Uber Petition

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by Cowboy89

BTW, that includes Nenshi. On twitter a while back he tried to explain how opening up the number of licenses somehow was going to lead to less cab service long term. His argument went around how initially there would be more competition and then the profits would suffer and then many of the new entrants would go out of business and eventually there would be less cabs servicing the city than in the current taxi commission world.

Referring to a completely unregulated system. He supports opening up licences based on data. Under recently recommended cab-to-population ratios and data gathered, City moving forward with recommending opening up several hundred more licences.

http://metronews.ca/news/calgary/112...f-taxi-plates/

[Kjesse]

The recent report that the Taxi Commission wrote saying Uber shouldn't be allowed because they can't be controlled (by the Taxi Commission) was hilarious is was so self-serving. Of course the body that is in control doesn't want to give up any control-- bureaucrats live for red tape and control. Toss the whole commission and start over. They are self-serving idiots who have the wrong priorities.

Taxi service in this city is horrendous. It doesn't matter if you pre-book or not, your pre-booking is no more likely to get you a cab than just calling minutes before you need a cab.

As long as this Taxi Commission remains in control, Calgary is not going to have proper taxi service.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by Cowboy89

Letting Uber and other apps in isn't the final answer to reform on this file. It's removing the fixed number of licenses and adding flexibility to the pricing mechanisms as well.

Agreed.

[calgarywinning]

It may not be the immediate answer, but it was relief in all the US markets to the question of transportation that was so excellent to experience. It was such a positive experience of how things ought to be.

Cab services do not propose to implement UBER type service or develop the idea.
a) Contract the driver from a smart phone
b) Get a rate quoted for your destination.
c) See the driver, their rating and vehicle type.
d) See their ETA and location upon pickup.

The Taxi Condition in Calgary has become immensely dangerous and mismanaged.
a) Go on Hold for 30 minutes.
b) Be told by Taxi driver he was lucky he chose to pick you up (happened to me this year).
c) Forget about stampede or 2 am or wait 25 minutes for whenever they will show up any time of the week.
d) Huge exposure to people when there is very bad weather, that have been drinking and chose not to drive when public transit has shut down.

The suggestion that the City or government can resolve this problem adequately has already been proven in their inability to address the common thread and continued lack of direction to their controlling of the taxies and licensing.

I would agree that it is a test of our elected to make this happen and that it will reflect 100% the direction our city will take as far as self-interest lobby groups.

[DoubleK]

^^ Couldn't agree more.

[normtwofinger]

I didn't know about Uber and other apps before this thread. I briefly looked over their website. My initial thought: this has murderer/rapist written all over it. What safety measures are in place that makes this different from online hitchhiking?

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by normtwofinger

I didn't know about Uber and other apps before this thread. I briefly looked over their website. My initial thought: this has murderer/rapist written all over it. What safety measures are in place that makes this different from online hitchhiking?

Are taxis inherently more safe than Uber? The taxi commission likes to beat on the safety aspect but I doubt their system of screening drivers is any better.

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by normtwofinger

I didn't know about Uber and other apps before this thread. I briefly looked over their website. My initial thought: this has murderer/rapist written all over it. What safety measures are in place that makes this different from online hitchhiking?

What stops current taxi drivers from being murderers or rapists? If anything Uber is safer in that respect (being the 99.99999999% non-existent threat of being murdered and/or raped by a taxi driver) by virtue of the fact that there will be an electronic record of which driver picked you up.

To give a more thorough response to your ridiculous comment, all Uber drivers are registered, licensed (class 4) and insured.

Besides that, Uber uses a driver rating system to ensure that drivers are incentivized to be prompt, polite and not-murdery/rapey. I imagine that it wouldn't take too many "I was murdered by this driver" comments to plummet that drivers' rating.

Also worth noting, the drivers rate the passengers as well.

It really is a slick system, eons ahead of the brutal taxi setup we have here now.

[Table 5]

Not using blinkers, veering in and out of traffic, talking on the phone, having no idea where they are going...taxi drivers the world over are revered for their safety! Some of my my most WTF driving moments happened as a passenger in a cab. That and I have permanent neck damage from a drunk Calgary taxi driver going through a red light and t-boning our car.

The Uber driver may or may not be much better. But the bar is pretty damn low already.

[HockeyIlliterate]

Originally Posted by Canehdianman

Besides that, Uber uses a driver rating system to ensure that drivers are incentivized to be prompt, polite and not-murdery/rapey. I imagine that it wouldn't take too many "I was murdered by this driver" comments to plummet that drivers' rating.

It might be a tad difficult for a dead person to post a comment about their driver.

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by HockeyIlliterate

It might be a tad difficult for a dead person to post a comment about their driver.

Spoiler!

[bizaro86]

Uber is the system that you would invent now if the old system wasn't in the way. It's objectively safer than the current system for everyone involved, besides being more efficient for everyone involved.

The only people who would lose out are those scraping regulatory capture profits off a collection of taxi plates.

[polak]

Signed and will be sharing.

[calgarywinning]

Beyond the fact that they do a criminal check at uber and a driving aspect, I find most Cabs will put your life at risk by texting while driving, driving while being sleepy (almost as bad as drunk driving), talking on the cell phone while driving you.

With Uber the goal is to be polite to maintain their driver rating and review.

[FlamesPuck12]

Signed the petition.

I use Uber around 5 times a week and its beyond amazing. At least in San Francisco, it's really reliable and a driver usually picks me up in 3-5 min. The cost for UberX is around $10 for a 10-15 min ride so it's really affordable.

Hope they can bring the service to Calgary.

[Chewy]

http://money.cnn.com/2014/01/24/tech...ial/uber-gett/

It will be interesting to see Uber and other applications in a few years. Who will win the war. Be careful what you wish for, if Uber controls the market it might be the same as the "taxi commission". Uber is just taking assets (taxi licenses) away from the taxi companies and making themselves wealthy, if they succeed.

FWIW I never take a taxi, so I have never encounter the problems mentioned in this thread

[Radio]

Used Uber on a trip to San Francisco and loved it. I think the longest wait we had was 12 minutes, usually a car was there within 5.

[Dan02]

Signed it, definitely looking forward to it seeing it implemented in Calgary.

[Rutuu]

The best is using your Uber account to send a car to pick up a gf and bring her to your house. A cab makes them feel cheap, but some how Uber doesn't.

Petition signed and shared. Calgary's cabs are the worst for any place I've ever travelled.

[Schultzie]

Signed.

Calgary also desperately needs 24-hour train service (on weekends at the bare minimum). I'd vote for Adolf Hitler as mayor of this city if he ran on that platform.