places: they're licensed and regulated and reliable.
30
Except for your own convenience, I don't see why you're so high on car-sharing. It makes its drivers drive their own cars into the ground for poverty-level wages and no benefits.
140
Not to mentioned that the majority of the cars are not insured for business use and an accident will likely not be covered.
4
I had the misfortune of spending one summer working for a "limo" company. one of the companies you used to hear advertise on local radio here in New York City.
Drivers were forced to bribe the dispatchers at the start of every shift, or they would be frozen out of any calls. The sexism and homophobia in the muster room and on the radio would shock even Trump voters.
Uber appears to be a very lousy company, but we are fooling ourselves by thinking that the behavior there is somehow unique to them. If it assuages your conscience, by all means try Lyft or a hailing app for yellow cabs, but I don't think the rest of the industry is any different- Uber just wasn't as good at lying and covering up as their competitors.
Drivers were forced to bribe the dispatchers at the start of every shift, or they would be frozen out of any calls. The sexism and homophobia in the muster room and on the radio would shock even Trump voters.
Uber appears to be a very lousy company, but we are fooling ourselves by thinking that the behavior there is somehow unique to them. If it assuages your conscience, by all means try Lyft or a hailing app for yellow cabs, but I don't think the rest of the industry is any different- Uber just wasn't as good at lying and covering up as their competitors.
10
Apart from the headline, the article reads like one big endorsement of Uber. If an incident happens in a New York Taxi, your only recourse is the Police. In the case of Uber, you can go to the Police and the company. The company is probably more scared of bad publicity than anything else and will likely settle any lawsuits.
2
Companies and other organizations take on the personality of the person at the top. Uber's CEO is a dishonest jerk. Small wonder that the company is the way it is. In my city of San Francisco, if you see a driver intrusively double-parked and impeding the flow of traffic, or maneuvering aggressively, or tailgating and honking impatiently, the odds are excellent that you will see the Uber insignia on the car. The article was excellent, especially in pointing out that ride-hailing services can be a boon to our elders who cannot drive by providing affordable replacement for their cars (which taxis simply are not), but it's time for honestly and courtesy to become the company culture.
8
I suggest using Lyft or Flywheel or any of the local companies springing up. The drivers I ask are happier with Lyft. Maybe because I can tip in the app? Sort of like Ubr advertised but never paid.
8
I only use Lyft now. Peter Thiel, who I dislike, is an Uber investor, but as a woman I dislike even more the chauvinist culture I read about at Uber. I worried at first how dropping Uber would impact the very nice Uber drivers I meet, but almost all of them work for both Lyft and Uber so it should all even out for the drivers.
80
Peter Thiel is a LYFT investor and big donor to Trump. So don't think that using Lyft is any more "white hat" than using Uber.
Trump-cheerleader Peter Thiel is a *Lyft* investor. As is Carl Icahn.
4
Peter Thiel is a Lyft investor, not an Uber investor. It's funny how you are supporting the wrong person for the cause.
1
I used to use Uber a lot. I now only use Lyft. I have only had a bad driver once--in NYC.
5
So, you've "used Uber a dozen times in the past month, including three times last week."
Your Lyft and Juno apps don't work?
Your Lyft and Juno apps don't work?
5
This is simple envy about Uber's success and potential to reform entrenched profit and power structures. We don't usually hear the employer's name of other rapist. And risk taking is rife in companies, as is sexism, homophobia an intimidation, in banks, govt, airlines, health industry, take your pick. Uber is not
a saint but it is helping me to run my business at lower cost and keeping my car off the road.
a saint but it is helping me to run my business at lower cost and keeping my car off the road.
2
Stop this nonsense. You sound like the people who objected to iTunes and Spotify. Uber is progress. The end. It is a BETTER way to get a taxi. As a parent, I never have to worry about how my kids are going to get around. Less people drunk driving. I can think of many reasons why this model is better. As far as the drivers, no one is forcing them to drive for Uber.
Can and should this company be held in contempt for terrible business practices? Maybe, I don't know. But, let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Uber is genius, it's here to stay and I am happy about it.
Can and should this company be held in contempt for terrible business practices? Maybe, I don't know. But, let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Uber is genius, it's here to stay and I am happy about it.
I don't use UBER. They are particularly arrogant about law and rules. They do have a concept of instant availability of rides that is transforming a moribund industry. I resent surge pricing. I use local services that do the same thing. Arecibo.
4
Deleted the app from my phone and will reinstall if the board removes him, or if Travis Kalanick steps down. Until then, Lyft and Taxis.
6
Thanks to thousands of Uber & Lyft & Via on the road at any particular time of day in Chicago, our traffic problem is now a nightmare. Travel from the O'Hare to the Loop on Kennedy I-90 yesterday, usually a 20 minutes trip, took 1 hour, 15 minutes during rush hour. It appears every person and his/her granny is now on the already densely packed roads driving Ube; No limits!
6
The grand irony is that the one person we know that won't be using Uber is it's CEO. After Kalanick's tirade at a driver earlier this year the company felt it best to get him a private car. It can't be a good look when the CEO is not allowed to use the product.
13
It is naive and silly to cut off your nose to spite your face. Uber is a big corporation, just like a 1,000 others that we buy products from. Some companies have a social conscience, while others do not. Many companies have bad apples from time to time. We don't abandon them every time our fragile social conscience is impacted? Are we supposed to politicize our daily lives and wonder about every product we use whether the company behind it meets our definition of social and moral conscience or not? It's just naive to expect that. We are only hurting ourselves, not Uber. That's like the idiotic marches we have been participating in against Donald Trump. Makes us feel good but achieves nothing!
Uber has a board and a management team that is under a microscope right now. They are responsible for fixing the wrongs. What the NYT and other media can continue doing is shining the light on companies when they do wrong. Uber has already taken several actions, like firing senior managers, a key board member resigning and sending the CEO on indefinite leave. These are all good steps. This is how change happens. Not by denying ourselves the use of a good product!
Uber has a board and a management team that is under a microscope right now. They are responsible for fixing the wrongs. What the NYT and other media can continue doing is shining the light on companies when they do wrong. Uber has already taken several actions, like firing senior managers, a key board member resigning and sending the CEO on indefinite leave. These are all good steps. This is how change happens. Not by denying ourselves the use of a good product!
11
Nice to think that what you're seeing is "change", but it's only PR. You're supporting a company that is built from bad apples, and cares only about its own profit. The only way there will be any real change, rather than cosmetic "paint over the problems" news releases, will be for customers to stop giving them money.
4
I will never use it.
13
Clearly a partisan agenda here. Don't take Uber. Don't help them get better. Put the boot in when massive changes are already underway. That's right, bring them down.
Shame on the author. Lack of balance.
Shame on the author. Lack of balance.
9
Why are you telling us to do something that you have not done yourself? "...a dozen times in the past month, including three times last week." Put your money where your mouth it.
44
Mr. Manjoo has written an entire article advising people to "think twice" about using Uber. Yet he used it three times in the last week. Huh?? He is in a city with so many transportation alternatives, yet he waxes eloquent over Uber's many sins and wags his editorial finger at any who use it while apparently embracing his own hypocrisy. I refuse to use Uber and instead use Lyft. And I live in an area with no public transportation. So what would it take for the author to delete his own Uber app?
123
It does seem like a case of "Do as I say, not as I do."
1
I hold no brief for Uber, but this seems to be an opinion piece, not a news story. If it is an opinion piece it should be on editorial page. It is bad policy to blur the line between the two.
66
Um, no. This is not a news column. Mr. Manjoo writes a column on Technology called the "State of The Art". Which is described as "A column from Farhad Manjoo that examines how technology is changing business and society". This is exactly what he is supposed to write about. Opinion doesn't just belong to the op-ed pages. If it did, all reviews (art, movies, food), and other analysis based sections of the paper, would be op-ed pieces.
3
Unfortunately, the Times does not confine option to the opinion pages.
I already don't use it when I can walk, train or bus where I'm going. But when hiring a car makes sense, such as when I'm in a hurry or the weather is bad or I have heavier cargo, I use Uber. The experience of using the service is so superior on every level to taking a traditional cab that I still want to take advantage. The taxi industry does need to be disrupted, and if a service is good quality why shouldn't I take advantage? But I'm already applying a high bar for it's use e.g., I'll walk or use transit when that's available and reasonably convenient.
4
Have you tried Lyft? It works just as well as Uber where I live and have traveled. Everything about Lyft's functionality is essentially the same but for one detail--with Lyft you can add a tip if you want to, so no need to fish around for cash if you care to add a little to the fare.
3
As a NYC resident, finding alternatives to Uber is not an problem. There are countless other apps that provide generous deals for riders looking to get around for a low price. I have not used Uber since finding cheaper rates with services that pay their drivers much fairer rates, and my experiences have all been satisfactory. However, for many living where such options are limited, Uber is often the cheapest option. Unless there is competition in some smaller markets, Uber will likely remain dominant. Regardless, Uber certainly must be held accountable to the company's questionable behavior in its corporate offices. The harassment and discrimination documented in Mr. Holder's report should be addressed immediately. Not only will it benefit those working for Uber at all levels, it will also benefit those riders looking to use the most popular ride-hailing service -- with a clear conscience.
4
First. No one company is going to win ride sharing.
Second. Why is it a solution to make the drivers and employees of über jobless?
Second. Why is it a solution to make the drivers and employees of über jobless?
21
I deleted the Uber app shortly after the company's attempt at JFK to undermine the taxi drivers who were striking in opposition to the first travel ban. I don't know about other parts of the country, but where I live, nearly all the drivers have both Uber and Lyft decals on their cars. And Lyft, albeit a bit more expensive, pays more to their drivers. So I have no pangs of conscience when using the other service.
6
jobless? most of the Uber drivers in the Bay Area also drive for Lyft. Every driver I've had said s/he preferred driving for Lyft. Only stuck with Uber due to its customer volume.
1
I for one am disgusted by what I keep reading about Uber. I'm not naive enough to expect that all these other companies are totally pious but the extent to which Uber has been awful was enough for me so I deleted the app. THEN, as a photographer I was shooting in India for a month. I quickly downloaded OLA (India's version of ride hailing) and it worked well until it didn't and I ended up downloading Uber again It worked perfectly and the fact I could pay via credit card also helped out. I wish I didn't have to use it. Certainly there was a time before Uber and I got along. That time is gone, I hope they can change the way they behave. Until then as long as I'm in the States I will use Lyft and Juno and I urge everyone else to as well.
6
In San Francisco cabs were often late and often didn't arrive; and it usually took a long time to hail one from the street if you weren't in a busy intersection.
Then came Uber. I can get a car in a few minutes anywhere in the City at any time and it's so much cheaper. I'm sticking with Uber!
Then came Uber. I can get a car in a few minutes anywhere in the City at any time and it's so much cheaper. I'm sticking with Uber!
22
I haven't used Uber but I agree completely re: cabs in San Francisco. It is truly hit and miss as to whether you can get one. In desperation I occasionally queued up at a hotel to get a cab (at night) ignoring the signs that said "cab line for hotel guests only"). I figured the bellman opening the car door for me (a senior citizen) would hardly throw me out of the line if I tipped him. But I never, ever, felt confident that I could get a cab otherwise. Hailing was typically useless. Calling them was a gamble. I haven't been to SF recently but if I go again I'd be tempted to try Uber (or a competitor). Of course i don't really trust them to show up either.
1
Last summer I was in NYC near Penn Station with luggage and tried to get a cab at a stand in front of a hotel. They line up. The driver of the cab in front had gone on a break and no one would break rank so I tipped the doorman who hailed a cab in the street for me. It was ridiculous. But such places are dominated by cab companies with an unhelpful culture and cabbies with attitudes. I had tried Uber but the driver and I couldn't find each other because of traffic.
If cabs want to stay dominant they need to reform. If the Uber driver and I had found each other I'd have happily taken Uber. I wonder what happens behind the scenes between cab companies and some city governments.
Uber drivers I have met have been fine. Interesting people bringing in much needed dough, getting partiers home safely, getting people to jobs, the airport, appointments, working independently. Many drive for Lyft, also.
If cabs want to stay dominant they need to reform. If the Uber driver and I had found each other I'd have happily taken Uber. I wonder what happens behind the scenes between cab companies and some city governments.
Uber drivers I have met have been fine. Interesting people bringing in much needed dough, getting partiers home safely, getting people to jobs, the airport, appointments, working independently. Many drive for Lyft, also.
4
Agree fully. Try getting a cab to show up in San Francisco is a dubious proposition even on a quiet night, and nearly impossible when there's an event or it's raining outside. The situation is even worse in Silicon Valley. The author's suggestion that we should use a vastly inferior service in order to "punish" Uber for its brogrammer behavior, which has no impact whatsoever on its customers, is absurd. Sure, I wouldn't want to work there (or at any other "brogrammer" outfit), but I wouldn't want to work at Google or Facebook either.
1
Whether the Ayn Rand-ian sinews and ligaments can ever be excised from the Uber culture remains to be seen. With a spy vs. spy mentality (spoofing their apps to throw off city government monitoring and regulation); pervasive chiseling (finding ways to force driver-owners to carry as much of the financial burden as possible, including tax obligations that should have been pass-throughs; and a raw attitude that as "creators" they are entitled to everything they can get—this is not the platform for transformation that transportation planners should build on. Unless, of course, the goal is dystopia in our time.
64
@Bikerbud: Let me take your statement further: This is not a platform that ANYTHING should be built on.
I arrived in San Antonio airport on a Sunday evening a few weeks ago. Had started to queue an Uber car for a $33 fare to my destination when my phone rang, interrupting the task. When I returned to the Uber app, the rate had adjusted to $55. While I stood there, aghast, it jumped to $80, with demand based fares.
A 2.5X boost in fees based on a Silicon Valley business and behavioral model was just too much for me to stomach (perhaps 1.5x would have been OK).
The experience of having that egregious of a demand-based fare boost was to realize, like pork bellies, cotton, oil, or other commodities, I (and the drivers) were simply economic units - and the game board rules were set by entirely by the service. If the service can drain all customer sentiment out of such a transaction so can I.
In response, I rented a car for $200 (that gave me a car for the week and a return means). My new mood is to absolutely minimize my business with these services in the future.
In fairness, I downloaded Lyft and it was within a dollar of Uber at the time so this problem is emblematic of other car services and not confined to Uber.
A 2.5X boost in fees based on a Silicon Valley business and behavioral model was just too much for me to stomach (perhaps 1.5x would have been OK).
The experience of having that egregious of a demand-based fare boost was to realize, like pork bellies, cotton, oil, or other commodities, I (and the drivers) were simply economic units - and the game board rules were set by entirely by the service. If the service can drain all customer sentiment out of such a transaction so can I.
In response, I rented a car for $200 (that gave me a car for the week and a return means). My new mood is to absolutely minimize my business with these services in the future.
In fairness, I downloaded Lyft and it was within a dollar of Uber at the time so this problem is emblematic of other car services and not confined to Uber.
133
Just out of curiosity. What was the cab fare? Which I assume was probably a flat fee by law. Did you check?
2
Good for you! But here's the thing, you did exactly what the economic model was designed to predict and encourage. Uber did not have enough vehicles available to meet the demand thus a surge in pricing. At some point the pricing reaches a level where some participants choose other modes of transportation - exactly as they should do. This reduces demand and reduces wait times and eventually the surge as all demand is met. Over longer periods of time constant blocks of surge demand is designed to attract more drivers reducing the need for surges in the first place.
I recall a time waiting in 2+ hour lines for yellow cabs at JFK & LGA. With no reasonable alternatives to the cab and the cab companies unable to effectively surge to meet demand. I'd rather have options like Uber, Lyft, etc. to help smooth out that demand/price curve and get me to where I need to be for a reasonable cost in a reasonable amount of time.
I recall a time waiting in 2+ hour lines for yellow cabs at JFK & LGA. With no reasonable alternatives to the cab and the cab companies unable to effectively surge to meet demand. I'd rather have options like Uber, Lyft, etc. to help smooth out that demand/price curve and get me to where I need to be for a reasonable cost in a reasonable amount of time.
2
Uber isn't the second coming; it's a private company that acts like any private company. Some of the suggestions in this piece do sound not only naive, but wholly wrongheaded. Replace the bus lines with subsidized ride-sharing? So eliminate one more good paying job with benefits, and introduce a low paying job where the employee is routinely disregarded by management; don't they all have to use their own cars? Uber is just a company. We shouldn't be so enthralled by them.
155
Plus Uber has already increased urban congestion. Expecting ride share to replace buses would make our cities intolerably congested and much less livable. Uber is no replacement for efficient mass transit.
8
The entire business model of Uber or Lyft, is to replace decent paying, regulated jobs as taxi drivers or bus drivers, with UNREGULATED independent contractors. Essentially, it is a jitney cab service built on some cellphone-based software. That's all. No magic technology here.
I do not see the usefulness in this advice. I am in no way disagreeing about the questionable ethics of Uber's executive leadership. However, the drivers of Uber are not employees of the company; as private contractors, they are essentially self-employed. They are relying on Uber in many cases to supplement income, or even as full-time income. Finally, I do not see why using Lyft (which follows the same business model as Uber) is a better alternative, or why using a taxi, many of which are run by predatory management themselves, is a better option. I have spoken to many Uber drivers who formerly drove taxis, and preferred Uber because of their ability to dictate their own hours, not report to a boss, etc. I am not saying that the bad press directed at Uber's executives is unwarranted, but I also do not see why advocating for not supporting its self-employed drivers is a better idea.
91
I could be wrong but I think many Uber drivers also use Lyft (and maybe other ride sharing apps) sometimes simultaneously (and sometimes on multiple phones), so by using another app to hire a ride you're not necessarily hurting the driver. I rode with a driver I found on Lyft recently and he told me he generally had both apps running at the same time until he got a hit on one.
14
I've had several drivers in SF tell me the same thing, and seen many more with both Uber and Lyft emblems on their windows. And each of the drivers I talked to about it told me they greatly prefer driving for Lyft.
8
Do you know that if you even got into an accident, you'd be out of luck since most drivers don't have insurance that covers using their car for business purposes? That same "self-employed contractor" could be financially ruined is something went wrong.
3
Ive never understood how Uber is actually legal. I guess there are loopholes that allow them to operate as an unregulated, unlicensed taxi company. Isnt there enough cause now for municipalities to pass laws specifically banning Uber from operating in their cities?
44
This happened in Austin, Texas. Uber then lobbied the state legislature and got around what the municipalities wanted.
1
I will never use Uber. I don't feel safe, and I prefer to support licensed cabs.
147
I wont use it. Its unfair to the drivers, doesn't have enough consumer protections and the company culture is discriminatory.
Id rather spend more and feel good about it.
About the only power regular Americans have these days to influence society is our spending decisions.
Id rather spend more and feel good about it.
About the only power regular Americans have these days to influence society is our spending decisions.
208
Red mist, I agree wholeheartedly. This is why I also refuse to use Amazon, which has a toxic corporate culture and horrific conditions for warehouse workers. Consumers do have the power to influence and improve corporate behavior.
31
If its really unfair to drivers, they would stop partnering.
I'm not sure how boycotting Uber helps the drivers.
O K if you choose to live in a distant place with no alternatives, but there simply is no excuse for using Uber in a city such as NY with so many alternatives.
It barged in here, profiteering while flouting rules meant to,protect drivers and riders, and then spent $$$ on an advertising campaign to threaten our elected representatives and manipulate opinion to make it seem cool to uber
With Uber's macho get my own way attitudes, I was not surprised to read that it had an internal culture of sexism and sexual harassment. Ugh to Uber.
It barged in here, profiteering while flouting rules meant to,protect drivers and riders, and then spent $$$ on an advertising campaign to threaten our elected representatives and manipulate opinion to make it seem cool to uber
With Uber's macho get my own way attitudes, I was not surprised to read that it had an internal culture of sexism and sexual harassment. Ugh to Uber.
178
By not using it you are punishing the drivers you so deeply care about.
Reply to Ned-
Not in NYC. Drivers have told me that they have been switching back to taxis due to the way Uber exploits them.
In any case, if you use Uber, you take $ away from NYC taxi drivers.
Not in NYC. Drivers have told me that they have been switching back to taxis due to the way Uber exploits them.
In any case, if you use Uber, you take $ away from NYC taxi drivers.
4
I've chosen the middle ground in using Uber, relying on them far less than in the past, because of the seemingly endless drumbeat of bad behavior. If this is how they're acting now, how is their culture going to look when they've decisively crushed any competition? So yes, we've options which do include Uber, and sometimes we vote with our wallets and our feet when any other choice will suffice.
2
No, here's no Uber app on my phone. Or Lyft. And when restaurants or hotels I've asked to call cabs (and specifically said "Not Uber") go ahead and call Uber, I refuse to get in and insist on a cab. I refuse to use any such service. I'm not getting into any random, unlicensed stranger's car, thanks - ever. I'll take buses, subways, and yes, taxis - cabs may cost more, but drivers go through rigorous training and are held responsible in a way that Uber drivers are not.
285
A whole lot of my friends use uber. I've done it a few times. It scares me though. Why don't cab regulations apply? I don't think there is a good reason to that answer other than no one is making them stick.
2
UBER in NYC is exactly like any car service and the yellow taxi industry. All the cars and the drivers are licensed.
1
I am not so sure about the being held responsible. My understanding is that most cabs are held by LLC's and getting compensation for misdeeds is very difficult.