Uber & Lyft - both are now in Pittsburgh! (Avis: leases, credit card)

[AaronPGH]

In other news, looks like they are in the process of solving their biggest issue right now:

Lyft organizes coalition to hammer out insurance issues for ridesharing | TechHive

[gortonator]

[quote=GeneW;33435837]From Virginia Monanez (@JanePitt):
Headline: "Pittsburgh taxi services urge crackdown on Lyft." Me: "PITTSBURGH HAS TAXIS?!!?" [/quote]

Yep, I've always regarded Pittsburgh taxis as a mostly imaginary entity. The service is diabolical and I hope they suffer with these new services in town. It may inspire them to up their game, although I'm not holding my breathe.

I'm downloading the Uber/Lyft apps as I type.

[FreightTrainRunning]

Originally Posted by ferraris

How true is the "no money changes hand" aspect? Is tipping still common? expected? allowed?

Lyft has a "suggested donation" instead of an actual fee. Seems like a dodge around taxes and regulations to me but since a lot of the regulations are there to preserve a monopoly, I'm not sure that I'm too upset about it.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by Geeo

While the legal details should be worked out, I find it ironic that Yellow Cab doth protest, when their drivers do not even serve most of the city and are only interested in airport runs. Perhaps if Yellow Cab had decent service, people wouldn't be clamoring for something else.

Yellow Cab doth protest at everything, including allowing other fully licensed cab services. The interesting thing here is that Lyft and Uber unite the arch rivals, Yellow (Pgh Trans) and Star Trans (of the smaller Classy and Veterans taxi names). Yellow fought heavily against allowing Star, which is a fully licensed taxi operator under those names, to expand service. And yet all we ever hear is how nobody can get a cab. SOMEONE needs to expand service since there are so many indications of bad service. But Yellow would protest EVERYTHING that expands service, no matter if it's legal. The way the law works is the PUC has to sign off on there being a need for more cab service, and on paper Yellow can point to x number of cabs and blah blah BS and say there is no need. Thus, there is no need for them to give good service either.

I say, work out a way for these guys to be legal (including jitneys, nobody seems to bother them) and eff Yellow Cab for giving bad service all these years. They can shut down for all most people care. I don't disagree that this is a sort of jitney service with a high tech interface, but it serves a need just the same.

[pman]

perhaps the right response is to liberalize taxi regulations

[greg42]

Originally Posted by UKyank

I hate yellow cab & every other cab service in the city so no love lost on them, I would just be very wary if I was a driver for one of these ride shares if an accident occurred or if the state decided to crackdown on the services as they have elsewhere - the bit of $ you make probably wouldn't be worth the long term headache both of those scenarios could lead tso.

This is the biggest sticking point I think. I'm not sure how they ever get people to sign up, given that. But Pittsburgh is far from the only place. They are operating in various other cities as well.

I know that Airbnb has been able to get people hooked up with liability insurance for allowing people to pay to stay in their houses. But the legality of that one as well is still iffy in some places, perhaps many places. And yet, there are many options for staying all over the world, it's well-funded and doesn't seem to be going away.

Here's a good new on demand service app that should not really have any of those issues, something perfect for this winter: PLOWZ - On Demand Snow Plow Service Via Mobile Application

[AaronPGH]

The thing that Yellow Cab fails to mention ever is that they have their own app company – Taxi Magic. Pittsburgh Yellow Cab rolled it out about two years ago, and in the beginning it worked flawlessly. As well as Uber or Lyft. A few months later, the cab drivers complained about having people paying with credit cards (they don't get tipped as much that way), and the service was scaled back so much that the app is now pretty much useless.

Every bit of misery that these companies are going through is their own doing. They have the technology to take these companies head on, but they are refusing to compete.

https://taximagic.com/en_US

[pman]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

The thing that Yellow Cab fails to mention ever is that they have their own app company – Taxi Magic. Pittsburgh Yellow Cab rolled it out about two years ago, and in the beginning it worked flawlessly. As well as Uber or Lyft. A few months later, the cab drivers complained about having people paying with credit cards (they don't get tipped as much that way), and the service was scaled back so much that the app is now pretty much useless.

Every bit of misery that these companies are going through is their own doing. They have the technology to take these companies head on, but they are refusing to compete.

https://taximagic.com/en_US

as often as not cab drivers do not own the cabs or the medallions. what happens is the companies that do skim the profits since they lease the cab to the cabbie. in terms of credit cards, the cabbies often receive the money much later (versus going home with cash at the end of their shift). It seems like the natural response is to obliterate the medallion system which does nothing but take money from cab drivers and give it to people with money. this set up and basic problem exits in a lot of cities. what I haven't been able to figure out is how yellow cab has such a stranglehold.

[TheYO]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

The thing that Yellow Cab fails to mention ever is that they have their own app company – Taxi Magic. Pittsburgh Yellow Cab rolled it out about two years ago, and in the beginning it worked flawlessly. As well as Uber or Lyft. A few months later, the cab drivers complained about having people paying with credit cards (they don't get tipped as much that way), and the service was scaled back so much that the app is now pretty much useless.

Every bit of misery that these companies are going through is their own doing. They have the technology to take these companies head on, but they are refusing to compete.

https://taximagic.com/en_US

There's also a new app called CabbyGo that launched on New Year's Eve. I think there are just a few Classy and Veteran's drivers onboard now, but it's a great service. It contacts the driver closest to you and he can choose to accept or deny the the fare. If he denies it, it contacts the next closest driver. I used it last month, and it worked flawlessly, much like Uber and Lyft. I booked a cab, and the driver called me immediately to confirm the ride. He was at my place within 10 minutes. I could see where he was when he left and track his arrival via his phone's GPS.

While we were driving he said the app has been working great so far. Maybe the increased competition from Uber and Lyft will get more drivers onboard with this service.

[MathmanMathman]

In a related note, there's Zipcar

Zipcar Pittsburgh | Hourly Car Rental and Car Sharing