Durning picks up on a distinction others have made to Price Tags. From Grist:
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Don’t call Uber and Lyft “ride-sharing,” says AP
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Henceforth, the services offered by companies like Uber and Lyft are not to be referred to as “ride-sharing,” because that is a load of crap, according to a new update to the AP Stylebook, a.k.a. the journalist’s bible. Instead, services that “let people use smartphone apps to book and pay for a private car service” are to be called “ride-hailing” or “ride-booking services.” …
These share-washing companies are just taxi services that aren’t subject to regulations that protect drivers and riders. Much has been written about how they exploit their drivers (there’s even a lawsuit in Boston). And while your Uber driver (who hopefully isn’t a creep) will be happy to tell you how much he or she loves the work, drivers interviewed for a Jacobin article on the subject say they lie about that because they can be “deactivated” (fired) if they don’t average 4.7 out of 5 stars from customers. …
Weird that the rating system is pointed out as a negative in this article. I’m not so concerned for the drivers experience as I am the customers’, who are certainly benefiting by being able to rate their drivers (it’s also worth noting that the drivers are rating their customers).
What recourse do people currently have against bad service from traditional cab companies? None really, and so it’s no surprise that everyone has horror stories about terrible service from traditional cabs, whereas Uber and Lyft are beloved by their users in SF.