Skip to main content

Tampa taxi on a hot afternoon and Uber white drivers

The early morning street business in Tampa is very slow. The locals that would have called us in the morning to go to the airport are not calling. I have every reason to believe they have gone to Uber. These ride-share companies have made it seem cool to do so. Somehow, riding in a taxi is not so cool. Because of that, I have to work into the hot afternoon to try and keep up. Something has to give.

They are not saving money by calling Uber. In fact, they may even be hit with a surge charge during peak hours which the morning rush is considered. They are not getting a safer ride. Our cabs are routinely checked out mechanical and the scheduled maintenance is performed. Is there any guarantee that the Uber car has been treated in such fashion? Has the background of the Uber driver been checked out? No. You say you can use a credit card with Uber. You can with me. Ive got a credit card machine in the back of the taxi and it will print you out a receipt. There is no perceived advantage you can state that we don't have. What about their app? What about it? we have an excellent app.


Our app allows you book your cab. Locate it with a real time map. You can track its progress as it moves toward your location. We will even text you when the cab is arriving and when it has arrived. It will tell you to go outside, your cab is here.

So why do you use Uber? There is only one reason. YOU CAN ORDER UP A WHITE DRIVER.

That, I guess, is their main advantage.

Comments

  1. I'm a 59 y.o. Tampa native and, to be honest, this area has the crappiest cab service in the country. I've used lyft a few times and it's always been better, faster to respond and cheaper.. They rarely use surge pricing and, when they do, it's limited to 200% of regular pricing. Prices are given in advance, so no surprises. And, unlike what Yellow cab did, no Uber or Lyft driver has declared bankruptcy to avoid paying for an injury they caused. Are United and Yellow cabbies required to carry $1M in liability? Uber and Lift drivers do, and it's PRIMARY insurance. No gruff drivers, no filthy, stinking, beat up junkers with 300,000 miles on them that are allowed on the road without inspections just because they're under 10 years old. And no 45 minute wait times. If surge pricing is too high for you, you can cancel the request and wait an hour or so for a cab. Face it, taxicabs will go the way of the buggy whip. What will you cry about when the driverless cars are approved? Adapt or die. Don't worry. There are still a lot of old people who don't use smartphones. But when they're gone, you're gone. I hope you're nearing retirement age. As for your contention about using uber to choose a white driver, that's pretty ironic considering the no-so-subtle racism in your entry about Glo bottle club.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Popular Posts Last 30 days

FUCK UBER

Listen, you Uber fuckers, you screwheads. You are stealing my shit. I tried to be rational (What's that?). But not now. I am a man who will not take it anymore. A man who stands up against the scum, the cunts, the dogs, the filth, the shit. I am a man who stands up. Look at it this way. A man takes a job, you know? And that job - I mean, like that - That becomes what he is. You know, like - You do a thing and that's what you are. Like I've been a cabbie for nineteen years. Ten years at night. I still don't own my own cab. You know why? Because I don't want to. That must be what I want. To be on the night shift drivin' somebody else's cab. You understand? I mean, you become - You get a job, you become the job. One guy lives in a shit hole, another lives on drugs. You pick up a lawyer. Another guy's a doctor. Another guy dies. Another guy gets well. People are born, y'know? Why do you want to drive Uber? You think you can avoid your destiny? You'l...

What happened to Tommy Duncan and Sticks of Fire blog?

The image below is a 2005 TBT article I still have about the Tampa blogger scene. The big boy was Tommy Duncan. He stopped blogging around 2008, and was never seen again. Here is what Creative Loafing said about that era: "The 40-something blogger founded the most-often-cited independent Tampa Bay news blog, Sticks of Fire, in Feb. 2004, and the site, without much financial assistance from advertising, is still going strong today with a stable of more than a dozen regular contributors. In 2005, Duncan was featured in a tbt* story about the young lions of the local Internet. Today, about half of them have fallen by the wayside or (in the case of famous sexy blogger Rachel Moran) moved to New Jersey. Duncan keeps on posting. The local digital scene has grown, but he's not sure it has improved in quality."

Hillsborough County bans Uber today as taxi company

The HCPT and Hillsborough County public commission today affirmed Uber is an illegal taxi company and bared them from operating in the Tampa area. This is wonderful news to longtime drivers like me. An Uber attorney asked Hillsborough County to make new rules to fit the trendy ridesharing movement pioneered by his company and Lyft, but was told flatly on Wednesday that Uber is an illegal taxi service. The county's Public Transportation Commission unanimously affirmed that an appointed officer had enough evidence to fine Uber, based in San Francisco, for providing hiring and public taxi services without proper licensing. Uber attorney Drew Sorrell held to the company's argument that it isn't in transportation. As a technology company, it doesn't need to follow transportation regulations as they are written. "There's a perfectly good way to do this, and that is to write the rules so that they fit," said Sorrell, of the Lowndes Drosdick Doster Kantor...

HCPT talks to Uber and Lyft drivers and passengers...WHY!?

This is what we should be doing in Tampa...Paris taxi drivers protest The makes no sense. We are going on another summer and the HCPTC is still negotiating and giving these Uber scum a forum. Why Goddamit! What part of illegal do you fuck heads at the PTC not understand? Don't you realize that your need of Viagra is going to kill off major industries! Perhaps its time the drivers took it to the streets. Remember Jimmy Hoffa

Stuck in the mud and a ripoff tow

Kevin and I went to a walkthrough at a nature preserve. It was full of wildlife and we even found an abandoned hunting cabin from decades ago. That was there long before civilization found its way to north Hillsborough county. I'm glad we found the cabin because it began to rain like crazy. It rained for a good half hour before we could finish the hike. We then went as far as we could but much of the trails were flooded. You see I have boots on. When we got back to the cars, there was standing water for we were in the grass. I started the cab and buried it in the mud. You should have been there. You would have laughed your ass off. After waiting 2.5 hours for the tow, he winched me on to the parking lot and charged $100. I found out the charge should have been $45. I think the company will dispute this. I hope. posted from Bloggeroid

Can't buy a fare today

I'm sitting at the Wall Mart at Hillsborough & 15th and can't get a cash fare. It's Friday folks. Let's get going. Just got a bid. This new Blogger app must have changed my luck.

Former Uber driver exposes rip-off

UBER DRIVER BEING ATTACKED Uber's advertisements to make "$25/hour in bookings" as a driver are a bald face lie. Remember "in bookings" means that you must immediately subtract 20% from "$25" because Uber takes that amount from each fare. In the final analysis, please keep reading to find out why you will make LESS THAN MINIMUM WAGE if you become and Uber "partner". Notice how they don't use the word "driver"?

Can Uber driver do this?

I drive a taxi to make money. I won't give my service away. It is too valuable. Therefore, I often get sweet rides out of the airport that can be very lucrative, especially when they use a corporate credit card. I really can't see the point of getting $39 for this trip (Uber Rate) when its my gas, my time, wear and tear on my car, and no way to get a tip. They should let their drivers rate Uber. The reviews would site broken promises and false hopes of easy money. Its when you get a long-haul trip with Uber that you realize how little you actually make. posted from Bloggeroid

Tampa skyline from the bridge

This was just taken on a cloudy day crossing the Howard Franklin coming back from St. Pete/Clearwater airport.

A long trip out of the airport

I was the first one sitting on the deck at Tampa International Airport when Mack, the starter, called me down to pick up my fare. There is a lot of anticipation when you are rolling down. You have no idea where the fare is going and is the time spent waiting going to justify a short fare, which drivers hate. I know people have to get places but most of the time when they are going long, they find another way. When they are going short, they apologize by saying "they told me its real close." Thanks for rubbing it in guy. This fare today was not analogizing for nothing. He had to get south of Sarasota and he had cash in hand! Lets go. I'm your man. It seems he works for an auto dealership out of Ohio and needed to pick up a truck and drive it back to the Buckeye State. The estimate Mack gave him was $180. He did not bat an eye (its only short fares that complain). All I had to do was figure the fastest way to get there. That's when it hit me....I would have to cross ...