Uber to Resume in Calgary December 6 2016

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by zhulander

Exactly, have friends that go out all the time to raves and even at the big BMO events, they don't have issues getting cabs except for maybe half hr wait times.

Raves end anywhere between 4 in the AM until 8 AM. That's not even a relevant comment.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by peter12

It really goes back to what I have always said - the party crowd hates the taxi situation because drivers don't really like taking drunks home to the suburbs, or down 6 blocks or whatever. I understand the frustration, but if you look at markets where Uber has restricted the fare, well, the drivers follow the same incentives.

There are instances of markets in the UK where drivers are literally piling up in suburban neighbourhoods outside of airports waiting for a fare.

Anyway, for the business crowd, taxis seem to work quite well. Like Kermit, I used to take about 5-10 cab rides a month. Not only to-and-fro the airport, but to weird locations across town (our company storage locker was in Ramsey). Drivers never complained.

This goes right back to the route of the Calgary Taxi problem though. Drivers are not allowed to reject fares unless their are safety concerns. They do so all the time here, and not for good reasons, simply because they don't like the trip or whatever reason it may be. I've never lived anywhere in North American where that happens as frequently as it does here.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by TheAlpineOracle

This goes right back to the route of the Calgary Taxi problem though. Drivers are not allowed to reject fares unless their are safety concerns. They do so all the time here, and not for good reasons, simply because they don't like the trip or whatever reason it may be. I've never lived anywhere in North American where that happens as frequently as it does here.

Honestly, I have never had a fare in Calgary rejected, ever. Grand Prairie, different story.

Honestly, what cities have you people been to? Calgary taxis are excellent compared to many, many places. Ever taken a cab in Philly?! How about New Jersey? Swashbucklers.

[4X4]

I took a cab a couple saturdays ago, and talked with the guy on the way home. I asked him if there were more guys on the road, or if business was just down, and he told me business is wayyy down. So while I appreciated the ride, and the fact that they ansered my call within a couple minutes, and then the cab arrived like 20 minutes later *gasp*, and the guy was nice and everything I expect from a cab ride, if things stay the way they are, once the economy picks back up, we're back to crappy service.

It's amazing that the two sides are so opposite. I mean, I dress nice, I don't have holes in my face, or gothic make up on, yes, I do drink while I'm out, but I'm not getting idiot drunk, so why have I been denied rides so often, and other haven't been denied at all? I know exactly why. Because I used to live in bankview and drink on 17th, so the ride was too short. And then I moved to the dreaded burbs, and then the ride was too far, because they'd have to get back downtown without a fare.

Frankly, I understand that if there's ways to make more money, guys are gonna stick to that method. And I wouldn't be so pissed off about the situation, if it was actually open for anyone to drive. If anyone could drive (after passing the right tests, and having the right insurance), and I still couldn't get a ride, then I would know that I've just simply chosen the wrong place to live, and F me. But the fact that it's artificially regulated is where it becomes complete BS. This was proven by Uber, that there are people that are willing to do those drives for less money. For them, some profit is better than no profit. Probvably because it was part time. So maybe the point is that for a reasonable amount of service, it's not a full time gig. Let the market decide. Not sure why the City has any reason to interfere in it at all. Anyone should be able to buy a taxi plate. The same price as a business license.

[pgsieve]

I'm planning on going out this weekend. I'm just going to tweet at Nenshi when I need a ride home because I know I won't be able to get a cab.

[Resolute 14]

You mean you aren't even going to try to get a cab so you can create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[pgsieve]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

You mean you aren't even going to try to get a cab so you can create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I'll try and I hope you are right and I can get an overpriced cab!

[4X4]

Originally Posted by pgsieve

I'll try and I hope you are right and I can get an overpriced cab!

I don't even care about the price. Well, within reason. I once took a cab from a party in Evanston to my apartment in Bankview and it was like $50+tip so $60. Fine by me. The crappy thing was that I forgot my jacket at the party, and my keys were in the pocket. That's where cabs become really expensive.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by peter12

Honestly, I have never had a fare in Calgary rejected, ever. Grand Prairie, different story.

Honestly, what cities have you people been to? Calgary taxis are excellent compared to many, many places. Ever taken a cab in Philly?! How about New Jersey? Swashbucklers.

When I read a comment like that, I know you are absolutely full of it and just looking to argue. Try any city in Canada. Some I've lived in or traveled to for work/vacation are Vancouver, Victoria, Montreal, Quebec City, Halifax, Moncton, Charlottetown, Toronto, St. John's, Saint John, Hamilton, etc. Walk out, raise hand, flag cab, go home. Regardless of time, date, or location (excluding NYE)..... Or call cab company, company picks up, says cab is on it's way in 15 minutes. Sometimes you may get a busy single, call back once or twice and you get through. Not once have I ever been told they won't pick me up, or didn't like where I was going and drive away. Never have they refused to accept my taxi chit, never have they refused to take visa/debit and told me they would drive me to a bank machine to make money out. Have they ripped me off going a longer route? Probably, but I wouldn't know better in most of those cities

All of the above happens on the regular in Calgary, you can't flag a cab down, and you can't get through to dispatch. The app works sometimes. Sometimes they come, sometimes they get half there and they turn around. You pre-book a cab and there's a 50/50 change it shows up, completely depending if there is a better perceived fare in their mind.

I've taken cabs in both Philly and New Jersey, sure their abrasive and rude, but I don't care. I get a cab easily, and I get to where I'm going, when I want to, which is all I want.

But you know what, despite the many, many horror stories of the crappy cab service in this city from multiple people in this thread and the outright disdain for the taxi industry in this city, everyone else is wrong. You and Resolute must be right, the taxi service in this city is just ####ing dandy!

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by 4X4

I don't even care about the price. Well, within reason. I once took a cab from a party in Evanston to my apartment in Bankview and it was like $50+tip so $60. Fine by me. The crappy thing was that I forgot my jacket at the party, and my keys were in the pocket. That's where cabs become really expensive.

I don't care about price at all. Doesn't even come into the equation. I just want to know I have an ability to get to somewhere when I need to, and not left on the side of the road over an hour trying to get one.

[pgsieve]

Double post

[4X4]

Originally Posted by TheAlpineOracle

I don't care about price at all. Doesn't even come into the equation. I just want to know I have an ability to get to somewhere when I need to, and not left on the side of the road over an hour trying to get one.

Yah. And when you say "over an hour", what you really mean is "over an hour on hold" and then "over another hour or two, waiting for the f-n car to get there".

Just because Peter and Resolute don't go out past 8pm on Saturday doesn't mean this isn't a thing. It's the way things have been for about 20 years. It has gotten better in the last few months. Coincidentally while Uber has been pushing the issue.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by TheAlpineOracle

Or call cab company, company picks up, says cab is on it's way in 15 minutes. Sometimes you may get a busy single, call back once or twice and you get through. Not once have I ever been told they won't pick me up, or didn't like where I was going and drive away. Never have they refused to accept my taxi chit, never have they refused to take visa/debit and told me they would drive me to a bank machine to make money out.

Those are complaints of every taxi in every city. You couldn't read an Uber related article/post from 2013-2014 without people complaining about their taxis in *insert city*. No matter which city it was, it was always the same complaints.

Ironically because of low rates, experienced Uber drivers are now forced to do the same thing. While they don't do the trick with cash payments only, they've begun to evolve the strategy of signing off to force a surge due to lack of supply.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Yah. And when you say "over an hour", what you really mean is "over an hour on hold" and then "over another hour or two, waiting for the f-n car to get there".

Just because Peter and Resolute don't go out past 8pm on Saturday doesn't mean this isn't a thing. It's the way things have been for about 20 years. It has gotten better in the last few months. Coincidentally while Uber has been pushing the issue.

Well, I live in the Beltline, so yes, I don't take a lot of cabs for non-business reasons.

[Resolute 14]

You are doing a wonderful job of presenting a strong appeal to emotion argument, 4x4. But the fact that you are so deeply emotional about it is a major indicator that you are not seeing things objectively.

Uber got what it asked for. If you want to see the recent improvements in overall service continue, I suggest you contact them and advise them to stop pouting and learn to work within compromise systems.

[4X4]

What I'm not seeing objectively is that it took a bully like Uber to come along for the City to finally acknowledge the ridiculous cab situation. The fact that some of you weren't aware about how bad it was, doesn't mean it wasn't bad.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by 4X4

What I'm not seeing objectively is that it took a bully like Uber to come along for the City to finally acknowledge the ridiculous cab situation. The fact that some of you weren't aware about how bad it was, doesn't mean it wasn't bad.

So we have a lot of disagreement on means, but not ends?

I think that Resolute and I are trying to demonstrate some of the structural challenges created through the radical overhaul of livery services that Uber selfishly demands for its own survival.

So, the taxi system is corrupt, but it does seem strange that Uber will literally withstand nothing more than zero regulations in order to remain competitive.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by peter12

So we have a lot of disagreement on means, but not ends?

I think that Resolute and I are trying to demonstrate some of the structural challenges created through the radical overhaul of livery services that Uber selfishly demands for its own survival.

So, the taxi system is corrupt, but it does seem strange that Uber will literally withstand nothing more than zero regulations in order to remain competitive.

I think what you are missing is that it's the opinion of a lot of people that a deal with Uber could have been struck, but the city refuses to sit down with them and work it out because Nenshi and co. are butt hurt because they forced their way into the city after several years of trying to get the city to come to the table. People don't see it as Uber not being willing to move, people see it as the City refusing to even sit down with them to come to a suitable resolution for each side like was done in Edmonton.

The city has allowed this taxi industry to fail the city for so long, that most people attribute them to propping it up (whether that's right or wrong, who knows), but the optics of it are terrible and they are even worse when you have a mayor stomping his feet on twitter like a 3 year old, refusing to acknowledge any of the other side.

[Resolute 14]

A deal *was* struck, man. It isn't the city's fault that Uber is still pouting because it only got 90% of what it wanted and not 100%. Right now it is Uber "stomping its feet like a 3 year old".

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

A deal *was* struck, man. It isn't the city's fault that Uber is still pouting because it only got 90% of what it wanted and not 100%. Right now it is Uber "stomping its feet like a 3 year old".

A deal wasn't struck. The City went and did it's own think without even sitting down with the one party that created the debate in the first place. Had they actually sat down with Uber or even made them part of the process, i'm sure a lot of people would be more willing to cut them some slack. All it looks like to most people is that the City did enough to say they did something while still ensuring they punished Uber for going against his royal heiness Naheed Nenshi.

How anyone can actually suggest that the City acted in good faith after they've read the childish ramblings on Nenshi's twitter feed? Christ, we even have one councillor saying the city should have sat down with Uber and done more.