I am a DC uberX driver since 2013 and have SEEN IT ALL...so please, AMA

[Anonymous]

What do you think of the gimmicks like kitten day?

[Anonymous]

Do you follow the policy issues facing ride sharing in various cities or at the corporate level? Do you care? Does the company ever seek driver feedback on policy matters?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I have a favorite Uber driving - I'm sure it's against the rules but he gave us his cell phone - we call and if he's nearby he comes and gets us - we activate Uber app when we get in car He's Uberblack so we only use him for certain occasions.

That's great and how it should be done. Connecting thru the app when you're sitting next to the driver works really well. If you'd like to be really nice to your favorite driver, skip the uber app altogether and pay him for the ride in cash. This makes the driver 20% more by taking uber's commission out of the equation.

This is what I do for airport runs now. The driver lives 10 minutes away so I figure it is a good deal for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you driving around uninsured? i.e. did you secure any special insurance to drive for Uber or are you just relying on your regular auto insurance policy -- which many of the major players like Geico say is no longer in effect if you drive for any ride share service.

Interesting how you won't answer - are you uninsured and/or just driving on your regular car insurance -- even though most major carriers say if you drive for a ride sharing company, your policy is null and void?

Cool your jets, investigator. If you haven't noticed, I have answered EVERY question so far, up to page 7. I'll get to you when I'm good and rested, and blow your assumption out the water.

Alright, finally getting around back to you.

I drive around town in my off-hours fully insured under my personal auto insurance policy. I'm driving under uber's full-coverage insurance when active on a ride. I have NEVER had an accident, fender-bender or a moving violation in 20+ years of driving and over half million miles on the road, with practically all of them driven in VA, DC and Maryland. I am a VERY defensive driver by being fully alert at all times and have avoided dozens of bumps and accidents. I know how people drive around here and can predict others' actions on the road much better than most. Lastly, an accident in DC is most likely going to happen at less than 20 mph, so the likelihood of injury is slim to none. If you cannot feel safe riding in the car with me, there's likely not a vehicle in existence that you would feel safe being driven in.

With that being said it's still all a very gray area on insurance, but I do not sweat it in the slightest. My auto insurance provider has made thousands off of me over the years and I've gotten zilch back from it by simply being a great driver. I'm careful, I pay attention, and I know what I'm doing. Lastly, I drive a lot after dark with practically zero traffic on the road. Daytime is bad for accidents due to the gridlock.

[Anonymous]

I was in San Diego a few weeks ago and at the airport there, they have a special pick-up area just for Uber/Lyft. Same with some hotels in Las Vegas -- they have marked pick-up/drop-off points. Never seen those around here though. How do you feel about them?

In SD airport, the pick-up point was just past the taxis, and in the parking lot, so a slightly longer walk. In LV, it's also not in the taxi area, but usually on the side so a less prominent space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't know if this had been covered but is there a way to keep a "regulars" list? Our daughter goes to college in a city and relies on Uber an average of 2-3x per day. Just thinking about the numbers of "strangers" she's getting into a car, the drivers who don't know the area, don't speak English or otherwise just give her a bad vibe have me wishing she could make some sort of connection with a handful of preferred drivers (or at least not get the bad guys again). Any suggestions? Thanks!

+1, there are some drivers I'd pay extra to drive me they were that good.

Oh, an another thought...she could use Lyft if that's available. Lyft will not pair you again with a driver if you rate them less than 3-stars.

The problem with regulars will always be this: I'm in Clifton, you are in Silver Spring and ready to roll...sorry, no chance I'm coming and getting you.

Uber could easily modify the app so that first it searches for customer preferred drivers within a 2 mile radius and then if none are found or none accept, then it would go to the default app.

[Anonymous]

Awesome AMA!!

DH is a professional business traveler, but doesn't use Uber because Dulles airport isn't really set up to do it. He'd rather climb in an open taxi than wait 5 min on the uber (I think they wait in the cell phone lot). Any thoughts on whether that would change?

Any thoughts on dogs in the car? My small dog is always in the carrier and usually Uber drivers don't notice. Taxi drivers can't stand the thought of a dog in their car though and have refused me rides.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was in San Diego a few weeks ago and at the airport there, they have a special pick-up area just for Uber/Lyft. Same with some hotels in Las Vegas -- they have marked pick-up/drop-off points. Never seen those around here though. How do you feel about them?

In SD airport, the pick-up point was just past the taxis, and in the parking lot, so a slightly longer walk. In LV, it's also not in the taxi area, but usually on the side so a less prominent space.

np. I'm just wondering how that works for the drivers, if there are 7 or 8 of them idling adjacent to each other at the airport, does the business keep going to whomever has the fastest finger to respond?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
DH is a professional business traveler, but doesn't use Uber because Dulles airport isn't really set up to do it. He'd rather climb in an open taxi than wait 5 min on the uber (I think they wait in the cell phone lot). Any thoughts on whether that would change?

Frequent Dulles traveler here. In Uber, you can now specify which door you're at so they know where to drive up. Tell him to order the Uber when he's a few minutes away from the door, like when getting off the airtrain.

Still, it can indeed take a while. The arrivals lane gets backed up with traffic so drivers (Uber or not) get stuck for 5-10 minutes getting through. Blame it on Door 1 (int'l arrivals) and the chaos of all the afternoon arrivals from Europe. Taxis go to the lower level so no traffic for them.

[Anonymous]

OP I hope someone from the city paper is lurking on here. You would make a great profile piece. Even better, you should be featured in the Post Date Lab! You write well, very smart and funny. Your skrillex story made me LOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't know if this had been covered but is there a way to keep a "regulars" list? Our daughter goes to college in a city and relies on Uber an average of 2-3x per day. Just thinking about the numbers of "strangers" she's getting into a car, the drivers who don't know the area, don't speak English or otherwise just give her a bad vibe have me wishing she could make some sort of connection with a handful of preferred drivers (or at least not get the bad guys again). Any suggestions? Thanks!

I wish I could get a stable of regulars. I would've quit my day job by now. But the service is meant to be speedy and efficient, so the closest driver gets the ride request. It's tough to have a driver conveniently on call because the odds of him/her being right around the corner are slim.

Best thing your daughter can do is ask for a favorite driver(s)' phone number and text them directly when she needs a ride. Here's where the problem comes in...she's gotta pay in cash now for every ride at $1/mile and $5 minimum for a driver to ever think about doing it. This is where uber shines. I gladly let uber take their 20% cut because all the money business is taken care of by them and is seamless behind the scenes.

It's a tough situation to be in a town full of bad drivers, but I remember being in college long ago when I took the bus every day because it was free and walked everywhere else. Your daughter probably could use the exercise.

Following up on this point. So you get the cell# of a few drivers you like and connect with them directly (maybe I have get to/from campus to may apartment every T,W,Th at 9am and return 4pm. Or likely less structured). Anyway, you're suggesting paying cash because this only works outside the Uber model? I guess it wouldn't be worth it to me because we're so risk-adverse (I like the tracking and insurance coverage features of Uber). But I love the idea that Lyft will first search for a "known" driver that you've rated well or overlook a driver you've rated poorly. Seems like a great compromise.
Why doesn't Uber like or embrace this model?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But I love the idea that Lyft will first search for a "known" driver that you've rated well or overlook a driver you've rated poorly. Seems like a great compromise.
Why doesn't Uber like or embrace this model?

Here's my guess:

1. Drivers who average below a 4 are kicked out anyway, so the driver you rated low probably wont' be driving much longer.
2. It would make it too hard for new drivers to start driving if the rides are always going to favored drivers, and OP said there's some huge turnover in drivers like 60% per year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But I love the idea that Lyft will first search for a "known" driver that you've rated well or overlook a driver you've rated poorly. Seems like a great compromise.
Why doesn't Uber like or embrace this model?

Here's my guess:

1. Drivers who average below a 4 are kicked out anyway, so the driver you rated low probably wont' be driving much longer.
2. It would make it too hard for new drivers to start driving if the rides are always going to favored drivers, and OP said there's some huge turnover in drivers like 60% per year.

That's why you'd charge a premium to get a preferred driver. This might be worth it when someone is going home at 2:00 am vs someone going cross town for a meeting at 2:00 pm. It would encourage drivers (good ones) to remain as they would get premium fares.

[Anonymous]

Across a few of your responses, you've said that traits of a better ride include not making you wait and also not texting / calling. For whatever reason, GPS is pretty convinced that we live about 300 feet away from where our house is. On our street, it's our house, a dry pond and then our neighbor's house and GPS believes we live on the far end of the dry pond. As a result, the uber drivers ALWAYS go to our neighbor's house and wait there -- we usually take uber at night and it's hard to see the house numbers. B/c of that, I always stand outside at the bottom of our driveway before the driver arrives and hope they will see me -- they never do and usually end up calling me, or I call them when I see they are turning around or in the wrong driveway. What's the best way to make sure the uber driver knows where I actually live so they don't waste time finding me?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Across a few of your responses, you've said that traits of a better ride include not making you wait and also not texting / calling. For whatever reason, GPS is pretty convinced that we live about 300 feet away from where our house is. On our street, it's our house, a dry pond and then our neighbor's house and GPS believes we live on the far end of the dry pond. As a result, the uber drivers ALWAYS go to our neighbor's house and wait there -- we usually take uber at night and it's hard to see the house numbers. B/c of that, I always stand outside at the bottom of our driveway before the driver arrives and hope they will see me -- they never do and usually end up calling me, or I call them when I see they are turning around or in the wrong driveway. What's the best way to make sure the uber driver knows where I actually live so they don't waste time finding me?

Do you let Uber fill in your address, or do you type it in? I have "home" pre-set and if I don't, the GPS may try to fill in my neighbor's address.