6 ms·

Uber Partners and Drivers

33 points by timjahn 14y ago

dishank 14y ago
I always loved this idea of business, it allows for you to make some extra money when you have time. I remember another product a couple of years ago that didn't do so well. It was located in Georgia, it has since closed down. The biggest problem they had was with the ability to scale this product to keep the attention to customers high while keeping costs low.
- borlak 14y ago
  Russians have been doing this for years, without any company involved. Don't want to wait for taxi or trams? Just put your arm out, and someone will stop, and you tell them where you want to go and ask 'how much'? They call them private drivers. Want to make some extra money on the weekend? Be a private driver. Hang out near tram stops and you will get customers..
vlokshin 14y ago
Direct competition to Sidecar? (Lyft as well, but Lyft schedules the drivers a bit)
robertwalsh0 14y ago
I feel like this it just one assault away from hurting Uber's brand big time.
- Bockit 14y ago
  This is something they're going to have to deal with eventually. It will happen, and it will suck, and they will have to manage it. I think once you reach a large enough scale in a business connecting strangers, unsavoury events are statistically unavoidable. I guess the trick is not just mitigating the chance but also being ready to respond. Which means both to the victims and to the public.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- robbiep 14y ago
  The horse has sort of bolted on this one http://www.autostraddle.com/raped-by-an-uber-cab-driver-horrified-by-everything-152906/ http://www.autostraddle.com/raped-by-an-uber-cab-driver-horr...
  - johncarrion 14y ago
    This article is terrible. There is no "rape", no "rapist", and no "survivor" until a trial has been conducted. Until then, there is only an "accuser" and an "accused". The article also links to a report that only 54% of rapes are reported to the police. Until there has been a trial, there is no way to know if there has been a rape. What they mean is that 54% of people who claim rape do not report it to the police. I don't know they know that even.
    - venus 14y ago
      Yeah, that is a shocking article. The site seems to be a hardcore feminist outrage blog with a strong prejudice to what they perceive, wrongly, to be the female interest. Even the use of the word "survivor" at all is highly objectionable, being a subtle attempt to raise the stakes, as if rape and attempted murder are synonymous. The story itself sounds highly questionable. Even in the same blog post, the details are inconsistent (did she walk back to the cab of her own volition, or was she called?) Where was this jacket and why would she think she "might" have left it in the cab? Why would the driver wait until she left and returned to attack her? Why would an uber driver, in full knowledge that they are emphatically on record as having picked up and dropped off a person, basically lock themselves in prison and throw away the key by committing such a crime? Why would they then carry the victim's body onto the property!? Seeing that the police have questioned the driver and not charged him, a more likely explanation might be: Deeply intoxicated underage drinker brought home by uber driver, wrongly believes she left something in cab, falls over and hits her head walking back to it, driver carries her back onto her property, she makes something up the next morning to explain things to her parents. Wouldn't be the first time. Anyway, none of these reasonable objections slow the site down in whipping itself up into a self-righteous fervour as they declare the driver guilty and lament the "survivor" "will not see and has not seen justice in any real sense of the word". Oops, there I go engaging in "wildly misogynistic and rape-apologetic discussion" again!
- flomo 14y ago
  Yellow Cab's brandname has survived. In any case, I thought Uber's 'difference' was the professional black car/limo drivers. Judging by this page, they're now signing up randoms who are behind on the payments on their 09 Hyundai. As a former driver, that's a huge leap in my mind.
- majmun 14y ago
  I don't see reason why same (or better) security measures that are present in normal cabs can't be implemented in uber. Maybe there are already?
chrsstrm 14y ago
The second image in the rotator showed something I found interesting. Do drivers rate passengers as well as passengers rating drivers? What seems to be the name of the pickup at the bottom of the screen has a rating behind the name.
- stbtrax 14y ago
  yes, I've seen an uber driver get prompted to rate me at the end of a fare
josteink 14y ago
What's up with the name? Uber? Is it supposed to be Über? And if so, how does that even make sense? What do they even do? I had to go to their normal homepage to get a vague idea. They have a brand saying pretty much nothing. This seems like a company prime for a future identity-crisis.
- jordanthoms 14y ago
  They used to be called UberCab, but they were forced to change their name by regulators.
- thetylerhayes 14y ago
  This comment just popped my Silicon Valley bubble.

33 points by timjahn 14y ago

I always loved this idea of business, it allows for you to make some extra money when you have time. I remember another product a couple of years ago that didn't do so well. It was located in Georgia, it has since closed down. The biggest problem they had was with the ability to scale this product to keep the attention to customers high while keeping costs low.

borlak 14y ago
Russians have been doing this for years, without any company involved. Don't want to wait for taxi or trams? Just put your arm out, and someone will stop, and you tell them where you want to go and ask 'how much'? They call them private drivers. Want to make some extra money on the weekend? Be a private driver. Hang out near tram stops and you will get customers..

vlokshin 14y ago

Direct competition to Sidecar? (Lyft as well, but Lyft schedules the drivers a bit)

robertwalsh0 14y ago

I feel like this it just one assault away from hurting Uber's brand big time.

Bockit 14y ago
This is something they're going to have to deal with eventually. It will happen, and it will suck, and they will have to manage it. I think once you reach a large enough scale in a business connecting strangers, unsavoury events are statistically unavoidable. I guess the trick is not just mitigating the chance but also being ready to respond. Which means both to the victims and to the public.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
robbiep 14y ago
The horse has sort of bolted on this one http://www.autostraddle.com/raped-by-an-uber-cab-driver-horrified-by-everything-152906/ http://www.autostraddle.com/raped-by-an-uber-cab-driver-horr...
- johncarrion 14y ago
  This article is terrible. There is no "rape", no "rapist", and no "survivor" until a trial has been conducted. Until then, there is only an "accuser" and an "accused". The article also links to a report that only 54% of rapes are reported to the police. Until there has been a trial, there is no way to know if there has been a rape. What they mean is that 54% of people who claim rape do not report it to the police. I don't know they know that even.
  - venus 14y ago
    Yeah, that is a shocking article. The site seems to be a hardcore feminist outrage blog with a strong prejudice to what they perceive, wrongly, to be the female interest. Even the use of the word "survivor" at all is highly objectionable, being a subtle attempt to raise the stakes, as if rape and attempted murder are synonymous. The story itself sounds highly questionable. Even in the same blog post, the details are inconsistent (did she walk back to the cab of her own volition, or was she called?) Where was this jacket and why would she think she "might" have left it in the cab? Why would the driver wait until she left and returned to attack her? Why would an uber driver, in full knowledge that they are emphatically on record as having picked up and dropped off a person, basically lock themselves in prison and throw away the key by committing such a crime? Why would they then carry the victim's body onto the property!? Seeing that the police have questioned the driver and not charged him, a more likely explanation might be: Deeply intoxicated underage drinker brought home by uber driver, wrongly believes she left something in cab, falls over and hits her head walking back to it, driver carries her back onto her property, she makes something up the next morning to explain things to her parents. Wouldn't be the first time. Anyway, none of these reasonable objections slow the site down in whipping itself up into a self-righteous fervour as they declare the driver guilty and lament the "survivor" "will not see and has not seen justice in any real sense of the word". Oops, there I go engaging in "wildly misogynistic and rape-apologetic discussion" again!
flomo 14y ago
Yellow Cab's brandname has survived. In any case, I thought Uber's 'difference' was the professional black car/limo drivers. Judging by this page, they're now signing up randoms who are behind on the payments on their 09 Hyundai. As a former driver, that's a huge leap in my mind.
majmun 14y ago
I don't see reason why same (or better) security measures that are present in normal cabs can't be implemented in uber. Maybe there are already?

chrsstrm 14y ago

The second image in the rotator showed something I found interesting. Do drivers rate passengers as well as passengers rating drivers? What seems to be the name of the pickup at the bottom of the screen has a rating behind the name.

stbtrax 14y ago
yes, I've seen an uber driver get prompted to rate me at the end of a fare

josteink 14y ago

What's up with the name? Uber? Is it supposed to be Über? And if so, how does that even make sense? What do they even do? I had to go to their normal homepage to get a vague idea. They have a brand saying pretty much nothing. This seems like a company prime for a future identity-crisis.

jordanthoms 14y ago
They used to be called UberCab, but they were forced to change their name by regulators.
thetylerhayes 14y ago
This comment just popped my Silicon Valley bubble.