UBER coming to Vancouver ?

[kingofsurrey]

UBER coming to Vancouver ?

 

When is it going to happen ?  Which party  NDP or Liberal is more likely to make it happen ?

Is it true that Vancouver is the largest city in North America that does not have UBER ?

Whats the problem in BC  ?

[HowYaDrouin]

I read that in October its back on the board for discussion with a heavy lean towards accepting it.

[Jägermeister]

Uber sucks.

[cripplereh]

why would we want Uber???  sounds fishy

[Green Building]

10 hours ago, Jägermeister said:

Uber sucks.

Found a cabbie.

[Lancaster]

Don't the taxi industry in Vancouver keep the amount of vehicles artificially low to keep the rates higher?

[Jägermeister]

1 hour ago, Green Building said:

Found a cabbie.

I've taken Uber 5 times in various locations around the world and not a single time has it been a simple process.

Either the driver has literally drove past me and not picked me up, never even showed up, had no clue where they were going, or tried to overcharge me.  Every time has been a massive hassle.

[Kragar]

18 minutes ago, Jägermeister said:

I've taken Uber 5 times in various locations around the world and not a single time has it been a simple process.

Either the driver has literally drove past me and not picked me up, never even showed up, had no clue where they were going, or tried to overcharge me.  Every time has been a massive hassle.

I've used it 2-3 times, all in the Los Angeles area.  Never been a problem, aside from my normal pickup place is awkward to get to.  If whatever navigation app they are using  is flawed, it will obviously affect them.

 

It would be interesting to see how Uber's operations in other countries differ.  My previous job had me working briefly with people in UK, France, and Italy, and maybe Germany, and the differing cultures and expectations made working together a little quirky.

 

Edit: contrary to the few cabs I have been in, it's nice to have a cleaner car and friendlier driver via Uber.  Haven't tried any other ride-share company, so can't comment on their quality.

[Green Building]

2 hours ago, Jägermeister said:

I've taken Uber 5 times in various locations around the world and not a single time has it been a simple process.

Either the driver has literally drove past me and not picked me up, never even showed up, had no clue where they were going, or tried to overcharge me.  Every time has been a massive hassle.

That's a fair assessment of an unfortunate series of circumstances. I've had the complete opposite experience. Cars in literally minutes (4 minutes at 10pm on a Friday night as an example) and never confusion on destination. My only gripe with Uber is you have to pay out the ass for that premium hour service. Like $60 instead of a cab that would have cost $20, that kind of thing. Is that what you meant by overcharge? If that saved time is worth the extra $40 bucks instead of waiting 2 hours for a cab that might not even show up then it could be worth it to some people. Is Uber taking advantage of the failings of taxi companies during peak times. I don't really care. Sometimes you just need to get where you're going, and assuming all goes well, that convenience can be worth a little more money.

 

I'm not a cabbie, nor do I drive for Uber, but I recognize the service they are providing (or in your case failing to provide) as well as the reason for their popularity. 

 

 

[Kragar]

2 hours ago, Green Building said:

That's a fair assessment of an unfortunate series of circumstances. I've had the complete opposite experience. Cars in literally minutes (4 minutes at 10pm on a Friday night as an example) and never confusion on destination. My only gripe with Uber is you have to pay out the ass for that premium hour service. Like $60 instead of a cab that would have cost $20, that kind of thing. Is that what you meant by overcharge? If that saved time is worth the extra $40 bucks instead of waiting 2 hours for a cab that might not even show up then it could be worth it to some people. Is Uber taking advantage of the failings of taxi companies during peak times. I don't really care. Sometimes you just need to get where you're going, and assuming all goes well, that convenience can be worth a little more money.

 

I'm not a cabbie, nor do I drive for Uber, but I recognize the service they are providing (or in your case failing to provide) as well as the reason for their popularity. 

I heard about the peak-time pricing.  It hasn't impacted me on the rare times I used Uber, but I can see it being a pain.  From a consumer standpoint it helps to know when you are planning your day what the cost will be, so there are no surprises.  I'm curious how "fair" it is.  Is there a legitimate need to increase the price, or is it just gouging due to a temporary demand on drivers.

[Green Building]

32 minutes ago, Kragar said:

I heard about the peak-time pricing.  It hasn't impacted me on the rare times I used Uber, but I can see it being a pain.  From a consumer standpoint it helps to know when you are planning your day what the cost will be, so there are no surprises.  I'm curious how "fair" it is.  Is there a legitimate need to increase the price, or is it just gouging due to a temporary demand on drivers.

In my experience, I didn't find out the total cost of the trip until we arrived at our destination (no surprise there I guess). It was a $64 and something cents ride vs what would have been around a $20 cab ride. I could have inquired about the price when the car arrived, but I already knew it would have been more before calling, and since we wanted to go out anyways I really did't care. Honestly though, a taxi likely never would have come, or would have been a ridiculous wait, like over 90 minutes, as they are simply too busy/unreliable during prime time. If a bus or train doesn't go there, and a cab is unreliable, then that Uber ride is just the added cost of going out for the night if driving isn't an option.

 

I'm just guessing here, but Uber is pricing it based on demand. If you want a lift at 10am on a Wednesday it will be significantly cheaper. 

 

For reference, the city these experiences are from was Chicago.

[taxi]

I've always had great experiences with Uber.

 

Is it coming to Vancouver? Doubtful. For the same reason that we can't get enough housing built. The city is corrupt. It helps people who already have the resources at the cost of those trying to get into the market. In this case, cab license holders own licenses that are now worth $1 million or so. They hire cabbies to be slaves. The public can't get a ride when they need it. Nobody wins but the ultra-rich license holders and the crooked politicians they support.

[Kragar]

26 minutes ago, Green Building said:

In my experience, I didn't find out the total cost of the trip until we arrived at our destination (no surprise there I guess). It was a $64 and something cents ride vs what would have been around a $20 cab ride. I could have inquired about the price when the car arrived, but I already knew it would have been more before calling, and since we wanted to go out anyways I really did't care. Honestly though, a taxi likely never would have come, or would have been a ridiculous wait, like over 90 minutes, as they are simply too busy/unreliable during prime time. If a bus or train doesn't go there, and a cab is unreliable, then that Uber ride is just the added cost of going out for the night if driving isn't an option.

 

I'm just guessing here, but Uber is pricing it based on demand. If you want a lift at 10am on a Wednesday it will be significantly cheaper. 

 

For reference, the city these experiences are from was Chicago.

Makes sense, thanks for the info.  My usage has been pretty early in the day, and short distance although it involves going to LAX.  Not sure if they charge extra for the airport or not.  In all cases, the trip was $8-10.  Tough to go wrong there.  A local airport car-park used to charge me $15 for the shuttle ride (I wasn't parking with them), so this was much better.

[kingofsurrey]

30 minutes ago, taxi said:

I've always had great experiences with Uber.

 

Is it coming to Vancouver? Doubtful. For the same reason that we can't get enough housing built. The city is corrupt. It helps people who already have the resources at the cost of those trying to get into the market. In this case, cab license holders own licenses that are now worth $1 million or so. They hire cabbies to be slaves. The public can't get a ride when they need it. Nobody wins but the ultra-rich license holders and the crooked politicians they support.

 

With a name like TAXI  i thought you would be anti Uber  - LOL 

[kingofsurrey]

37 minutes ago, taxi said:

I've always had great experiences with Uber.

 

Is it coming to Vancouver? Doubtful. For the same reason that we can't get enough housing built. The city is corrupt. It helps people who already have the resources at the cost of those trying to get into the market. In this case, cab license holders own licenses that are now worth $1 million or so. They hire cabbies to be slaves. The public can't get a ride when they need it. Nobody wins but the ultra-rich license holders and the crooked politicians they support.

Is there a more corrupt jurisdiction  in North America  than   Vancouver / BC  ?

 

I am older now and pretty set up but i just feel sick at how this province treats its young people  /  poor people  /  seniors  /  and  mentally ill. 

 

[NucksPatsFan]

On 1/18/2017 at 10:16 AM, Jägermeister said:

I've taken Uber 5 times in various locations around the world and not a single time has it been a simple process.

Either the driver has literally drove past me and not picked me up, never even showed up, had no clue where they were going, or tried to overcharge me.  Every time has been a massive hassle.

That's interesting (and unfortunate) to hear. I took Uber for 2 weeks around Manhattan at all times of the day (Weekday mornings, Weekday afternoons, weekend nights) and never had to wait more than 5-8 minutes, had a summary of the driver and his car before he arrived, showed up where I dropped the pin for him to pick me up.

[NucksPatsFan]

18 hours ago, Green Building said:

In my experience, I didn't find out the total cost of the trip until we arrived at our destination (no surprise there I guess). It was a $64 and something cents ride vs what would have been around a $20 cab ride. I could have inquired about the price when the car arrived, but I already knew it would have been more before calling, and since we wanted to go out anyways I really did't care. Honestly though, a taxi likely never would have come, or would have been a ridiculous wait, like over 90 minutes, as they are simply too busy/unreliable during prime time. If a bus or train doesn't go there, and a cab is unreliable, then that Uber ride is just the added cost of going out for the night if driving isn't an option.

 

I'm just guessing here, but Uber is pricing it based on demand. If you want a lift at 10am on a Wednesday it will be significantly cheaper. 

 

For reference, the city these experiences are from was Chicago.

There's an Uber fare-estimator app you can use and every time I used it it's been within 2$ below/above

[taxi]

18 hours ago, kingofsurrey said:

Is there a more corrupt jurisdiction  in North America  than   Vancouver / BC  ?

 

I am older now and pretty set up but i just feel sick at how this province treats its young people  /  poor people  /  seniors  /  and  mentally ill. 

 

Vancouver suffers from extreme examples of large government, unions, and established private businesses taking everything and leaving nothing for anyone else. Any funds that are set aside for the less advantaged always end up in the pocket of one of those groups.

 

There may be worse examples in North America, but Vancouver is bad.

[TheHitman]

On 2017-01-18 at 9:29 AM, Lancaster said:

Don't the taxi industry in Vancouver keep the amount of vehicles artificially low to keep the rates higher?

Quite the opposite, the government has never approved the creation of more taxi licenses, and cut off usage of the temporary taxis at peak times, leading to the ridiculous wait times consumers suffer from. Just talks of Uber coming into town have driven down taxi license prices largely, and job security in that industry has diminished since then. As far as becoming an Uber driver goes, the rumours are that they'll have to abide by mostly the same regulations as cabbies do, meaning that rates will be much higher here than in other cities for the service. Additionally, most Uber drivers probably won't be allowed to use the airport as one of their destination/pickup points without acquiring certain licenses as well. While it seems like a great idea, peak hour rates for Uber in this city will be difficult to justify and still be unaffordable for most people to use on a regular basis. Personally, I'd prefer if transit service would be better during rush and peak hours, much more affordable and in cases of the Skytrain, much faster. With the logjams between waiting times on taxis and full busses/less skytrains, Uber will probably push to have more peak hours here than in other major cities as well. 

[taxi]

34 minutes ago, TheHitman said:

Quite the opposite, the government has never approved the creation of more taxi licenses, and cut off usage of the temporary taxis at peak times, leading to the ridiculous wait times consumers suffer from. Just talks of Uber coming into town have driven down taxi license prices largely, and job security in that industry has diminished since then. As far as becoming an Uber driver goes, the rumours are that they'll have to abide by mostly the same regulations as cabbies do, meaning that rates will be much higher here than in other cities for the service. Additionally, most Uber drivers probably won't be allowed to use the airport as one of their destination/pickup points without acquiring certain licenses as well. While it seems like a great idea, peak hour rates for Uber in this city will be difficult to justify and still be unaffordable for most people to use on a regular basis. Personally, I'd prefer if transit service would be better during rush and peak hours, much more affordable and in cases of the Skytrain, much faster. With the logjams between waiting times on taxis and full busses/less skytrains, Uber will probably push to have more peak hours here than in other major cities as well. 

It's the government that approves the taxi licenses, but it's the license owners that lobby the government heavily not to create more licenses. The city clearly needs more taxis. And the lack of licenses means the driver's are more easily replaceable and the public has to pay a higher rate.