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Uber Rush
- hcarvalhoalves 13y ago"Premium Rush" [1]? I didn't knew bike couriers existed before I saw this movie on TV. Is this common in NY, or is Uber introducing the idea? Is it common elsewhere? [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn6ie1zCkZU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn6ie1zCkZU
- tokenadult 13y agoI didn't knew bike couriers existed before I saw this movie on TV. Is this common in NY, or is Uber introducing the idea? Bicycle couriers have been in New York City and other large cities in the United States (including mine, Minneapolis) for a long time. They are especially suited for traveling from one building in a dense "downtown" area to another. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_messenger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_messenger http://www.blazingsaddles.net/ http://www.blazingsaddles.net/
- aestra 13y ago(In New York at least) they also deliver food.
- overworkedasian 13y agooh yeah, bike courriers have been around in NYC for over a decade. Same goes for every major metropolis in the USA.
- nicwolff 13y ago"over a decade", heh - I was one 30 years ago.
- rafeed 13y agoBike messenger services are commonplace in the NYC area. Uber is using their logistics prowess to make it more efficient and probably cheaper.
- aaronbrethorst 13y agoBike couriers date back to the 1860s in general and New York in particular to at least the 1890s: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_messenger#History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_messenger#History
- hadoukenio 13y agoThere is a big bike courier scene in Melbourne (Australia) with full hipster beards and fixies.
- billzhuang 13y agowhen i saw this news, i also remember the same movie.
- rhizome 13y agoThat movie's precursor: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091814/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091814/
- arasmussen 13y agoUber RUSH lets you deliver packages with a mobile app that's probably as convenient as their driver app. Awesome expansion by Uber. I suppose the same drivers that drive people around will now be driving stuff around too? Probably doesn't even cost too much in terms of new infrastructure. I wonder where they'll go next. Edit: They actually did mention that the messenger arrives via bike or foot, so they won't have the same drivers delivering packages.
- tomphoolery 13y agoDid they specifically mention that it was a car who would be moving the package around? Seems like bike couriers would be a way better option, at least for NYC...
- arasmussen 13y agoAh you're right. "Your messenger will be on bike or on foot, and will not be able to deliver some oversized items"
- samirahmed 13y agoi often get the feeling that uber is positioning itself to strike gold with business billing. uber should build a feature that enables companies by allowing employees to expense there uber rides and 'rush' deliveries. There is alot of business in this space and they will get the app into high level employees phones It would be the akin to a corporate 'amex' ... bill the company 'uber'
- parm289 13y agoI agree. It seems that Uber could be for transportation what Seamless is for food (at least in midtown Manhattan). Currently, banks etc. either hire company car services to take employees home late at night or reimburse late-night taxi expenses post-hoc. It would be great to simply charge these late-night rides to the company Uber just as we order dinner on the company Seamless.
- jordanthoms 13y agoUber had 'Uber perks' - http://blog.uber.com/2013/02/07/introducing-uber-perks-our-corporate-benefits-program/ http://blog.uber.com/2013/02/07/introducing-uber-perks-our-c... - but the link in that seems to be broken now, not sure if it still exists.
- bwilliams18 13y agoI don't think they need to do that. The people who would do this expensing probably already have a company credit card plugged into uber, and an assistant to handling the actual expensing process from an emailed receipt.
- rdl 13y agoUnclear if this is better used for transporting drugs, or transporting cats. Seems like it would work for either. I don't see any real terms of service limitations or KYC which would prevent it from being used as a "delivery service" for drugs.
- Maxious 13y agoThe words "Maximum Capacity" at the bottom of the page expand when clicked to reveal "If your messenger refuses delivery due to size/value/fragility or possible illegality, a cancellation fee will apply"
- rdl 13y agoYou clearly wouldn't declare "cocaine, 1kg" on the package, so I don't think drugs would be easy to catch. (although I think end-user-retail p2p lockers would be much better for this than couriers). With cats, I suppose couriers might refuse them -- walking down the street with a cat carrier would be kind of unpleasant, and it would be worse on a bike.
- biftek 13y agoWe had a rule at the company I messengered at: Never ask what’s in the package. But I honestly doubt anyone ever trusted us with drugs, the most memorable things I delivered were A) a pee cup (luckily empty) and B) an industrial size sink from Wall St. to 42nd.
- bertil 13y agoThat made me wonder: why wouldn’t they suggest to use a Uber Car in case the object was large or fragile? Sounds like a perfect case of up-sell. I can already imagine lawyers having a field-day on the words ‘possible illegality’.
- rdl 13y agoParking.
- mason55 13y agoAs everyone predicted, Uber is branching out with their expertise on "delivering things on demand", whether it be cars, ice cream trucks, kittens, or now packages.
- inthewoods 13y agoI'm wondering how big this market is - when I was growing up in NYC bike messengers were everywhere. And if you were an architect (like my stepfather), then there was a constant need to ship around drawings et al. But the messenger business seems to have largely disappeared - still there, but much, much smaller than when my brother was on the bike. Hasn't the digital age really ended the need for a lot of this? I'm guessing that there is a market need here or else Uber wouldn't be pursuing - but I do have to wonder. I agree with others, though, that they should get their business billing situation settled.
- pattisapu 13y agoLawyers have a huge and ongoing need for couriers who can hand-deliver original documents.
- windsurfer 13y agoThey also have a huge need to have their courier requirements disrupted.
- samstave 13y ago>their *everthing disrupted FTFY
- biftek 13y agoThere is definitely still a market in NYC, but you're right it’s smaller. Architects, lawyers, the fashion industry, and photo/video studios were our major clientele when I was working a few years back.
- Hominem 13y agoHuge market. I worked in the traditional printing business and we sometimes had to use regular car services to messenger proofs. I wouldn't be surprised if people tried to use regular über cars in that way and they just decided to roll with it.
- phreanix 13y ago
- vm 13y agoI wish I was in NY just to play with the UX! If I have a RUSH order in progress, can I still order a traditional Uber ride? RUSH is a business use case, which makes me think they'll soon support multiple concurrent rides since that's also a common business use case. When I was a lowly analyst, I often had to coordinate multiple cars for large groups. Really common situation in the NY finance scene (thank god I haven't worked there in a long, long time...).
- rosem 13y agoI'm only on board with this if they are covering the bikers that are going to end up in the hospital — otherwise it's on everyone else.
- pdq 13y agoWe’re proud to announce our partnership with the Bike Messenger Emergency Fund (BMEF). The BMEF is a non profit public charity organization that provides emergency compensation to bicycle messengers who are hurt on the job. With the launch of UberRUSH, we will donate $1 from each delivery to the BMEF.
- rosem 13y agoThis is not insurance.
- Houshalter 13y agoWhy? Is biking particularly dangerous? Shouldn't the bikers themselves have insurance like drivers do?
- unphasable 13y agoof course it is dangerous. but if you are employed by uber and get hurt "on the job" while carrying out their agenda, they should be responsible for your recovery.
- Houshalter 13y agoYour not really an employee as I understand. Also seems like the automobiles should be liable in an accident.
- waterlesscloud 13y agoYou're an employee, blah blah blah aside. Come on. They take their cut of the profit, they must take their cut of the responsibility.
- nicolethenerd 13y agoThe zone pricing is a little strange to me. So it's cheaper to have something delivered the 50 blocks from 110th to 59th St than it would be to go say, a block or two from 35th to 33rd?
- aylons 13y agoYes. You trade some unfairness in a handful of (literally) corner cases for a simpler hand-made tariff scheme that may take into account the subtleties of the trade while being still easy for the client to understand it.
- korzun 13y agoMakes sense, traffic congestion varies.
- waterlesscloud 13y agoTraffic has zero to do with this.
- samstave 13y agoexcept.... cars
- jacalata 13y agobut it's only offered by bike or foot
- samstave 13y agoI bike nearly 100% of my daily commute for the last 3 years. I am affected by traffic, not so much to the point that I am as slow as traffic, but traffic affects me to a discernable degree. Bridge fail; increased load on bart. Traffic jam == less aware driver which cause me to be more cautious on my route to work == slower... I bike 2 miles from home to Bart, then bike 1 mile from Bart to office... used to be greater distance... So minimum 6 miles a day: ~260 work days a year = ~1560 Miles biked... *3+ years at a scaling factor of say, 80% is ~3700 miles commuted... my speed has always been based on external factors; traffic, Bart death, cal-train fullness/death, weather, etc... It is a significant impact on timing... so to say that Rush is not subject to any of this is ignoring reality. HOWEVER: I will admit that in dense urban environ, with bikes, bike always win.. So: I'd conclude based on own experience that traffic reduction, sans massive catastrophe to the biker, is ~10-20% BELOW WHAT AN UNFETTERED BIKER CAN DO (i.e. n cars at all) A biker, assuming reasonable distance, should be significantly faster than a car, in dense urban. So, I may have invalidated my GP post...
- johnvschmitt 13y agoMixed feelings on this. It tends to expand the recent meme of "Everyone's a contractor, nobody's an employee". There's no minimum wage or other worker protections if you sign contracts for services. The social contract is never signed, & it's getting abandoned more & more.
- thethimble 13y agoIsn't being an employee unnecessary bureaucracy for a messenger service? If anything, I think Uber is doing a great service here to all parties involved by connecting supply and demand in a low-friction way.
- johnvschmitt 13y agoYes, it's not new, & yes Uber is doing well in connecting supply & demand with a great UX. For Uber to be worth its high hype & valuation, it's going to essentially expand these types non-employee situations. That's why I'm "mixed" feeling about this, as I like great UX, smooth marketplaces, & know many people who want part-time work, not full time. But, I also know many folks who had "decent jobs" (nothing special, but they can raise a family) driving UPS trucks or other things like that.
- cnaut 13y agoI think it is more than just connecting supply and demand with a great UX. The UX is actually creating demand. With taxis, Uber has created a whole new market of people who use uber but didn't use taxies before. I see a similar thing happening with couriering.
- emperorcezar 13y agoMy understanding is that this is how the bike messenger industry has been for a while?
- bertil 13y agoOne aspect that Uber seems to have over-looked is that bike messengers traditionally rely on a network of relations, and commitment to the job -- it’s not a very gratifying job, therefore very low chances of finding another employment, legal or not, are qualifications. This allows the dispatcher to hire anyone with a pulse and calves, but trust some more and have them handle the occasional key delivery. An truly Uber-like equivalent for parcels might be problematic. Imagine a couple of company shills, posing as a putative messengers, near your competitors’ headquarters.
- peatmoss 13y agoI was kind of hoping this involved bringing Geddy Lee to my home.