Inside the fight between D.C. and rideshare app Empower
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Anonymous
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It seems Empower is a better deal for drivers (more profit) and riders (cheaper rides) than Uber and Lyft.
https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2024/10/10/empower-rideshare-dc-lawsuit-investigation |
Anonymous
| We are loyal Empower customers. It is usually about 1/3 cheaper than Uber or Lyft, and the drivers often drive for all three companies. We have not any more problems with Empower's wait times or cleanliness of cars than with Uber or Lyft. I like the DC AG alot, but hope that he will allow Empower to keep offering riders a another option. |
Anonymous
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Everything about the modern world sucks aZz.
Uber, Lyft, empower,.what ever stupid app? Yeah, you just killed taxi services only to re-create taxi services all over again, yet they're now more expensive and becoming worse. Netflix, Hulu, prime, apple TV, and the thousand+ other streaming services? Yeah, now you just caused cord cutting only to recreate a more expensive, more ad riddled, and worse version of cable. The whole world is turning into a dystopian cyber punk nightmare due to tech bros. |
Anonymous
I don't necessarily disagree with your overall premise as a generalization, but clearly you don't remember zone-based taxi services in DC. Even the fact that taxis now take credit cards is something you probably take for granted. And there were also occasions where I had a taxi reserved to take me to the airport (because if you lived in an apartment in Bethesda, it wasn't as though a taxi would be randomly driving by at 5 AM), and then the taxi never showed up -- scrambling at the last minute and sometimes missing flights was lots of fun. |
Anonymous
Never in a million years would I think I would hear someone idealize old fashioned cable or the old taxi system. This is like complaining there are too many craft beers in the world, and why can't we go back to the days when your choices were either Budweiser or Coors? |
Anonymous
Yes. Also, they could pick up random other fares without checking with you. |
Anonymous
Maybe you don't remember...but you paid nominally more back in 2007 to take a cab to any of the airports then you do today. Not inflation-adjusted...more. Same with taking taxis around town. They didn't have surge pricing, but on average it was still more expensive. Next thing you're going to complain about is how airlines used to serve you a full meal when you flew. Another product that used to cost you more in 1980 then it does today. Hey, remember when you paid $10 to make a phone call to Boston for 10 minutes? Complaining about that too? |
Anonymous
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One the one hand, I agree with DC that Empower drivers aren't required to undergo the same background checks as Uber and Lyft drivers.
On the other hand, I have never had an Empower driver that only uses Empower. They are also either an Uber or Lyft driver...de facto they all have been background checked. |
Anonymous
I love you. Can we be best friends? |
Anonymous
| the old taxi cab zone system was basically designed to rip people off. they charged you by how many zones you crossed, but most people had no idea where exactly the boundaries were. and if you did know where they were, and you tried to go somewhere within a zone without crossing a boundary so that it cost less, the cab would refuse to take you. |
Anonymous
| What do taxi zones have to do with anything? DC cabs switched to meters in 2008. Uber didn't enter the DC market until 2011 (and wasn't even founded until 2009). |
Anonymous
| I’ve had iffy service with Empower. When it goes smoothly it’s great, but they have bad GPS so you have to often give the driver directions. They go in the toll lanes to Dulles and then bill you for it. You have to pay attention. I’d rather pay more with Uber |
Anonymous
| No ones using uber anymore they're back to taxi's |