How Uber is Becoming Even Better

Today we had the privilege of visiting Uber and meeting with the project manager in charge of ratings and feedback.  Just like millions of Americans, I have jumped on the Uber bandwagon.  The ride service provides a superior user experience for a fraction of the price of a traditional taxi.  However, despite being an avid user of Uber, I have to admit I did not previously hold the company in high regard.  Uber has come under a lot of scrutiny lately specifically regarding safety of riders and treatment of drivers.  I chose to write this blog in an abridged question and answer forum of what I found most interesting from today’s visit.  Long story short, I was thoroughly impressed by Uber and the steps they are taking to increase rider security, improve treatment for drivers, and increase the rider user experience. 

The Dreaded Surge Pricing and What Uber is Doing About it?

We have all heard stories about surge pricing and unimaginable fares peoples are charged during these fare hikes.  If not, read this: http://bossip.com/1267802/surge-pricing-gone-crazy-man-charged-1114-71-for-60-minute-uber-ride-on-new-years-eve/.  I was genuinely impressed that Uber is working to predict surge fares and incent drivers to be on the road ahead of surges.  Uber is trying to take surge pricing completely off its platform by getting more drivers on the road at peak times.  This could mean the elimination of those nasty multipliers that hike Uber fares up and make us actually consider riding in a taxi again.

Making Life Better for Drivers

Uber has been in the news a lot lately for how it treats its drivers.  Uber’s drivers are independent contractors and do not enjoy a lot of the benefits given to full-time employees, like health insurance.  Uber also recently reduced its payout rate to drivers who sign up for the app from 80% to 70% of the total fare.  And we have all heard stories about drivers who are “fired” from Uber after only one or two poor reviews.  While it is easy to scrutinize Uber for how it treats its drivers, I was genuinely impressed by our speaker’s commitment to improving Uber’s relationship with its drivers.  The company is improving its feedback platform to better-provide drivers actionable feedback to improve their performance.  This hopefully will provide drivers with tangible steps to turn 3-star reviews into 5-star reviews.  Uber is also providing drivers with discounts on gas, car insurance, and Uber Eats depending on how much they drive.  All of this boils down to a better user experience for you and me.  Higher quality, happier drivers make for better Uber rides for everyone.

How About that Issue of Security?

Speaking of Uber in the news, we all know about what happened in Detroit this April.  If not, read this: http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2016/04/10/detroit-man-charged-uber-driver-shooting/82872934/.  While there will always be an inherent risk of getting into a car with a stranger, the issue of security is one that Uber does not take lightly.  Soon, they will be rolling out facial recognition software in the name of enhancing passenger security by ensuring the driver you are expecting to pick you up will be the only one who can. 

Reliability, Reliability, Reliability...
Uber is hyper-focused on improving its reliability.  Our speaker even went far enough to say he wants Ubers to be as readily-available as running water.  This is where the tours and attractions industry needs to borrow from Uber's core priority.  Tour sites like Vayable and Viator are plagued by unreliable tour descriptions and frequent cancellations.  For these companies to be successful, they need to find a way to make their product more reliable.  Uber constantly weeds out bad drivers based on poor reviews, incentivizes good drivers to be on the road more often, and actively recruits more drivers in markets that are under supplied.  The result equals more and better Uber drivers on the road.

Any New Features Coming to Uber?

The older generation can rejoice.  The biggest hurdle for my parents in joining Uber is that they want to be able to schedule their rides ahead of time.  And even for the younger crowd, we can do with the peace of mind of scheduling an Uber the night before for that early morning flight the next day.  Uber is currently testing scheduled rides and the initial results are positive.  Hopefully, this is a feature that will be rolling out nationwide in the near future.  All in all, I was thoroughly impressed by our visit to Uber.  I believe Uber already offers a superior user experience to other ride services and it appears the company will only improve on this experience in the months to come. 

-Michael Spooner