8 ms·

Last time I was in Montreal my Uber driver wouldn't drop me at the airport, instead he dropped me at a hotel attached to the airport - he told me reason being i

by kitcar 9y ago

Last time I was in Montreal my Uber driver wouldn't drop me at the airport, instead he dropped me at a hotel attached to the airport - he told me reason being in Montreal undercover police officers have been known to wait in the departures drop-off area and impound cars if they suspect you to be an Uber driver. Interesting side note the driver actually was an airport employee - he would drive for Uber twice a day, once to work (he would hang out by the area of the city with lots of Hotels to try and catch and airport trip) and once on the way home. I thought that was kind of awesome.

craftyguy 9y ago
> impound cars if they suspect you to be an Uber driver. How do they impound the vehicle if the driver is in it? Do they arrest the driver first?
- brianwawok 9y ago
  I suspect they make you get out and call a cab home ;) Plenty of police at the airport, wouldn't be hard.
freeone3000 9y ago
Actually using ridesharing to share rides. What a novel concept.
- EnFinlay 9y ago
  If Uber was based around this kind of thing then I would support them. Their current business model (for the most part) is one person going to one place. It's identical to driving everywhere yourself, without the hassle of parking.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - nicolashahn 9y ago
    I don't know about you or the guy above, but I pretty much always use Uber Pool/Lyft Line over the single rider versions when it's just me unless I'm in a huge rush. Most of my friends do the same, and I started using both services more then they introduced the feature.
    - graeme 9y ago
      Quebec didn't allow uber pool, afaik
dangero 9y ago
How did he guarantee that he would get an airport bound passenger?
- toddrew 9y ago
  Not a likely story. If the driver was an employee at the airport, turning on uber before his shift might result in him driving in the opposite direction for an hour and missing his shift. In some cities Uber drivers are able to choose drop-off areas, but I don't believe Montreal is one of them.
solotronics 9y ago
there should be an Uber mode where the driver enters their destination and they get a notification when someone else is going to the same place
- digikata 9y ago
  Isn't that more or less Lyft Line?
- SeoxyS 9y ago
  There is.
- banderman 9y ago
  They have that.
- schnevets 9y ago
  I always thought this idea had greater potential for extremely long car rides. If I'm taking a business trip from NYC to Boston, I'd be okay with a tagalong as long as they provide some gas money. It would have to be something scheduled in advance, but the ride would probably be more pleasant than taking a bus, and I'd be willing to drop the tagalong off somewhere besides the city square.
  - prostanac 9y ago
    There is such a service in Europe, called Bla Bla Car[0]. [0] https://www.blablacar.com/ https://www.blablacar.com/
  - mastax 9y ago
    This sounds like BlaBlaCar which is (I hear) popular in Europe.
    - sprafa 9y ago
      it's relatively popular.
  - 9y ago
seanmcdirmid 9y ago
This is/was common in china as well.
pj_mukh 9y ago
At the Toronto Airport, Uber rides from the terminal into the city are upwards of $60. But take an AirTrain one stop to a hotel and it drops to $25. I think we need government regulations, but just like pure unfettered capitalism, it works in some markets, in some ways, but fails miserably in others.
- DKnoll 9y ago
  What do you mean by into "the city", downtown Toronto? Pearson is actually in Mississauga, not Toronto and a trip from Pearson to downtown Toronto could take up to an hour in the (very likely) traffic on the 427 and Gardiner during the day. The cab flat rate to downtown is also ~$60. No idea what an AirTrain is. Do you mean UP Express? Why stop at Weston and pay $5.30 and not just take it all the way downtown for a meagre $12.35? During heavy traffic your travel time would be roughly equivalent to a cab.
  - pj_mukh 9y ago
    Anywhere really (I particularly go to the west end), its the big difference you should note. AirTrain = Linktrain [1]. Take it to the alt-hotel (for free) right at the airport and grab an Uber Pool to save 50-60% of the cab fare and get dropped off right at your door step with all your luggage. [1]: https://www.torontopearson.com/en/link/# https://www.torontopearson.com/en/link/#

by kitcar 9y ago

craftyguy 9y ago

> impound cars if they suspect you to be an Uber driver. How do they impound the vehicle if the driver is in it? Do they arrest the driver first?

brianwawok 9y ago
I suspect they make you get out and call a cab home ;) Plenty of police at the airport, wouldn't be hard.

freeone3000 9y ago

Actually using ridesharing to share rides. What a novel concept.

EnFinlay 9y ago
If Uber was based around this kind of thing then I would support them. Their current business model (for the most part) is one person going to one place. It's identical to driving everywhere yourself, without the hassle of parking.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- nicolashahn 9y ago
  I don't know about you or the guy above, but I pretty much always use Uber Pool/Lyft Line over the single rider versions when it's just me unless I'm in a huge rush. Most of my friends do the same, and I started using both services more then they introduced the feature.
  - graeme 9y ago
    Quebec didn't allow uber pool, afaik

dangero 9y ago

How did he guarantee that he would get an airport bound passenger?

toddrew 9y ago
Not a likely story. If the driver was an employee at the airport, turning on uber before his shift might result in him driving in the opposite direction for an hour and missing his shift. In some cities Uber drivers are able to choose drop-off areas, but I don't believe Montreal is one of them.

solotronics 9y ago

there should be an Uber mode where the driver enters their destination and they get a notification when someone else is going to the same place

digikata 9y ago
Isn't that more or less Lyft Line?
SeoxyS 9y ago
There is.
banderman 9y ago
They have that.
schnevets 9y ago
I always thought this idea had greater potential for extremely long car rides. If I'm taking a business trip from NYC to Boston, I'd be okay with a tagalong as long as they provide some gas money. It would have to be something scheduled in advance, but the ride would probably be more pleasant than taking a bus, and I'd be willing to drop the tagalong off somewhere besides the city square.
- prostanac 9y ago
  There is such a service in Europe, called Bla Bla Car[0]. [0] https://www.blablacar.com/ https://www.blablacar.com/
- mastax 9y ago
  This sounds like BlaBlaCar which is (I hear) popular in Europe.
  - sprafa 9y ago
    it's relatively popular.
- 9y ago

seanmcdirmid 9y ago

This is/was common in china as well.

pj_mukh 9y ago

At the Toronto Airport, Uber rides from the terminal into the city are upwards of $60. But take an AirTrain one stop to a hotel and it drops to $25. I think we need government regulations, but just like pure unfettered capitalism, it works in some markets, in some ways, but fails miserably in others.

DKnoll 9y ago
What do you mean by into "the city", downtown Toronto? Pearson is actually in Mississauga, not Toronto and a trip from Pearson to downtown Toronto could take up to an hour in the (very likely) traffic on the 427 and Gardiner during the day. The cab flat rate to downtown is also ~$60. No idea what an AirTrain is. Do you mean UP Express? Why stop at Weston and pay $5.30 and not just take it all the way downtown for a meagre $12.35? During heavy traffic your travel time would be roughly equivalent to a cab.
- pj_mukh 9y ago
  Anywhere really (I particularly go to the west end), its the big difference you should note. AirTrain = Linktrain [1]. Take it to the alt-hotel (for free) right at the airport and grab an Uber Pool to save 50-60% of the cab fare and get dropped off right at your door step with all your luggage. [1]: https://www.torontopearson.com/en/link/# https://www.torontopearson.com/en/link/#