I am a laggard. Last night was my first virgin Uber ride and I'm totally sold.
It was pouring heavily and we were stranded at my in law's place (even though it's about 10-15 minutes walk to my place). I had called Comfort hotline trying to book a cab, was put on hold for about 10minutes and the operator asked me to hang up and called me back. I waited about 10minutes and still no return call.
Out of desperation, I googled for Uber cab, managed to download the app on iTune and set up the account. It was a breeze. Within 5minutes, a car was around the vicinity. As it was peak period, the fare surge was about 1.7times. The app has a fare estimation and even show where is my cab and estimated arrival time.
My driver was young, friendly, polite and speak very good English. Knowing it's my virgin Uber ride, he explained why Uber is more competitive than cab as there are no peak hours/ midnight surcharge and even airport pickup is a nominal fee. When I arrived at my destination, he told me to ensure that the driver ends the trip on his app and reminded me that no cash payment as it will be charged to my credit card. My fare was about $9.
To read more about Uber, you can visit https://www.uber.com/cities/singapore/?int=a
I hope the standards of our taxi companies will improve with competition.
p.s: Was taking a cab the other day and this taxi uncle was ranting about how Uber drivers steal their rice bowl ie any Tom, Dick or Harry can be a Uber driver. They can choose their customer via the Uber app, for example, the Uber driver can pick up passengers who travel long distance or if they are on the way to their day job, they can pick up passenger and still earn money.
Uncle was also telling me that they need to go for lessons before they can apply for taxi license. To be a cabby also require experience eg you can get lost in certain places like Fusionopolis even with GPS. Uncle warned me that Uber cars are not authorised and not covered under insurance in case of accidents and asked me to think twice before taking Uber cars.
Updates on 17 Mar 2016:
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/grabcar-uber-drivers-may-need-vocational-licence-soon
Love,
Sherlyn
