I needed to get across Bradford at the weekend, not a place I’m familiar with and I’d arrived by train. I’d noticed a lot of cars with Uber logos on them so thought I’d give it a go. I’ve never used Uber before as I’ve never been in an area where it was available as an option at the point when I needed a lift.
I downloaded the app and actually had a booking sorted within so more than a couple of minutes so that was an impressive start, it integrated with ApplePay with no need to set up card details etc and seemed very easy to use. Over the weekend I used the service three times, each time the car was a Toyota hybrid of some sort (Bradford has a low emission zone), and all were on time and clean with pleasant drivers. The App kept me up to date with the whereabouts of my taxi until it arrived and the longest wait was just six minutes.
Apparently, the rate is variable depending on current levels of demand in some places, not sure if this is the case in the UK but the rates seemed pretty reasonable to me.
There are concerns about Uber pushing more people into the gig economy and I guess there must be some truth in that, I did ask a couple of the drivers what they thought of it as a way of making a living and they suggested that it was beneficial to them as the service is big enough to give them a constant supply of work and they seemed to be happy with it.
It is probably unlikely that the small town where I live will attract Uber’s attention but the app will presumably come in handy again at some point in the future. Overall, my initial impressions as a customer were very positive.
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