RIDEGURU
Chris Hawes (chawes)
Ride Guru from Boston, MA
CTO of RideGuru, tech expert & enthusiast
756 Rider GuruChris has been involved with the Taxi industry since co-founding TaxiFareFinder.com in 2007, and has been an avid follower of the rideshare industry since its inception. An expert in full-stack web design and development, Chris oversees all the technical aspects of Unleashed's innovative products.
Activity
Posts by chawes
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How to keep your car safe during COVID
Check it out, some smart people figured out how to make airflow in your car safest for avoiding getting germs … -
Due To New California Law, Uber Allows Some Drivers To Set Their Own Rates
Whoahttps://www.npr.org/2020/01/28/800437791/due-to-new-california-law-uber-allows-some-drivers-to-set-their-own-rates?utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR25AV1xVIyT5ykvB3lF6EcC8thYJ4pf4BX2pBKCOZmGCZV8isrR5a_-KOU -
Uber: The ride-hailing app that says it has ‘zero’ drivers
Reality distortion field...Uber contract drivers helped bring in more than three-quarters of the company’s revenue in this year’s first … -
Bird raises new funding at a $2.5 billion valuation, thanks to longer-lasting scooters
Lot of cash for a company that can't turn a profit......That may have something to do with grim reports … -
Inside the new Uber: Weak coffee, vanishing perks and fast-deflating morale [Washington Post]
It's official. Uber has gone from hip startup to boring big company.https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/09/30/inside-new-uber-weak-coffee-vanishing-perks-fast-deflating-morale/Sounds like morale is pretty low among … -
Inside Uber’s plan to take over city life with CEO Dara Khosrowshahi
https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/26/20885185/uber-ceo-dara-khosrowshahi-interview-exclusiveIt’s an ambitious play to become the de facto transportation and delivery service in every major city. But the … -
New York City’s first self-driving shuttle service is now open for business
https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/6/20755163/new-york-city-self-driving-shuttle-serviceMuch like other autonomous vehicle (AV) shuttle services that have cropped up in recent years across the country, it … -
Woman gives birth in back of taxi. Driver is cool.
Warning: graphic. Can anyone top this??? -
The Uber for helicopters is now Uber
This pricing doesn't seem that bad. Getting from Manhattan to JFK can be a nightmare. Helicopter in 8 minutes? Where … -
As was predicted, Uber’s IPO means you’ll be paying higher fares for your rides
This article nicely sums up what I think a lot of us were already thinking.As we’ve reported before, Uber's … -
The future of the gig economy...
Is this it? LOL -
Uber rang in its IPO with champagne and mimosas. Then the hangover began.
You just can't teach an old dog new tricks, can you.SAN FRANCISCO — Uber shut down a party at … -
Beijing Taxi Trajectories
Check out this cool visualization of a day of taxi trips in Beijing. Talk about busy huh! Click on the … -
Four reasons Uber’s IPO stalled on Friday
So the Uber IPO is a huge dud, surprising exactly no one (especially after Lyft's weak performance since it's IPO). … -
Uber and Lyft stop hiring new drivers in New York City
NYC's new regulation around rideshares is officially doing its job now, for better or for worse. Uber and Lyft have … -
Electric scooters may not be around for long [The Verge]
The article is light, but watch the video for more detail.The fundamental numbers don’t really add up because scooters … -
Lyft becomes the first ride-hail company to go public, beating Uber
Welp, here it is folks.https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/1/18246328/lyft-ipo-ride-share-bikes-scooters-uber-public-secI am surprised to see how much Lyft's market share has increased in the … -
Uber and Lyft reportedly giving some drivers cash bonuses to use towards buying IPO stock
So, would you buy the IPO, or just pocket the cash? I know what I'd do...The two programs are … -
Uber Exploring Autonomous Bikes and Scooters [TechCrunch]
Pretty wild. Scooters that can drive themselves to their charging stations, and redistribute themselves to wherever they are needed. So … -
Uber Is Headed for a Crash [nymag]
Interesting read. How long can Uber survive hemorrhaging money?Uber’s investors have been buying your satisfaction in the form of …
Featured Answers by chawes
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Ok since a few people have wondered about this:
How much does it cost to charge a scooter? Less than you might think. Just to run some rough numbers:
The scooter batteries' capacities are reported to be about 8800mAh at 36V. We can convert this to watt hours: 8800 * 36 / 1000 = 316.8Wh
Electricity costs on average of 12 cents per kilowatt hour (ie. 1000 watt hours) in the US. So, the cost of charging one of these scooters from empty is going to be something like:
(316.8 / 1000) * 12 = 4 cents
It's probably a bit more than that since chargers are not 100% efficient. And, the cost of electricity varies between different locations, so take this with a grain of salt. But it's safe to say the electricity cost of charging these things is not something to worry much about.
As far as we know at RideGuru, yes. Here is a page with some information: https://ride.guru/airports/PHX
How often does this happen to you? Do you find that people give you a really hard time if you refuse to take them?
So if I understand it... you walk up to the next available driver and get in the car, and they take you where you want to go. Isn't this basically a street hail? Does Portland not have a medallion system limiting street hails?
Happy mother's day to all the moms out there!
Here at RideGuru we notice a lot of people write in with questions about scheduling rides. I think that is an area that taxi companies could really own.
Yes, Uber and Lyft allow ride scheduling, but it's flaky. There is no guarantee that a driver will be available, and we have heard anecdotes of people getting stood up by Uber and Lyft in those situations.
Limos do guaranteed scheduling, obviously, but are more expensive than taxis.
Market yourself as the go-to source for scheduling rides in your area and maybe you can carve a profitable niche.
I am sure this varies by state, but taking the case where it's the rideshare driver's fault, is there any difference in how this affects their personal insurance as opposed to an accident off the job? Would you expect premiums to rise as a result, even though their insurance didn't have to pay? Points on license, etc?
People are blaming this on drivers being paid poorly, but the way I see it, this is just a case of a man who has bigger problems and should not be driving people around. Or, frankly, driving at all.
I don't know why the trip would have disappeared from your friend's account. Very strange. You need to get in touch with Uber somehow and alert them. This guy is a tragedy waiting to happen.
Uber XL will be an SUV. So it kind of depends on the size of your 5 pieces of luggage. 5 full-size suitcases plus a wheelchair will be a very tight fit in the back of an SUV. Maybe possible...
If you are in a reasonably populated area, and have a little flexibility on time, then what I would probably do is order the Uber XL. If you don't all fit, then order an Uber X at that time, and one or two of you stay behind to wait for it.
That's a great question. I don't know for sure. I would assume that Uber would honor the rider's app and charge based on that.
What happens if both the rider and the driver lose cell coverage... I don't know.
In some cities (as of today, Chicago, DC, NYC, and Philadelphia), Uber has a service called Uber WAV which accommodates wheelchairs.
https://www.uber.com/ride/uberwav/
If you are not in one of those cities, I think your best bet would be to call a taxi company and see if they can accommodate you.
Excellent point. I always recommend tweeting at companies in cases like this. It often works.
If you want to go even further, contact a local news station. If it's a slow news week they might like to pick up on a sad story about a driver fired for no apparent just cause.
Thanks for writing. So, a quick backstory: in 2018 we changed mapping providers due to a major change in Google Maps pricing. Our new provider is Mapbox, and we've been thrilled with them. But, their autocomplete functionality works differently from Google's, and so we've been optimizing it since then to try and provide the best results for our tool.
Nevertheless, searching for Los Angeles International Airport has worked fine in my testing, despite my being thousands of miles from LA. A couple of possibilities:
Additionally, we made a change last week which should now allow for searching for airport IATA codes (eg. "LAX").
If you are still having trouble, please let me know the exact phrase you are typing, and we can work from there.
- Chris from RideGuru
The most expensive Uber ride ever taken.
This is going to lead to a lot of really trashed scooters 😂 Just imagine the rage it will throw drunk people into when it just suddenly stops.
Also if they really want to prevent injury they need to prevent the thing from going at ALL if the rider is drunk. I don't see any feasible way to do that...
SKYNET
Bingo. 7.25B is ludicrous. But of course lots of people will fall for the hype - including people who should know better.
Still waiting to hear how these AVs will handle winter climates....
I don't think lighted signs really help. It's an inferior solution to the one that already exists: check the make/model/color and license plate # when the car pulls up! Uber and Lyft both make this information readily available in the app.
This bill has its heart in the right place, but I think the effort would be better spent on a public service campaign to get people into the habit of checking the car info when it pulls up.
As LG-PA pointed out lighted signs are easily spoofed.
FWIW, at RideGuru we are actively working on adding more limo companies to our fare calculator. We have found that advanced booking is a point of anxiety for many users, and it's a service that limo companies fill perfectly well.
Many limo companies offer APIs with quotes for airport rides (etc), which means we can offer accurate pricing. For the near term we will send you to their website where you can book the ride through them. Longer term, we hope to actually offer booking directly through RideGuru.
Look for it on our fare calculator over the next few months as we roll these out bit by bit throughout the world.
Having said that, in most places now we already offer links to limo companies on our fare calculator, where you can at least see what's available in the area and then go to their website for a firm quote. You will see cards like this in those cases:
Happy scheduling!
$250 a weekend seems really steep. You can buy a brand new car and have a monthly payment around there. Or lower.
If you lease a car it would be even lower but I assume most lease agreements would prohibit rideshare driving. Even if they didn't you'd blow through the mileage limit super quick.
If there was a way to book limos in advance via an app (that is, a guaranteed booking), as easily as Uber, would you use it?