Lyft

"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura) 03/05/2019 at 22:35 • Filed to: None

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Tailgating in the rain, did like 60 mph on the airport road. Entertainment value. We almost grabbed the wrong Lyft car twice and every time, the driver couldn't understand their own name. 

Ash78, voting early and often > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 03/05/2019 at 22:44

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So they truly are competition for taxis, then! I knew this day would come.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 03/05/2019 at 22:45

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Was this at SFO? I caught a Lyft there and there were so many lyfts and Uber’s it was confusing as hell.

ttyymmnn > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 03/05/2019 at 22:46

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I have considered doing this for some extra money, since I don’t work days and the boys are older.

Svart Smart, traded in his Smart > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 03/05/2019 at 22:50

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I always check the license plate.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > ttyymmnn 03/05/2019 at 22:53

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fuck that, I’d pay to keep people out of my cars.

Svend > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 03/05/2019 at 23:01

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I’ll stick with taxis.

I’ve never taken an Uber, Lyft, etc... and don’t wish to. 

ToyotaFamily > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 03/05/2019 at 23:02

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I got into an Uber once where the guy got so close to semi I could practically touch it. He couldn’t merge to save his life. 

facw > ttyymmnn 03/05/2019 at 23:09

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Only time I took a taxi in Austin, it was a beat to hell Caravan (broken windshield, sagging headliner, check engine light), the driver was significantly late compared to the dispatch estimate, drove erratically, was constantly sticking his head out the window or splashing his face with water (I’m assuming he was sleep deprived and/or under the influence of something), and needed my instructions to find his way to the airport (exactly five turns, most of them just to make it the third of a mile from my apartment to Ben White/71 , which is literally the road the airport is on, but apparently he didn’t know that).

All that is to say, I bet you could do better than him. Though it’s not clear that you can really make that much cash with them. That said, the TNC staging area at AUS is not far from the end of 17R, so maybe you could get some photography in while waiting (sadly they probably frown on mounting a chair to your roof for plane spotting).

ttyymmnn > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 03/05/2019 at 23:34

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I’ve got a 2003 Honda Odyssey I’ve been hauling kids in for 16 years. What do I care?

ttyymmnn > facw 03/05/2019 at 23:35

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My Honda dealer has started using Uber to take customers home when the courtesy van isn’t available. That would be a cake gig.

facw > ttyymmnn 03/05/2019 at 23:39

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You may not care, but it is too old for Uber:

15-year-old vehicle or newer

4-door vehicle

Good condition with no cosmetic damage

No commercial branding

https://www.uber.com/drive/austin/vehicle-requirements/

ttyymmnn > facw 03/06/2019 at 00:05

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Bummer.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn 03/06/2019 at 00:27

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Do the deal where they provide a rental car. But I don’t see where the money would be because self employment tax.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Ash78, voting early and often 03/06/2019 at 00:28

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With the Eritrean driver, I was having a total taxi experience.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 03/06/2019 at 00:28

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Yup. THat’s how it was.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Svend 03/06/2019 at 00:29

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This is a much improvement over taxis. At least, Murican taxis...

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Svart Smart, traded in his Smart 03/06/2019 at 00:29

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I figured that out at the very end.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ToyotaFamily 03/06/2019 at 00:29

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Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fasten Seat Belts Sign is on.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 03/06/2019 at 00:38

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You should see some of the lyft/Uber drivers in LA... Only time I legitimately have ever feared death in a car has been as a passenger in a Lyft on the damn 405 going home from LAX. Crazy lady locked up the brakes and swerved around stopped traffic. Seems like it wasn't the first time since she actually knew to let off the brakes before swerving seeing as we didn't understeer into the line of traffic... 

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Svend 03/06/2019 at 00:41

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I've never taken a taxi surprisingly. But I guess I am just the right age for that. First time I was living on my own and traveling as an adult, Uber was already popular. So I've only ever used Uber and Lyft. I legitimately don't know how to get a taxi. What do I have do, call someone? And talk to a real person? Ehhhhh that sounds hard! And especially if I had to pay by cash I'd be doomed. 

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 03/06/2019 at 00:44

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Uber in Dallas is even more interesting I’ve found. At home in LA, you kind of get quite the mix of people. But usually it’s newer cars in decent shape and driven by locals. Dallas is always foreigners driving real crap cars but I've had great conversations with most of them at least. Entertaining to get a story along with my ride. 

Nick Has an Exocet > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 03/06/2019 at 00:46

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I got into a Lyft once and about 5 minutes in, I realized the guy didn’t look like his picture. I asked him about it and he said it was his brother’s account. A few months later, I’m watching TV and there’s a story about a Lyft driver who was driving under his brother’s account because his license was suspended on DUI - only got caught because he ran a red light.

Now I’m more careful, but even legit ones can be terrible. Once had a lady pull up to pick me up stoned out of her mind with the car smelling of weed. I was going about 6 blocks at 25mph and it was midnight at a BART station , so rolled with it. Bigger risk to hanging out at a BART station at night...

Good luck with the cabs though. I had a cab driver pick me up in the East Bay who didn’t have a toll tag and therefore couldn’t take the carpool lane with 3 people in the car. F THAT.

I’ve had Lyft drivers do full on Russian dashcam driving - over medians, breakdown lanes, stop in red zones, try to drop me off in the middle of 4 lanes of traffic, etc but I’ve had equally good times as well. You’re just dealing with the averages of human society. 

Svend > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 03/06/2019 at 00:50

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Here, taxis are tightly regulated, driver’s are criminal background checked, cars inspected every six months, the slightest infringement could see them lose their taxis badge to operate.

Here you can phone for a taxi, Google search them and either fill out an online job request, download the app.

You can pay, card, cash and some do bitcoin, etc... 

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Svend 03/06/2019 at 01:02

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Sounds like a functional service! Maybe instead of protesting Uber, the taxi companies here could do the same thing. Now that I think about it, the only taxi I've ever taken was in Barcelona and I used an app similar to Uber called my taxi. That was just a standard yellow cab and it was a great experience. And seeing as Spain is definitely not the place to find great drivers or laws or anything of that sort, I guess it would be better elsewhere in Europe! Also helps that public transit seems to work in most places so there's always options. 

facw > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 03/06/2019 at 03:26

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So there are a few ways to get taxis.

The classic street hail. Look for a cab coming down the street and raise you arm up and a bit to the side (to the street). Assuming the cab is free they should stop for you (doesn’t always work like that for black people). Obviously this only works well in urban areas with lots of cabs. Note that hotel concierges and some doormen can do this for you.

Taxi stands. You can just walk up to a cab waiting at a stand. In some cases, there will be a dispatcher there who will tell you which cab to go to. At busy times they may try to pair you with one or more other people going roughly to the same place. Sometimes taxi stands are deserted if the local taxi control board is limiting the supply of taxis too much. You might also get a surcharge for getting a cab from a stand.

Distpatched. This is your option in places where there aren’t a lot of taxis. You call a dispatcher and they’ll send a taxi (maybe!). If your taxi doesn’t show up in a reasonable amount of time, you can call the dispatcher again, and they’ll tell you its a few minutes out. You can repeat this process indefinitely!

Apps! There are Uber type apps for cabs now. Because they finally realized that they couldn’t just rely on their monopolies to protect crappy service. I’ve never used one of these, but I’ve seen ads for them on cabs.

Cash generally shouldn’t be necessary these days. Cabbies generally much prefer cash, but generally they are required to take credit in able to be able to work legally now. You used to get “my card reader is broken” all the time (magically it started working if you told them you had no cash, or threatened to report them), but it’s been a long time since I’ve heard that, so I think they’ve more or less come to accept it at this point. Of course tech varies, several years ago I was in Chicago and one of the cabbies I rode with was using one of those old sliding credit card imprint machines (completely non-electronic), but it got the job done.

facw > Nick Has an Exocet 03/06/2019 at 03:36

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I had one driver where the picture was a somewhat dark-skinned (maybe just tan) man in his 50s or 60s, but the driver was a white guy, probably in his 20s, so who knows what was going on there. The car was right though, a recent 3-series, and the driver was pretty good aside from being the wrong guy. I gave him (or the other guy I guess) 5 stars, though maybe I should have reported him.

On the other side of the equations, two who got poor ratings from:

Guy with a mug full of cigarette butts in the cupholder. Thanks for not smoking while I’m in the car, and for not littering, but no, that’s not acceptable.

Woman who was unable to plan ahead at all in her driving (despite an app telling her what to do), instead veering across multiple lanes for every turn/exit.

Car not up to spec that I didn’t have the heart to vote down:

Beat to hell 3-S eries (with a stick!) being driven by a young woman.

Best uber to date:

Guy with an F-150 who just wanted to chat about Houston architecture. I have no idea how you can make any money driving an F-150 as an Uber.

facw > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 03/06/2019 at 03:37

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The ubers I’ve had around seem actually to drive really cautiously in general. To be honest I’m a bit surprised this isn’t universally the case, since presumably uber can track them and know who’s speeding, etc.

Manny05x > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 03/06/2019 at 08:33

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I had my first bad uber experience, young driver with a Mazda 3 that smelled like cigarettes and bad decisions. I am super ocd about dirty interiors and being in that car was giving me anxiety.

Tripper > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 03/06/2019 at 08:35

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I have had a few good uber rides, but mostly this has been my experience or worse. Some highlights:

-A driver who was definitely under the influence of a strong opioid. I had to keep conversation with him just to keep him from nodding out.

-A driver who double the speed limit and ran 4 red lights in a mile span. I’m talkin’ red lights, not skating through a pinky or anything like that.

-A older woman driver who relentlessly hit on me calling me Jason Borne...Flattering but uncomfortable.

-Finally a guy who would not stop making heated political comments, and started shouting when I didn’t respond. I just kept saying things like, “Politics aren’t my thing.” and “I don’t watch the news.” I finally had to say “if this is going to continue, you’ve got to let me out here.”

Ash78, voting early and often > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 03/06/2019 at 09:24

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LOL, about half the taxis I’ve ever used were guys from Eritrea. I love chatting with them and trying to get them to open up about their stories, it’s almost always fascinating. It helps to know where Eritrea is so you can start the conversation. Most of them are like “You know where that is?” 

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > facw 03/06/2019 at 10:26

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See that's the problem, speeding is the least of my worries but really the only thing they can track. Making illegal left turns through heavy traffic and weaving/tailgating like a mad man is the issue. That would need dash cam review to sort out. 

gmctavish needs more space > Svend 03/06/2019 at 11:52

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This is not nearly as bad as taxis in Vancouver. Driving on the wrong side of the road, straddling lanes, running red lights constantly. They’re just great over here.

Svend > gmctavish needs more space 03/06/2019 at 12:08

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A taxi driving friend was reprimanded for driving a dirty car, they council gives them an allowance to keep the cars clean.

Another got a warning because he got a flat tyre, he swapped it over for a steel spare. The warning was for driv ing a taxi with no wheel trim.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 03/06/2019 at 13:24

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I’ve only ridden Uber or Lyft a few times, but last night’s driver was by far the worst. Fast and erratic.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 03/06/2019 at 13:25

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I can feel that, but when I’m a backseat passenger in an Uber or a Lyft, I enjoy the quiet time.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Nick Has an Exocet 03/06/2019 at 13:27

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The guy last night was certainly nice enough, just drove 40+ in a 25, and 60 on the airport road. He’s gone get nailed for speeding at some point, I expect.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Manny05x 03/06/2019 at 13:28

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I can sympathize with that.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Tripper 03/06/2019 at 13:30

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The entire Uber thing is questionable to me from a who-would-want-to-do-it perspective. People driving their newer cars, wearing them out, to earn maybe $15-20 per hour and then turn around and pay self employment tax. And buy new tires and brakes and get their CVTs serviced.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Ash78, voting early and often 03/06/2019 at 13:35

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I like those encounters as well, but if I’m going any distance, I like to enjoy the backseat and just relax and have quiet time. One Uber ride I was on I was in the front seat and there were two other passengers in the rear and I carried on an animated conversation on my cell phone with my sister. Rude, perhaps, but I didn’t -- don’t -- care. It was a great conversation and if they didn’t like it, they could have paid for a solo car.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 03/06/2019 at 13:39

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Oh yeah if I'm not feeling taking and the driver is not letting me rest, I'd be pissed as hell haha. Usually I've been flying all day though and kind of need some friendly human contact anyways. Just depends. 

Nick Has an Exocet > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 03/07/2019 at 01:17

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I don’t think you realize how fast we drive up here. Traffic regularly hits 95mph in a 65 in the east bay. 60mph+ on the SFO airport road is fairly normal. We don’t have that many accidents until it rains. Then all bets are off people don’t know how to judge tire tread or lift off for standing water.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Nick Has an Exocet 03/07/2019 at 08:46

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If by “up here” you mean the SF Bay Area... I live in the East Bay.

We flew into OAK.

It was the wet that made me nervous about his driving.

NojustNo > facw 03/07/2019 at 14:47

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No drive tracking but they do takes complaints seriously. 

TysMagic > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 03/07/2019 at 15:57

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late to the party here, but we’ve given up on regular uber. Every experience was awful. Flip side, we only do uber black now and it’s awesome. Of course you’re paying for it, but more comfortable, much better driver, and a substantially more pleasant experience over all. 

Nick Has an Exocet > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 03/07/2019 at 21:23

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Oh, haha. I didn’t realize you lived locally! I always thought the OC in your name was Orange County.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Nick Has an Exocet 03/08/2019 at 00:26

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Oliphant Chuckerbutty.