Friday Rideshare Roundup: Sidecar Takes On Packages And People

It’s not often that Sidecar leads our Friday round-up but this week’s announcement by Sidecar was a big one in my mind.  For those who don’t know, Sidecar has quietly been doing some big things to gain driver loyalty and even recruit some more passengers.

Now they’re not in anywhere close to the same number of markets as Uber or even Lyft but I really like their approach so far.  Instead of doing an ok job in a bunch of cities like Lyft, it seems like they’re aiming to do a really good job in just a few cities.

A lot of you have been asking me for more information about Sidecar so we’ll be featuring a post next week all about them and the week after, we’ll even have our first podcast on Sidecar.  

In Sidecar’s new business model, people and packages share rides

If the merging of packages and people means more money for drivers without much additional effort, then I’m all for it.  Sidecar seems to be doing a good job of avoiding the Uber/Lyft race to the bottom so I’ll be curious to see how things pan out.

Surge Dread

I don’t think rates are headed up in the near future but some people wonder if Uber will just jack up the prices once they’re the only game in town (a la Walmart).  Drivers would probably love that but I don’t think it’s going to happen.

Make sure you also check out the little Twitter conversation I had with one Travis Kalanick.  I’m still waiting on that offer from him…

Uber’s nightmare scenario: How everything could go wrong for the world’s hottest new company

Not only is Uber here to stay, but I think their global impact could be even larger than experts are predicting.  This article though takes a look at what would happen in a doomsday scenario for Uber.

Men Are Using Uber’s Lost-And-Found Feature To Harass Female Drivers

I’m not sure when BuzzFeed became a leading news organization but they are probably one of the top dogs in Uber news right now.  I always found it odd that Uber riders could call me hours or even days after a ride while I can only call my current/last rider.

It appears though that some creepy male passengers have figured out a way to dupe Uber into giving them their female driver’s personal phone numbers.  In one scenario, a male passenger even showed up at a female driver’s house.  Make sure you check out the typical Uber e-mail response too (and what’s up with all the exclamation points Nicole?)  🙂

Lyft’s Ambitious, Near Impossible Attempt to Beat Uber

Another good piece by Johana Bhuiyan (pronounced Boo-yah!) with a quote by yours truly about Lyft’s attempts to compete with Uber.  Personally, I’m getting really confused by Lyft’s message because they talk all about the community aspect of driving for Lyft (which has taken a huge hit) yet that model clearly isn’t scalable on a national level and new drivers could care less about it.

UBER DRIVER: This is what it feels like to be at Uber’s mercy

This was a post that I wrote for Fusion last weekend and it ended up getting picked up by Business Insider.  I think this article really sums up the situation right now for drivers and based on feedback from all of you, it seems like you guys agree.

TrUber + LieFT: the Truth + the Lies in the Ride-hailing Industry. What’s it really like to drive for Uber and Lyft

This article was actually a comment on my BI article (turned into an article) and although a bit dramatic at times, it’s definitely an interesting take.  I’m always curious to hear from new drivers about what their experiences are like so if you’re a new driver (0-1 months), let me know in the comments below!

Drivers what do you think about Sidecar’s new passenger and people plans, Uber’s creepy passengers and Lyft’s attempts to compete with Uber?

-The Rideshare Guy