Ride-hailing in Metro Vancouver: Uber, Lyft, Sidecar - emerging technologies - Page 23

red-paladin · #**441** Posted **Jan 24, 2020, 9:04 AM**

Uber is starting operations in the City of Vancouver at 11am Friday. No word on Lyft yet.

GeeCee · #**442** Posted **Jan 24, 2020, 4:33 PM**

Lyft today as well: https://www.citynews1130.com/2020/01/24/lyft-launches-in-metro-vancouver-today/

csbvan · #**443** Posted **Jan 24, 2020, 4:46 PM**

Both are up and running now!

Tvisforme · #**444** Posted **Jan 24, 2020, 7:11 PM**

Ride-sharing integration for Metro Vancouver is live on Google Maps mobile, updated since last night. Uber is the only service listed as of 11 AM, but presumably Lyft will be there at some point as well.

logicbomb · #**445** Posted **Jan 24, 2020, 8:19 PM**

The amount of reckless behavior and disregard for human safety was appalling. Pulling abrupt u-turns, running red lights and stop signs, engaging in road rage. I have put forth countless complaints to the cab companies in the past few years. The 2017 incident of having a yellow cab driver cut me off, only for him to get out of his car and scream and hit my window several times lingers in my mind. I got kicked out a cab in 2016 about 15 minutes away from my home because I told him to slow down while going 90km/hr down Granville. Yellow Cab never ever got back to me on those occasions.

I am pretty sure a few of the cab drivers here were unlicensed or even not qualified to work here - only working under the guise of the cab owner.

The taxi industry had years to clean up their act. There was absolutely no urgency or will on their end. They thought the NDP would back them.

I am so glad to see their livelihood crumble to the ground. Uber and Lyft will not be perfect by any means, but it will probably be a million times safer.

This is so satisfying.

MIPS · #**446** Posted **Jan 24, 2020, 8:28 PM**

That still assumes that there won't be too many bad apples running ride hailing.
I still don't like the idea of somebody's plugging up Granville on a Saturday night all fighting to get a fare in whatever they can get certified for as a second/third job.
Just because it's Uber/Lyft doesn't magically make the drivers any better than some of the examples of licensed taxi drivers discussed here and on the news. Time will tell how well they can moderate.

logicbomb · #**447** Posted **Jan 24, 2020, 8:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MIPS

That still assumes that there won't be too many bad apples running ride hailing.
I still don't like the idea of somebody's plugging up Granville on a Saturday night all fighting to get a fare in whatever they can get certified for as a second/third job.
Just because it's Uber/Lyft doesn't magically make the drivers any better than some of the examples of licensed taxi drivers discussed here and on the news. Time will tell how well they can moderate.

I have used Uber in other cities and I have found their customer service to be exceptionally well. They deal with complaints promptly and correct instances where the rider is been wronged. Drivers that get too many complaints will be barred from operating. A driver that cuts off another driver or runs a red light can be reported as well.

WarrenC12 · #**448** Posted **Jan 24, 2020, 8:44 PM**

Drivers and Passengers get rated in Uber (and probably Lyft). That cuts way down on bad actors.

MIPS · #**449** Posted **Jan 24, 2020, 10:08 PM**

Perhaps I'm not looking at this right, but does that not apply to regular taxi drivers as well?

WarrenC12 · #**450** Posted **Jan 24, 2020, 11:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MIPS

Perhaps I'm not looking at this right, but does that not apply to regular taxi drivers as well?

Feedback? Try calling and complaining to a taxi company. They tell you to pound sand. There are endless stories of cabbies being assholes and doing illegal things.

Migrant_Coconut · #**451** Posted **Jan 24, 2020, 11:40 PM**

No kidding. The taxi lobby has known this was coming for years now, but there's been no increased self-regulation, no price drops, no apps, no decent rideshare model... no, they've spent all their effort on screaming at the NDP to preserve the status quo.

Even now they're pushing for a goddamn injunction and sobbing that it's not fair. WTF.

LeftCoaster · #**452** Posted **Jan 25, 2020, 12:38 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Feedback? Try calling and complaining to a taxi company. They tell you to pound sand. There are endless stories of cabbies being assholes and doing illegal things.

I have far too many stories about being screwed over by cab companies, calling to complain and getting the run around.

Good riddance to an awful industry.

giallo · #**453** Posted **Jan 25, 2020, 12:55 AM**

They really were the orchestrators of their own demise. Over the years, I've had some terrible experiences with taxis in Metro Vancouver. It was the kind of behavior that comes along with feeling immune to any sort of complaints or criticism. One can hope that this is the turning point the taxi industry needs to remain competitive, as I believe there's room for both Uber and a traditional taxi industry.

Though this is just anecdotal, my Facebook feed doesn't have a single taxi industry sympathizer. Not one. In fact, most seem gleeful to see the industry get its comeuppance.

AMTDGT · #**454** Posted **Jan 25, 2020, 3:01 AM**

My thoughts:
1. No government that I can remember has kept an industry afloat, for any reason including technological change, except maybe if the company was in Quebec or the maritimes. The provincial government should have got out of the way years ago. Companies go bankrupt, people loose jobs, and share holders loose their investment. It is harsh to say it, but Vancouver taxi's are a business, so what is the big deal if they loose their license investment or jobs. Why are they different?
2. We have been lucky enough to travel to over 60 countries over the years and have used cabs in probably 25 of them. Although there are some good drivers, Vancouver's cabs are the worst we have experienced.
3. Our daughter, who lives near 12 & Kingsway, just texted. She has ordered an Uber. The wait time is 20 minutes
4. 50 years ago, when I was at school, I drove a Vancouver cab part time for a while. It was sure a different experience than we experienced when we were down visiting in Vancouver. The competition is long overdue.

WestCoastEcho · #**455** Posted **Jan 25, 2020, 3:37 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by giallo

They really were the orchestrators of their own demise. Over the years, I've had some terrible experiences with taxis in Metro Vancouver. It was the kind of behavior that comes along with feeling immune to any sort of complaints or criticism. One can hope that this is the turning point the taxi industry needs to remain competitive, as I believe there's room for both Uber and a traditional taxi industry.

Though this is just anecdotal, my Facebook feed doesn't have a single taxi industry sympathizer. Not one. In fact, most seem gleeful to see the industry get its comeuppance.

That's my feeling; there would not have been so big of a push for ride hailing in Vancouver had the taxi industry been competitive in terms of customer service, and the general sense of total immunity to any criticism lead to a sense of complacency and not giving a damn.

To underscore this; today when I went home, on West Georgia, near Denman, police were doing a speed trap going north to the Lions Gate Bridge. Saw at least 4 taxi's pulled over with fares in them, with police officers at the driver's door issuing tickets to the drivers. Probably not the first time those taxi drivers have been pulled over when you think about it.

Imagine how the people riding in the back of those taxi's must have felt. And there's zero accountability on the part of taxi companies to deal with their bad apples unless something criminal happens, and even then, they are slow to respond.

s211 · #**456** Posted **Jan 25, 2020, 4:23 AM**

What I'm not understanding about the ride-hailing rates here is that they appear to include a time charge. I'm used to having preset prices for a ride. What you would see is what you get before you make the order. Don't we really just have another taxi regime in place now? Help me out here.

Conrad Yablonski · #**457** Posted **Jan 25, 2020, 4:40 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by s211

,,,, Don't we really just have another taxi regime in place now?

Yes that's all this vaunted 'ride hailing' development is-another taxi company with a slightly different operating model.

ilikeredheads · #**458** Posted **Jan 25, 2020, 5:47 AM**

https://globalnews.ca/news/6460851/surrey-uber-cease-operations/

lol McCallum

jollyburger · #**459** Posted **Jan 25, 2020, 5:49 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by s211

What I'm not understanding about the ride-hailing rates here is that they appear to include a time charge. I'm used to having preset prices for a ride. What you would see is what you get before you make the order. Don't we really just have another taxi regime in place now? Help me out here.

Yeah, I didn't understand it either at first.

Base Fare + (Cost per minute * time in ride) + (Cost per mile * ride distance) + Booking Fee + Other Fees = Your Fare

They give you an estimate which is probably better than what you currently get with taxis unless you're leaving the airport.

jollyburger · #**460** Posted **Jan 25, 2020, 5:57 AM**

Doug McCallum future village elder of a tribe of ex-taxi drivers.