What it’s Like to Ride with Uber

After 6 months of riding, here are the bad and good things I noticed about the Uber experience vs. driving your own car. These are all based on UberX or Uber POOL rides.

Bad Parts (from start of Uber Experience to finish)

Unreliability

You might not get a car. Depends on where you are, an Uber X or just any Uber in general may not even be available at that time. And after you’ve tried 4 or 5 times, it might even surge charge you since it recognizes you probably have no other choice.

* Chances of this happening: Really depends on your city, and time you request it. Rare in Urban cities like Los Angeles.

There was one time early on where I had to be at a meeting at 6AM, so I thought it was perfect timing to try out the “scheduled rides” feature where Uber lets you schedule what time you need to be picked up and it will call the Uber for you. I set it to pick me up at 5AM, 2 days ahead of time. When I was ready to go that morning, it said it simply failed to find a driver. I had to resort to using Uber Select, which ended up costing $45 vs. $20. I submitted a complaint to Uber about this and luckily they adjusted the fare.

Waiting for the car to arrive

Depending on your locations (living in the hills vs. city, etc.) It could take anywhere from 2–15 minutes.

*Chances of this happening: Again, depends where you are and what time it is.

Car cleanliness

For the most part, Uber drivers keep their cars clean. But there is always a distinct scent. Some good, some neutral, some horrible. You’re going to have to sit there and stand it for the duration of your ride. If it’s cold outside, are you willing to open the window and freeze to avoid the smell? Probably not.

*Chances of this happening: 4/10 rides (Uber X). Uber Select and higher typically have higher standards to abide by and use air freshener.

There was one ride, late night (2AM) where the drivers’ car legitimately smelled like an abandoned Chinese restaurant. She had brought left over Asian food to have as a late-night snack and it was unbearable. This was one out of nearly 80 rides I took over 6 months.

The Drivers Personality

You may or may not be in the mood of talking (depending on your mood of course), but you are getting in the car with someone you’ve never met for potentially 30 minutes. That person may just want to talk to someone, and you just gave them a reason to do it by stepping into the car. Even one word answers sometimes can’t get you out of it.

*Chances of this happening: 2/10 rides

The Drivers Driving

Everyone has their own way to measure good drivers. Using your blinker, keeping distance, not using your phone, having knowledge of the city/streets/ drivers around you, etc. Again, you are getting in the car with someone you’ve never met for potentially 30 minutes. That ride could be full of hard stops, constant stop and go, aggressive acceleration (not flooring it or speeding, but pushing the gas pedal half way to reach 35mph then slowly using the brake to slow down).

*Chances of this happening: 3/10 rides

Tips/Solicitation

Yes, this is still a thing. There are plenty of Uber drivers that feel a big “TIPS ARE ACCEPTED!” sign right in your face when you get in the car is a necessity. I’ve also heard of some drivers having another business in the car (jewelry, clothing, etc) although I haven’t seen this yet, I have seen one case where a driver had a huge screen in the back seat showing ads, like those Vegas taxis.

*Chances of this happening: 1/10 rides

Traveling/Navigating to Destination

Almost all drivers use different navigation tools to get to the destination. Uber allows them to choose, like @Waze, in-Uber maps, @Google maps and Apple maps. Most people know the differences between these, if not I recommend taking a quick glance at this article. The differences are pretty significant depending on your city. The driver will usually listen to you if you tell them to go a different way, but some Uber drivers may disagree with you and go their own way which could result in a longer ride.

*Chances of this happening: 2/10 rides

Surge Pricing

Although I haven’t seen much of this lately, when I first started riding with Uber back in 2011 this was a killer. It really depends on time of day, month, year, and events around the city.

*Chances of this happening: Depends. I have seen this happening less and less over the months.

Good Parts (from start of Uber Experience to finish)

Reliability

Depends where you are of course, if you live in a busy city, you can typically get an Uber at any given time on average 5 minutes. But they are almost always available at any given time, typically in under 10 minutes.

Car

It’s in your control. You can choose to roll with whatever you feel like spending. I always have taken UberX or Pool, and I have gotten a lot of high end Lexus and BMW rides amongst many others using Pool or X. Even as good as a Mercedes S500 sedan on an Uber X (2006 model)

Time

You basically have the backseat of the car to do what you need to do. Space out, listen to music, watch shows or movies, play games, or just nothing. I use it depending on my mood, most often to get work done on my laptop tethered to my phone for internet.

Some may think “well if you are using an Uber POOL, aren’t you giving up more time to pick up/drop-off someone else?” The average time difference I noticed was at maximum 5 minutes extra. This time is typically offset by not having to worry about parking, walking to and from your car etc. You get dropped off at the entrance of where you are going. Not to mention, about 5/10 Uber POOL rides are alone since it may not find anyone to share with.

Parking

Never have to pay for or deal with parking. In LA, among many other cities, this is one of the biggest issues. You can save as much as 10 minutes looking for parking alone. Not to mention the cost of parking (outlined earlier) and avoiding parking tickets, or trying to read the signs on where you can park (Hollywood has permits everywhere, Beverly Hills doesn’t let you park overnight, etc.)

Safety

Feel free to get comfortable where you want for as long as you want. You’re not driving, so you are free to do as you please. Drinking, staying out late (in case you can’t drive late at night), amongst all the other things people hate about driving at night.

Eco-Friendly

For the people who actually care, ride-sharing means less cars on the road. We need that here in Los Angeles, and in California in general. If you care about the environment, consider this a good thing.

Networking

Most of the Uber drivers I have met were not taxi drivers in the past life, and are doing Uber for the own reasons. You will meet some interesting people, especially if you use Uber POOL.