Uber to Resume in Calgary December 6 2016

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Realtor 1

Well played, intentionally or not lol

It forced me to read it in a very thick accent.

[Tron_fdc]

So what exactly are cab drivers after as far as fares go?

I had a guy refuse a fare from 17th ave to Okotoks. Said it was too far, and he would rather stay downtown. Is there a "preferred" distance these guys all want to drive? Not too short and not too long? I always thought cabbies ate up the short fares and didn't like the long ones?

I seriously can't stand cabs. I spent the last 20 years living downtown, finding all kinds of creative ways to get home after a night of drinking because cabs wouldn't pick me up. We once put 7 or 8 guys in a GTI and clown car'd it home because we only had one sober driver. We would split fares with randoms, pay people to give up cabs, pay randoms with a vehicle to drive us, call cabs from hotels, have girls hail cabs.....one time we even tried to call the cops to drive us home (they don't). You name it we tried it, because at 3AM you have a better chance of finding a stray lady friend roaming the back alleys to take home than you do of getting an actual cab out of the core.

Cabs in Calgary SUCK.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Not sure if it's been discussed in the previous 25 pages, but thought I'd mention it having chatted with my Uber driver last weekend.

He was a former cab driver which obviously makes sense. I'm not sure why people think Cab drivers will suffer when in reality it's the companies themselves that will be suffering. He's much happier being his own boss and making his own schedule.

It was a pleasant ride for various reasons. He was playing top-40 music instead of the usual crappy AM stations that usually seem to be on instead. He had a couple calls, but didn't answer either of them which I've never seen before. You can really tell that Uber drivers want to make you happy and give you a good experience. Something cab drivers haven't ever cared about doing no matter what city I am travelling in.

The fare was 20 bucks when it would of otherwise been 35 after tip and I also arrived quicker then a cab would of. Cabbies will take you the long way 9 times out of 10 if you don't know where you're going well enough. And rarely will they be doing the usual 10km over the speed limit.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

So what exactly are cab drivers after as far as fares go?

I had a guy refuse a fare from 17th ave to Okotoks. Said it was too far, and he would rather stay downtown. Is there a "preferred" distance these guys all want to drive? Not too short and not too long? I always thought cabbies ate up the short fares and didn't like the long ones?

I'd imagine it's a trip where they have a good chance of getting another passenger at the destination. A trip to Okotoks is good one way but he'll probably won't be able (or legally may not be allowed) to pick up a passenger and end up with ~40 km/25-30 minutes of dead driving to get to the next passenger in Calgary. Short fares are probably good unless there's a lot of traffic which then kills the fare/hour rate.

I think a lot of the problems of Calgary for taxis is that it simply isn't a good city for taxi service, it's a relatively large city in area but with a relatively low population that likes to drive and where driving costs aren't very expensive.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by Bandwagon In Flames

He was a former cab driver which obviously makes sense. I'm not sure why people think Cab drivers will suffer when in reality it's the companies themselves that will be suffering. He's much happier being his own boss and making his own schedule.

It's just following the experiences of other cities; over time standard Uber practices makes all drivers who drive people for money suffer.

Rates in US markets drop over time, typically <$1/mile to as low as 75c/mile in cities like Detroit.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Then those driver's will stop driving, and demand will increase with a decreasing supply, and the price will increase.

If it increases too much people will take Taxi's

Wow free market makes sense sometimes.

Or in the absence of regulation and any real liability you get a race to the bottom in terms of vehicle quality.

The consumer is not in a position to judge the safety of a vehicle before entering so it's not factored in the decision so cost governs.

The over regulation of the taxi industry isn't great and the high rents owners charge their drivers are just as bad as keeping money out of drivers hands but an uber monopoly setting the price and quality doesn't work either.

An intelligent amount of regulation is required. Vehicle standards and at least an average of minimum wage for drivers. Then competition can be based on performance instead of cost cutting.

[jayswin]

My parents ordered a taxi in Calgary and the driver ended up murdering them. I went with uber for the ride to the funeral for obvious reasons. The driver was so amazing that he offered me condolences for my loss, which a taxi driver would never do.

These uber reviews remind me of when restaurants get family and friends to leave online reviews for them, lol.

[jayswin]

It's also interesting how the overwhelming opinion you'd hear on conversing with drivers when it was the immigrant taxi drivers was "I hate when they try to strike up conversation with me, you're a driver, I'm paying you to drive me, I don't want to talk to you".

But with the "more on my level" uber drivers who have good jobs and are just doing this for extra cash the majority opinion has turned to "Wow, he actually had a conversation with me, it was great, we talked about all kinds of things". Yeah, like that was ever something anyone cared about, haha.

[Maccalus]

Originally Posted by accord1999

Rates in US markets drop over time, typically <$1/mile to as low as 75c/mile in cities like Detroit.

Rates in Edmonton and Toronto have already dropped to $0.85/km, but we already know that it is because Edmonton is no good.

[peter12]

Yeah, white people love being driven around by white people under slightly poorer socio-economic conditions.

[Ducay]

Annnnnnnnnd its started. Undercover bylaw cracking down on Uber drivers themselves (aka ordering Ubers and ticketing)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...ride-1.3297698

Halat would not give any specific details on enforcement, which started today.

He said enforcement is being conducted in a covert or undercover manner.

"Uber continues to work with us, that said they are operating unlawfully," Halat said.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Annnnnnnnnd its started. Undercover bylaw cracking down on Uber drivers themselves (aka ordering Ubers and ticketing)

No big surprise there. The question now is if Uber steps up and pays these tickets as previously indicated.

"It's about public safety, I cannot emphasize that enough," said the city's compliance manager Marc Halat in a news conference Friday.

Haha my a**.

[Amethyst]

Originally Posted by Bandwagon In Flames

Not sure if it's been discussed in the previous 25 pages, but thought I'd mention it having chatted with my Uber driver last weekend.

He was a former cab driver which obviously makes sense. I'm not sure why people think Cab drivers will suffer when in reality it's the companies themselves that will be suffering. He's much happier being his own boss and making his own schedule.

It was a pleasant ride for various reasons. He was playing top-40 music instead of the usual crappy AM stations that usually seem to be on instead. He had a couple calls, but didn't answer either of them which I've never seen before. You can really tell that Uber drivers want to make you happy and give you a good experience. Something cab drivers haven't ever cared about doing no matter what city I am travelling in.

The fare was 20 bucks when it would of otherwise been 35 after tip and I also arrived quicker then a cab would of. Cabbies will take you the long way 9 times out of 10 if you don't know where you're going well enough. And rarely will they be doing the usual 10km over the speed limit.

So what, the cab company forced him to play crappy radio stations and now that he's free of them, he can play the good stuff?

Cabs in Calgary are awful for a lot of reasons, but when you are using the radio station as your "sell" for Uber, you are really reaching.

[RougeUnderoos]

What are the actual insurance implications here for me as a passenger in a cab vs. an Uber car?

If I'm in a cab and the cabbie causes an accident and I get hurt, the cab company's insurance company is going to look after me?

If I'm in an Uber and the Uber driver gets in an accident and I get hurt, I'm on my own?

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

If I'm in a cab and the cabbie causes an accident and I get hurt, the cab company's insurance company is going to look after me?

Yes

If I'm in an Uber and the Uber driver gets in an accident and I get hurt, I'm on my own?

No, you'll be covered by Uber's insurance.

The insurance issue is that the Uber driver is completely uncovered (unless they lie to their personal insurance company) in an at-fault accident when the app is on but there is no passenger in the vehicle. Even with a passenger. the driver is not covered by Uber's insurance for personal injury and damage to their vehicle.

[llwhiteoutll]

If "public safety" was really such a huge concern and their claim about vehicle inspections held any merit, they would be demanding inspections on every single vehicle on the roads.

The biggest issue for the city is that they are not getting a cut. They are conducting stings in order to protect the taxi commissions monopoly and essentially using taxpayer money to provide a quid pro quo for all the political donations they receive.

[transplant99]

Yeah...the "safety issue" is nothing but a smokescreen. If the city was truly worried about the safety of passengers in cars on Calgary roads, there would be stringent and binding regulations for ALL vehicles on the roadway. That simply isn't the case so you are left to wonder why just for those charging others for rides?

When something is obvious as this, the whole spin from the city comes across as nothing but disingenuous lying bullcrap.

The fact they are ticketing UBER drivers 1500 DOLLARS for participating in a service that is working in cities all over the freaking world tells you it even more...its nothing but a cash grab and protection of the cab industry who greases their palms religiously.

Nenshi and crew should be absolutely ashamed of themselves, but the self serving narcissists wouldn't ever admit a fault.

[Red Potato Standing By]

There is demanding inspections on every other commercial vehicle on the road so why should über be any different? Unless you don't think they are a commercial vehicle I guess.

[accord1999]

Looks like an insurance company in Ontario is starting to crack down on Uber drivers:

http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hal...x-drivers.html

[Swift]

Originally Posted by accord1999

Looks like an insurance company in Ontario is starting to crack down on Uber drivers:

http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hal...x-drivers.html

Yep, if I was an Uber driver without commercial insurance, I would not want to get into an accident. Claim instantly denied.