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Should I tip my Uber or Lyft driver? [Poll]

February 9, 2016

Is your inclination to tip drivers changing? (Photo: Uber)

Last week I received an earful of anger from an UberX driver about how recent discounting by the ridesharing app is translating to less money for its drivers.

He complained about how expensive it is to operate a car in San Francisco and that his costs are going up at a time when his revenues are going down. He said he thought that Uber “wants all its drivers to end up homeless” or “put Lyft out of business” and that he supported the various driver protests taking place in San Francisco during Super Bowl week.

Since I had accepted his ride at 1.6x surge I asked, “Well it seems I’m paying Uber surge pricing a lot more these days, don’t you guys make more when a surge is in effect? And aren’t you paying less for gas these days?”

He said something like, “Yes, we make more during surge, but it’s not enough to counteract the losses during non-surge, which is most of the time.” He did not respond to my question about lower gas prices.

His diatribe went on for nearly the length of my 20-minute ride across town. When I got out of the car, I thought to myself, “Jeez this guy needs to find another job.”

I also wondered if perhaps he was gunning for a tip.

I did not tip him, but it made me wonder… should I be tipping my Uber drivers these days?

When Uber first cranked up five years ago, one of the hallmarks of the new service was that it was cashless… there’s nothing to do at the end of the ride except to say “thanks” and “goodbye.” It was my understanding that the tip was built into the rate and that the the tip would be taken care of by Uber.

What about you? Please take our TravelSkills poll at the bottom of this post!

But that understanding and ease is starting to erode. I’ve asked around have found that, at least anecdotally, a lot of folks are now tipping their Uber drivers with cash. I get emails from Uber drivers asking me to encourage users to start tipping more. As a matter of fact, I did a quick Twitter poll this week and found that about 30% of my followers regularly tip Uber or Lyft drivers. And with UberX saving me so much on rides these days, I wouldn’t mind tossing in a tip from time to time.

But should I?

Add a tip after riding Image: Lyft

Uber’s FAQs clearly discourage tipping, stating, “You don’t need cash when you ride with Uber. Once you arrive at your destination, your fare is automatically charged to your credit card on file — there’s no need to tip.” So if you do want to tip your driver, you have to do it with cash– which can be unwieldy and time consuming and awkward if you don’t have the right change. (Update: UberTAXI does allow users to leave tips)

On the other hand, Lyft, which I have started to use a lot more frequently, encourages tipping, but only after the ride. When you get your receipt, it asks if you’d like to tip your driver. It even offers a “how to tip your driver” page on its website. Nonetheless, when I ask my friends if they tip on Lyft…or ask my Lyft drivers how often they get tips, it sounds somewhat rare.

On FlyWheel, the taxi industry’s new mobile platform, “You can adjust the tip amount (percentage) at any point during your ride or up to 5 minutes after. The tip is automatically applied and charged to your card along with the metered fare and $1 service fee. On average, most passengers leave a 20% tip so that’s where we set the default amount.”

So, in the end, even though that Uber driver irritated me with his complaining, he made me re-assess my tipping practices when it comes to ride-sharing. So starting now, if I have a few extra bills or a $5, I’ll offer it to a good Uber driver. And I will regularly say “yes” when Lyft asks me for a tip. And as always, I’ll tip my taxi driver with cash, or via FlyWheel.

What about you? Please take our TravelSkills poll or leave your comments below.

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Update: Check out this online forum of Uber drivers under the headline “Gratuity”

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5 ways to avoid surge pricing from Uber & Lyft

November 9, 2015

Researchers suggest ways to avoid Uber’s surge pricing. (Image: Uber app)

As a business person you believe in the laws of supply and demand, right? But you might find them a little hard to swallow when they work against you — like when you hail an Uber ride from a location with high demand and limited drivers available. Because that’s when Uber’s irritating surge pricing kicks in.

Now a new study from Northeastern University suggests that savvy customers might be able to outsmart surge pricing and save themselves quite a bit on the fare.

Uber says surge pricing is determined by a proprietary algorithm that the company created; the theory is that jacking up the price in a designated area will attract more drivers there to fill the higher-than-usual demand.

But the study by researchers at Northeastern’s College of Computer and Information Science suggests that there a couple of easy ways to avoid surge pricing.

One is to wait five minutes or so; another is to walk a few blocks in an effort to put yourself into a different Uber “surge area.”

These conclusions are based on research for locations in Manhattan and San Francisco. “For example, 20 percent of the time in Times Square, customers can save 50 percent or more by being in an adjacent surge area,” they wrote. They also found that Uber’s surge pricing algorithm re-evaluates fares every five minutes, so a surge surcharge could quickly disappear.

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One difficulty: Uber doesn’t publicly divulge the boundaries of its surge areas, so a customer trying to outflank surge pricing can’t be sure how far or in which direction to walk in order to get into an adjacent area. The researchers noted that Manhattan has 16 surge areas and Boston has nine; they said they are working on a project to define where the surge areas are, and they plan to put that online.

Top tips for avoiding the surge?

1- Wait if you can. That’s because surges can be short-lived.

2- Move. Try moving your location pin around to see if you can find a nearby area outside the surge zone. Or walk across the street or to the next block.

3- Try SurgeProtector, a free app, helps find locations near you with lower or no surge pricing.

4- Share. You can also consider using UberPOOL or Lyft Line that offer flat rates, but you might have to share the seat with another rider.

5- Grab a cab. Or use a taxi app like FlyWheel for a taxicab.

How do YOU get around surge pricing? Please leave your tips below.

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Can tech rescue taxis from ride-sharing?

November 2, 2015

New apps will help taxi drivers compete against ride-sharing. (Image: Jim Glab)

As ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft continue their relentless growth and gain access to passenger pick-ups at more airports, some new technologies are in the works that could help licensed taxis compete more effectively.

Flywheel, which provides an app that consumers can use to request taxi pick-ups in six western cities, is starting to test a new smartphone-based taxi meter that will let taxi drivers consolidate much of the equipment and systems they now use.

The GPS-based TaxiOS for Android phones will replace dispatch systems, navigation, payment systems and meters in a single app. Customers would be able to make cashless payments and track their rides with the app, just as they do with Uber and Lyft. It will also work with telephone dispatch systems, and passengers could still raise their hand to hail a cab in the street.

TaxiOS is being tested in some taxis in San Francisco and will be expanded after regulatory clearance.

Meanwhile, a 2016 launch in New York, London and Singapore is planned for the new Karhoo app, which has raised $250 million thus far in venture capital funding. New York-based Karhoo will work with existing taxi and black car fleets, letting the customer see and compare his ride options at a glance, and summon a nearby driver for a pickup.

Company officials say that when Karhoo launches in New York City, it will be working with fleets that include 28,000 yellow cabs and black cars currently operating there, thus avoiding the kinds of regulatory hoops that Uber and Lyft are having to jump through to enter a market.

And there’s Arro, an app available for Android and Apple phones that’s currently in use in New York and coming soon to Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C. and San Francisco.

Like Flywheel, Arro can be used to hail licensed taxis and to pay for the ride — even if the customer didn’t use the app to request the vehicle. It also promises regular taxi fares with no Uber-like surge pricing.

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Uber update: Hilton app, Vegas, LAX, Sacramento, NYC, London

September 1, 2015

UberX drivers can now pick up passengers at Oakland Airport (above) and Sacramento Airport. (Image: Oakland International Airport)

The Uber ride-finding juggernaut just keeps rolling along. In the latest developments, Uber is becoming a part of Hilton Hotels’ app, and a pair of California airports now allow ride-sharing passenger pick-ups (with Las Vegas not far behind). But licensed cabbies in New York and London are getting some apps of their own to compete against Uber and Lyft.

Hilton said it is upgrading its HHonors mobile app with a new Uber partnership. The new “Uber Ride Reminder” feature will summon a car for a trip to or from the hotel when the user is ready. “The ‘Ride Reminder’ will send a push notification or text, and the hotel’s address is automatically set in the Uber app, so guests can simply be on their way,” Hilton said. Another new app feature called “Local Scene,” available for 20 major U.S. cities, will give users a list of the most-visited venues requested by Uber riders.

Want to get $20 off your first Uber ride? Here’s how!

Meanwhile, Uber is adding more airports in the western U.S. In California, Oakland International Airport now allows UberX drivers to pick up and drop off passengers as part of a new pilot program. And Sacramento International Airport signed an agreement that took effect this week allowing Uber drivers to pick up passengers there; it is in the process of negotiating a similar pact with Lyft. The Los Angeles City Council recently approved a plan to allow UberX and Lyft pick-ups at Los Angeles International, but there’s no firm start date yet– but we are monitoring this…

In Nevada, the ride-sharing companies are now expected to start operating at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport in late October. The Nevada Transportation Authority is likely to approve new rules for the companies next week, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal, and an ordinance allowing the service is expected to be voted on by the Clark County Commission on October 20.

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Traditional licensed taxi drivers in major cities have been the most vocal opponents of expanded operating rights for the ride-sharing companies, and now they could benefit from new technology that will put them on more even competitive footing.

In New York City, a public roll-out is expected in a couple of weeks for a new smartphone app called Arro. It will work through the existing payment systems and video screens in most of the city’s 13,000 yellow cabs, allowing them to accept pick-up requests placed by consumers who have the app on their phones. Like the Uber and Lyft apps, Arro will use the customer’s credit card info to pay the fare plus tip.

FlyWheel, a similar app for getting cab rides and tracking arrivals via GPS (and does NOT impose irritating surge pricing), is already operating in these west coast cities: San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego.

And in London, drivers of the city’s traditional black cabs are counting on an app called Gett to help them ward off the Uber competition. The app will not only allow users to hail a licensed taxi, but will also offer them fare discounts of up to 30 percent for longer journeys during off-peak hours.

Want to get $20 off your first Uber ride? Here’s how!

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