Uber to Resume in Calgary December 6 2016

[4X4]

I heard Roger Richard on QR today whining about Uber. Lol. Didn't really listen because I was only in my truck for a couple minutes, but he was saying something about how they're not playing by the rules, wah wah wah.

I personally think it funny how pissed off the cab companies are. I bet that for every story in this thread about how we all got f'd over by cabs, there are dozens more in each person's past. I can think of at least 10 times I was swearing mad, and that's only because I tend to forget things. Cabs have screwed me over dozens of times. Ridiculously long waits, both on the phone and for the actual car to show up, getting kicked out of cabs for the distance being too long or too short, drivers taking scenic routes, even though I give directions, drivers wearing suffocating amounts of cologne, drivers that just can't even drive...

I just can't believe they want any sympathy. Taxi service in this city is just abysmal. And the cab companies are doing SFA to improve it, so of course the citizens are going to embrace an alternative, and most people DGAF about the bylaws.

Keep crying, Roger. Maybe if your service didn't suck so fricken badly, you might get some sympathy about this illegal service being used, but since you and your counterparts have been completely sh*tting the bed for so long, you're not getting any sympathy from anyone.

[Fuzz]

Maybe the city should revoke the taxi companies licenses based on failing to meet minimum standards, and give them to Uber/Lyft, as long as Uber can get insurance, inspections and licensing sorted.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Maybe the city should revoke the taxi companies licenses based on failing to meet minimum standards, and give them to Uber/Lyft, as long as Uber can get insurance, inspections and licensing sorted.

Seems like the City is in on this weird taxi mafia. Maybe Roger Richard has naked pics of city hall. Dirty construction porn pics. Pics at rough in stage. I think I see an elevator shaft!! And is that a window hole?

[Fuzz]

Just followed that fake black cab that is trying to make some sort of point. What a hunk of shiate. Only a taxi company could get that insured to be on the road...He was driving like an a-hole too. It's funny, because from what I've heard, all the Uber cars are a far nicer experience than most taxis. Maybe he should be out proving his point in a Rolls Royce.

[Iceman90]

I bet back in the day, the horse & buggy for hire and rickshaw drivers were pissed when automotives for hire entered the market.

It's an evolution of the marketplace, and the taxi companies should use the energy they put forward to bitch and moan to innovate and make their service better.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

I finally got around the other day and tried this - for short trips (3-5 km), the cost difference is not that negligible. Admittedly, that might have been due to the fact the suggested routing from the app was about 20% longer that it should of been. Pretty much ended up at the same price as a taxi, though after tipping the taxi it would have been more.

I kind of hope tipping doesn't catch on or we will create this expectation....(paging Springsl....)

Car that picked me up was an older GM SUV that couldn't have been terribly fuel efficient - slightly smelled of stale smoke but still better than a cab. The user experience was great - app was super easy to use, and just jumping out and not having to futz around with payment was certainly quicker.

If we can get these guys properly insured - I'm sure as hell happy to see the competition. But I'm pretty sure most of these guys aren't rolling with proper commercial insurance...

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Iceman90

It's an evolution of the marketplace, and the taxi companies should use the energy they put forward to bitch and moan to innovate and make their service better.

In the last couple years or so, it was almost like they were trying to improve.

For a while, I could phone a cab and they knew my number and it automatically said "if you want a cab at 666 XYZ (my address), press 1". The cab would show up, the guy would call when he was close, and out I'd go. Then that stopped. I'd even talk to the dispatcher and was often told "some drivers don't call, some do, so if you aren't there...". When I asked them to tell the driver to call, I was told again "he might call, he might not".

The last time I used the Checker app, I was waiting at the pick-up spot and I could see "my" cab a couple hundred yards down the road (and on my phone) and then he pulled over, picked up a 'hailer', did a u-turn and drove away. My booking just disappeared. There was nothing I could do about it.

Finally, the Associated cabs had something called the "Driver and Passenger Bill of RIghts" that said they have to follow your route and take debit and they followed it. That thing is now gone in most of their cars and belligerent cabbies won't follow directions and have made me late more than once with their bull#### about how their debit doesn't work.

Right when it was clear that they were going to get competition, it was like they went out of their way to scuttle any improvements they had made.

So that's it. The more they bitch, the better it gets. Their actions tell me they don't want my money. So Uber it is, as long as that lasts.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Iceman90

I bet back in the day, the horse & buggy for hire and rickshaw drivers were pissed when automotives for hire entered the market.

It's an evolution of the marketplace, and the taxi companies should use the energy they put forward to bitch and moan to innovate and make their service better.

The evolution is largely to do with the cab companies themselves, as middle men, being obsolete. The Apps have replaced the dispatchers. The license holders never actually contributed anything.

The pricing will eventually adjust upwards slightly but still be less than a cab. I'm find with that. The drivers will be making more money, and the customers will be paying less. They'll be no middle men. No profiteers who make money owning a license that was initially issued for free by the city.

[4X4]

^ In all my years of being aware of what businesses should do to improve and expand and make more money, I can't think of any business that has so blatantly ignored the obvious. Well, maybe Blockbuster Video.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by blankall

The evolution is largely to do with the cab companies themselves, as middle men, being obsolete. The Apps have replaced the dispatchers. The license holders never actually contributed anything.

The pricing will eventually adjust upwards slightly but still be less than a cab. I'm find with that. The drivers will be making more money, and the customers will be paying less. They'll be no middle men. No profiteers who make money owning a license that was initially issued for free by the city.

Ahem. Except for Uber taking 20%.

[Regulator75]

http://www.metronews.ca/news/calgary...inst-uber.html

Uber is so last week – or that's what a Calgary Taxi company is hoping.

Meet CBR (cy-hoo-br) the latest Transportation Network Company in Calgary complete with zero licensing, no insurance and no mechanical inspections. The letters CBR don't stand for anything.

The all black sleek vehicle can be used as both a "Taxy" and sedan with its tinted back windows. One of the passenger doors won't open, but that's why you have two, right? For safety there's two spare tires and your driver goes the same speed as flowing traffic – because he doesn't have a speedometer.

"When you have an unregulated service, it could be anything, who knows what you're going to get," said Roger Richard, owner of Associated Cabs. "If we all did that, what would happen, there would be chaos, so why is (Uber) allowed to operate today?

[para transit fellow]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Ahem. Except for Uber taking 20%.

I understand that they now take 25% in Edmonton.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Ahem. Except for Uber taking 20%.

Wow. Didn't realize they took that much. Still a lot less than the cab company and licence owners take, but that's hefty...Is Uber a public company?

[WhiteTiger]

If anything, this thread has made me realize that people take taxis (and take them more seriously) than I'd ever have imagined.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by blankall

Wow. Didn't realize they took that much. Still a lot less than the cab company and licence owners take, but that's hefty...Is Uber a public company?

The difference is that generally a taxi driver leases a cab for a flat fee but keeps everything above it and vehicle deprecation and maintenance is covered by the company. The Uber driver covers all vehicle costs from their net fares.

Uber's still a private company that's been raising a lot of money lately. However, the most recent financial documents indicates it's losing a lot of money, spending about $2 for every $1 they take in revenue.

[Dagger]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

http://www.metronews.ca/news/calgary...inst-uber.html

It's pretty embarrassing that the owner would apply the same rates for a ride in that as he would in one out of his regular fleet.

[FireGilbert]

I wouldn't recommend taking an Uber from the airport as in the chaos of the pick up area it is far too difficult to find your driver. You are pretty much forced to take a taxi and pay the airport extortion fee.

It is perfect for being picked up from home to go to the airport though.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

http://www.metronews.ca/news/calgary...inst-uber.html

Ya, that's the one I followed. Should not be on the road.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

http://www.metronews.ca/news/calgary...inst-uber.html

Driving in the flow of traffic would be a nice upgrade from typical cabbie driving.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by blankall

The evolution is largely to do with the cab companies themselves, as middle men, being obsolete. The Apps have replaced the dispatchers. The license holders never actually contributed anything.

The pricing will eventually adjust upwards slightly but still be less than a cab. I'm find with that. The drivers will be making more money, and the customers will be paying less. They'll be no middle men. No profiteers who make money owning a license that was initially issued for free by the city.

Typically when uber enters an unregulated market it is a slow race to the bottom in terms of price and quality of vehicle.

It's why minimum per I'm fees might be a reasonable part of regulations otherwise uber will keep increasing its take and pushing down price to gobble up market share while drivers forget to take into account maintenance costs so actually make no money when they think they are.