Rideshare Start-ups

by Christian Perea on November 1, 2017 17 Comments

Rydar: The Swiss Army Knife of Driver Tools

Have you ever wondered how you could only drive during surge times, when concerts and events get out and demand spikes? Ever wish you could just drive during a high surge? You can with a new app called Rydar, which identifies places and events for you to drive and helps you drive only during a profitable surge period. Today, senior RSG contributor Christian Perea covers these functions and more.

Rydar is a new rideshare driver assistant app that combines a lot of the features from existing driver apps on the market.

Rydar has custom surge alerts, custom heat maps, tells you where to go for your next ride, an events calendar (think concerts and sports), a mileage tracker, expense tracker, and syncs with your Uber account. All at the same time and in one place.

There are a lot of driver apps on the market right now that do many different things for drivers, and they’re all competing for your hard-earned money. Rydar seeks to combine most of those apps into one big, multi-tool driver app – the Swiss Army Knife of driver tools, if you will.

Let’s see how it does, or you can get started signing up with Rydar here.

A $545 Tax Deduction Every Week?

Full-time rideshare drivers can put up to 1000 business miles a week on their car. Rack up your mileage deductions and track your business miles with QuickBooks Self-Employed.

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by Christian Perea on August 15, 2017 5 Comments

How Machine Learning Can Help Drivers Find Their Next Ride

Note: This article is sponsored by FarePilot. They’re a free app that provides drivers with locations and intel on where to go to get their next ride. I’ve found that it’s a useful app for when I don’t know where to go next after dropping off a passenger. Check it out here. As always, all opinions are our own.

Whenever I hear about AI and machine learning in the context of rideshare driving it usually involves how we are all going to get replaced by robots. This unfortunately paints AI and machine learning in a pretty negative light to drivers because it more or less becomes synonymous with “unemployment.” Even if drivers can benefit from it today.

AI and machine learning isn’t all doom and gloom for drivers though. It’s reflective of new technology; and like any new technology it’s benefit at the end of the day depends on how humans use it as a tool. [Read more…]

by Christian Perea on April 6, 2017 12 Comments

Why Uber Drivers Are Switching to Via

Harry here. We’re always looking for new rideshare companies and today, senior RSG contributor Christian Perea takes a look at a growing service called Via.

Via is a newer rideshare option you may have already heard about, and they offer a different business model for drivers. Their service is centered around providing flat fare rides along efficient routes. A Via driver gets paid to shuttle multiple passengers along a designated route, only stopping to pick-up and drop-off where it makes the most sense. They’ll even make passengers walk the last block or two to their destination if they have to 🙂

Former Uber drivers are finding they enjoy Via’s different model for a few reasons. Via automatically applies a pay boost to rides that get “matched” with other riders. So Via drivers are incentivized to get matching rides, and they also take less from each ride.

Via drivers also operate in high-density zones. This means that Via drivers tend to put fewer miles on their vehicles since there are no long distance trips outside of their tighter operating zone. All of these things add up to make a difference to drivers.

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by Harry Campbell on June 10, 2016 44 Comments

7 Things I Learned From Our Week In Austin

When Uber and Lyft pulled out of Austin last month, they made it seem like the world was going to end without them. And while there was tumult in the few weeks after their departure, no less than ~~seven~~ ~~eight~~ nine rideshare start-ups have since moved in to Austin to try and fill that void.

Last week, Christian and I headed to the capital of Texas to talk with local politicians, meet with some of the start-ups looking to take Uber/Lyft’s place and, of course, hear from drivers. We learned a lot about the situation on the ground, and today I’m going to summarize it all.

Christian and I meeting with Austin Councilman Don Zimmerman (photo cred: RSG Reader Anthony N)

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by Christian Perea on June 8, 2016 35 Comments

RSG Special Report: How’s Austin Doing Without Uber And Lyft?

Harry here. The battle in Austin has been a huge story over the past month, so Christian and I decided to head to the city that ‘Keeps it Weird’ for four days to see what life is like now that Uber and Lyft are gone. It turns out that there are a slew of rideshare companies looking to take Uber/Lyft’s place, and they’re doing a lot better than we expected.

Today, RSG senior contributor Christian Perea breaks down what it takes for these companies to make a name for themselves and reviews seven of the biggest options in Austin: Wingz, Get Me, Fare, Arcade City, RideAustin, Fasten and InstaRyde.

Austin rideshare is on fire right now. The Big Two are gone and watching from the sidelines with a nervous glance as new companies rampage through a market that they have spent tens of millions of dollars to build. Also, after a month without any real options, passengers and drivers alike are being presented with a bevy of rideshare apps seeking to fill the void. It’s all quite exciting.

We went to find out for ourselves EXACTLY what is going on with rideshare in Austin, Texas.

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