[Hidden-tech] Drive for Uber? Or ride with them?

[Deborah Chandler]

Hi all,

To follow up, I have been driving for Uber for about a month now. They
officially rolled out the Springfield area back at the end of April.

All is going fine overall, albeit slow. But I am assured by my student
passengers that the amount of work will increase when students come
back to school over the next month. It seems the students all use Uber
and love it, and they have many reasons to use Uber over a taxi. Word
about Uber has apparently spread mostly word of mouth.

The reason I am writing to you great folks is that I am having a bit
of confusion and concern over my auto insurance coverage not being
adequate and I wonder if someone can help me understand it.  In my
approval process to become a driver, I shared my insurance policy with
Uber. They shared theirs with me once I was approved. But now I am
hearing from other drivers that there is concern over us drivers not
being adequately covered.

So, if you are either driving for Uber and have already gained a solid
understanding about our insurance coverage, or you work in the auto
insurance industry, please be in touch with me right away. I can share
my documents (which I admit, I don't follow too easily, and my
insurance agent is still *researching*...)

REQUEST: please don't respond in criticism of Uber if your only
knowledge about Uber is through reading the mainstream media and all
the back-and-forth conflict between the taxi industry, the various
city and state regulators and Uber corporate. As usual, the media
stories are full of exaggerations and biases. They tend to confuse and
muddy the waters, and the politicians usually base their loyalties on
who contributed to their campaign coffers.

In my opinion, Uber is fair competition for the taxi industry and many
taxi drivers are just getting their knickers in a twist because they
had to pay a lot of money up front to do their job and now Uber
drivers are doing the same job better, without the upfront cost and
they are taking business from the taxi drivers. I would be pissy, too,
if I were them...

Thanks in advance for your solid input on this,
Deb

On Fri, Apr 10, 2015 at 11:33 PM, Rich Roth - Webmaster
<webmaster at hidden-tech.net> wrote:
> Emailing in from the land of the Uber (SF)
> We've used Uber/Lyft a few times just in the last week and I'd have to say
> it works well
> here because there are so many drivers, you wait maybe, well actually you
> don't wait
> you have to be ready when you call -- ok so you don't call, you request it
> on the ap
> which shows you exactly where the incoming car is and then handles all
> payment.
>
> No reason someone in the Valley can't drive for Uber, only I'd wonder
> how many call requests you'd get, esp given how far you'd need to go,
> AND what I really don't know is how Uber handles the driving cost outside of
> the actual trip.
>
> Net-net: might work in the more concentrated area like Springfield,
> or Holyoke on a busy weekend -- beyond that, many of these 'ap' based
> alternative
> approaches to transportation and the like work on spontaneous requests
> because of the concentration of the people needing such services.
>
> Ridebuzz has a better chance of working when people plan ahead
>
> Interesting in any case to explore alternatives for rural areas.
> Part of why airbnb or Uber work is because the infrastructure the company
> provides
> a level of safety individual connections do not, such as insurance and
> mutual ratings.
>
> Rich/webmaster
>
>
> On 4/3/2015 3:22 PM, Deborah Chandler wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Do you drive for Uber or do you use their ride services? I would like
>> to ask you about it. I don't see any Western Mass towns or cities
>> listed yet, but wonder how to find out who drives in our area. I see
>> Worcester is listed.
>>
>> My understanding is that we can offer and get rides in our area, even
>> if our city is not listed, as long as there are drivers signed up and
>> available.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Deb
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>
>
> --
> Rich Roth
> Hidden-Tech
> webmaster/board member
> http://www.hidden-tech.net
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>