Ken Waldron (Kabe)

It's you. 

I'm going to answer this question for anywhere in the world.

Sign on to your Lyft or Uber app and request a ride to a destination in the area you are interested in. Then change the pick up point to another address in the same area. It will then either tell you the cost of the ride, or that the service is not available in that area.

Question answered.

In addition to the freshness of the food and the impact of a hot day, what about the lack of room for the riders?

If I had to get into that car I would be immediately down-rating them due to this alone.

It's worth remembering that many UberXL vehicles sacrifice the luggage space for the extra seats, so it's quite unlikely that will work.

As noted two UberX vehicles will likely work as most have a 60/40 split back seat that allows even more luggage to be stowed with three passengers.

If you find this happening, and you are sure there is no surge, you can do the following to change the ride to a time and distance ride, rather than up-front pricing

Time and distance rides are the true cost of the trip, assuming no surge.

Tell the driver you are going to do this before you do it.

After the drive has started, change the destination, what a minute then change the destination back to an address beside where you are heading. You will be told by the app that the ride will be charged based on time and distance.

One warning: If your driver takes a longer route you will be charged for it, unlike with up-front pricing, so be sure the driver follows the route provided to them by the app.

You can use Waze to validate the route, but be aware of the following. The shortest route is not always the cheapest route. What if that route takes you through heavy traffic that significantly adds to the drive time. Insisting on the shortest route in this situation will NOT make the driver happy.

A slightly longer route can be significantly faster. Be fair to your driver.

There are not. Uber has UberAssist, which will bring a driver who will meet you personally at your door and assist you to and into the car. Similarly they will assist you out of the car and to the destimation door.

No cheaper, but the driver is rewarded with 5% more of the fare.

So door to door instead of curb to curb.

As others have noted, the fare is already pretty much cut to the bone. Uber has yet to make a profit.

Sad to say, but I do not share my secrets with others. I have a thing I do that every rider comments positively on, has never experienced before, and which I would never share with another driver. I'm convinced it is what makes me a 4.95+ driver for both Uber and Lyft.

I have to agree with the investors. Uber would be better off concentrating on their core business and let other companies develop AVs. They also then avoid the liability that goes with having developed the AV.

They can always but AVs later when and if they are reliable.

I will point out that if your car's seat is at all badly designed you will soon find that out.

I drive a Chevy Bolt, and it is, in my mind, the ultimate ride sharing vehicle. EXCEPT for the driver's seat.

Too narrow, and hard sides that will press in on your cheeks and thighs.

After a while you get used to it. Sort of like riding a bicycle after a long time being off it.  The seat hurts, but if you continue riding your muscles adjust.

I have been keeping a detailed daily spreadsheet of statistics on my rides since the beginning of this year.

On average I get $0.41 per trip in tips from Lyft and $0.33 per trip from Uber. This compares 1,500 Uber trips to 539 Lyft trips. Read into that what you will.

For September 24, did you not mean Cockney Surrenderer?

This is a common answeer I suggest to passengers to avoid driver-instigated fraud. Before you get in the car, start your voice memo app and keep it running during the entire length of the ride. Save the recording naming with date and time of the ride.

You will have an audible record of all that happened during your ride. Keep it for a couple of days.

In the event you are subjected to vomit fraud, or any other complaint, you will have evidence of what transpired duing the ride. Obviously there will be no wretching sounds, or complaints from the driver about you vomitting.

This is a simple, no-cost way to protect yourself.

Similarly I recommend to all drivers that they have an internal dashcam recoridng all rides.

If he truly had car trouble he would not have cared about his place in the queue. He would have had to continuously cancel rides whil dealing with the car problem, since he was at the front of the queue.

This is an example of why you have to have a dashcam that records the inside of the car.

In a situation like this you simply respond to the deactivation by telling them you have a recording of the ride which shows that you did not exhibit intoxication and the pax did not mention it.

While I have not experienced this type of issue with a pax i have been accused of taking cash for a ride. Merely offering the recording was sufficient to have Uber reverse their decision.

Your dashcam needs to record video and audio inside the car. This is a sure-fire way to avoid being dinged for pax scams or complaints.

What's better than rain? A snowstorm during evening rush hour.

Massive all-encompassing surge, and long-duration drives at high per-minute rates.

Saying that tipping increases uncertainty seems a non-sequitor to me.

The concept that tipping will draw drivers to affluent or business neighbourhoods is only going to apply to the first ride. After that, where the driver is comes down to chance. Just like chasing the surge is a waste if time, so is going to a specific location while off line.

Yeah, I may drive towards specific hotspots, but the chance for a tip is not going to change my choice. At any rate I don't go off line to drive there and I rarely get there as I usually get another ride first.

Going off line to drive to a specific location makes no sense as it is just a way of guaranteeing non-paying drive time.

If the driver turned off their phone they are either going to disappear on your map or not move. In either case call them, and screen print the call while doing so.   

So, they don't answer, but you have a record you called.

Now, you have two options. Cancel before five minutes passes, and reorder. You wasted some time but the driver is out of luck and missed other rides.

Wait and see if they arrive. Take a screen print of the Uber map showing the driver's locating just before five minutes. If they cancel after five minutes, take a screen print of a map with your location.

Now, protest the cancellation to Uber to get your money back, and offer the screen prints as proof the driver was scamming.

Please, please take the effort. As a driver I have two reasons for wanting bad drivers booted. One, they give us a bad rep. Two, the fewer drivers the sooner I get my next ride.😄

Cancel the ride. As a driver I had this happen once. I immediately stopped and dropped the stowaway in a safe spot.

If you are charged, simply submit a request via help for a refund.

Here are my thoughts as a driver. You say the driver was an Uber Black. Did you order an Uber Black? If not, he probably wanted a Black drive which pays more.

He did not want to cancel as he would lose his place in the queue. If the pax cancels then the rider maintains their place and gets the next ride.

If the driver turned off their phone they are either going to disappear on your map or not move. In either case call them, and screen print the call while doing so.   

So, they don't answer, but you have a record you called.

Now, you have two options. Cancel before five minutes passes, and reorder. You wasted some time but the driver is out of luck and missed other rides.

Wait and see if they arrive. Take a screen print of the Uber map showing the driver's locating just before five minutes. If they cancel after five minutes, take a screen print of a map with your location.

Now, protest the cancellation to Uber to get your money back, and offer the screen prints as proof the driver was scamming.

Please, please take the effort. As a driver I have two reasons for wanting bad drivers booted. One, they give us a bad rep. Two, the fewer drivers the sooner I get my next ride.😄