Uber

Who doesn't like to be chauffeured around with the click of a button? That's what Uber is offering. You no longer have to stand outside and hail a cab. Nor do you have to call some 800 number and wait 30 minutes for one to pull up and blow their horn for you to fly down the stairs or they will pull off. So how do you sign up? A simple App. You download their App on your smartphone, put in your location and destination and request what type of service you want:Uber x, black, or SUV.  The app has partnered with Google to give you a map that shows where each car is in proximity to yout location and gives access to watch every turn until they make it to you. They even give you the license plate, brand of car, and photo of your driver within seconds of requesting a car. How cool is that? No you don't have to guess who, what, or where they are and patiently wait until someone arrives. Uber also sends a complimentary text to your phone the moment the navigation says the driver as arrived at your location. So what's the catch? Because there's always a catch right.


Uber offers anyone with a valid drivers license and insurance a means of income. They have deleted the city zones and boundaries that are used by traditional cab companies. Uber drivers can go to any neighborhood within the city and wait for business. This is where it gets tricky.  If customer A is in the Garfield Park area where there is limited amount of on-hand Uber drivers, there will be a premium rate assessed to attract more drivers. If customer B is in the downtown area and there is a surplus of drivers on hand, he pays the base rate. They are both traveling at the same time but customer A is paying upwards of 4 times as much for the same traveling distance as customer B, because he doesn't live in a neighborhood that appeals to a lot of business by Uber. 

With Uber becoming an overnight sensation, I'm sure they will sort through the kinks. They are appealing to both the consumer and the drivers which hasn't been the case for a very long time. I hopped into a yellow cab this week and lucked up on a friendly driver. I asked him how he felt about Uber and he said he wish they were out when he started over 20 years ago. He said he worked very hard for his medallion, that cost him over 400 thousand. What is a medallion I'm thinking. He explained that cab drivers were never able to work for themselves prior to now. They worked countless hours to own the vehicle they were driving. Each driver were required to have a medallion in their car stating they were operating within the guidelines of the state. But who could afford it? So they paid the cab companies to use their vehicles at very high principles. He said he bought his medallion before purchasing his family a house. He said, "you know how much those medallions are going for now? 100 thousand". He then chuckled a little bit and said if he knew then what he knows now. I tipped him $20 that night for his honesty. I walked to my apartment building, thinking to myself a man with an idea for an App based company potentially changed the livery service forever.