Tag Archives: Uber

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Uber and Lyft: More than just a ride

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At San Jose International Airport, app-based ride share services like Uber and Lyft dominate the curbside scene. Travelers lining up next to the Uber signs look for their cars while taxis become rare.

Similarly, at Stanford University Hospital, designated areas show that ride share is now mainstream in California.

While many view Uber and Lyft as modern conveniences replacing taxis, I see them as cafes such as Starbucks or Tim Hortons—another space where people talk. Over the past two months, I learned a lot about California from Uber drivers.

Some drivers were quiet, but others shared their stories. One driver at San Jose said he worked as a software marketer for 20 years and remembered meeting Steve Jobs. Another driver at Mountain View worked two jobs to support his family. A driver in San Diego was a history teacher driving to make ends meet. Another in LA said he was preparing a birthday party for his son.

In the US, many people do things by themselves. But inside an Uber or Lyft, there is a chance to meet someone and talk. It might help people feel less lonely, even for a short time.

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Reference

Talmage, C. A., Knopf, R. C., Wu, T., Winkel, D., Mirchandani, P., & Candan, K. S. (2021). Decreasing loneliness and social disconnectedness among community-dwelling older adults: The potential of information and communication technologies and ride-hailing services. Activities, Adaptation & Aging, 45(2), 89-117.

This study explores self-reports of 241 older adults (aged 63–95) regarding loneliness and social disconnectedness, and the potential for information and communication technologies (ICT) and ride-hailing services to mitigate these phenomena. The samples are drawn from four older adult living communities in Maricopa County, Arizona. Lonelier older adults and older adults desiring greater social connections with friends, family, and outsiders appear to use ICT less and might benefit from ride-hailing services more than their less lonely and more socially connected counterparts. These findings are nuanced and depend on ICT device, type of ride-hailing service, and purpose of use. While desires for ride-hailing services were generally low, these services show promise in alleviating loneliness and increasing social connectedness, especially as older adults prepare to cease driving. Advice for implementing interventions and strategies to decrease the loneliness and increase social connectedness of community-dwelling older adults is elucidated and shared.

Cases

What happens when you reserve a taxi at 6am in Copenhagen?

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In Copenhagen, people rarely take taxi. They ride bicycles or, if needed, take public transportation such as bus or subways. Therefore, I was not surprised when I heard that Uber’s operation was illegal. According to the news on March 28, 2017 by Alanna Petroff at CNN,

“The government is passing a new law that will essentially make our business untenable here,” said Harry Porter, a spokesperson for Uber. The updated taxi rules — which require cars to install taxi meters and video surveillance features — leaves 2,000 Uber drivers and 300,000 riders in the lurch in Copenhagen, the only Danish city where Uber operated.”

One day, I should have used taxi service because my flight was scheduled to leave early in the morning. I was recommended to book a taxi at Taxa 4×35. Although I saw many Taxa taxi on street, but did not trust its service at first. However, I changed my thoughts about Taxa after using a feature on the app which informed me in real time where the reserved taxi was. The taxi arrived at the right time at the right place and, more importantly, relieved my concern before I used it.

 

 

In fact, the real-time location informing feature may not be special in Asia where massive amount of people catch a taxi frequently and use heavily their messenger services such as Wechat or Kakaotalk. However, this feature is quite fresh where taxi is not constantly and/or urgently needed.

 

 

Cases

At the first there was drive-me-to card

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DML_Bangkok Taxi (1) DML_Bangkok Taxi (2)

[dt_gap height=”10″ /]Using taxi is tough where its fare has been traditionally determined by negotiation (e.g., Tuk tuk in Thailand). Even when the taxi driver turns on the meter, foreigners sometimes arrive at a wrong destination because they cannot speak local language. In order to relieve these concerns from the international travelers, some Bangkok hotels provide an interesting concierge service.

When a traveler asks a hotel employee for taxi, the concierge asks where the traveler wants to go. Then he checks the destination on the list or writes it down in the bottom in English as well as in Thai. When a taxi arrives, he writes down the taxi plate number, speaks loudly to the driver the destination, and then passes the card to the traveler. Although the card plays nothing, many foreign travelers mentioned that simply keeping it with them while sitting in the taxi helps them feel safe and secure.

Alternatively, Uber now eliminates all these hassles. 🙂