In Reversal, Some Drivers Ditching Uber and Lyft for Cabs

[FrodosPet]

http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2016/01/07/in-reversal-some-drivers-ditching-uber-and-lyft-for-cabs

By Jon Brooks
JANUARY 7, 2016

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Still, over the past few years, San Francisco taxi companies have had trouble filling their shifts. That’s because drivers have jumped ship to work for the upstarts, and new drivers entering the profession have opted for the ride services as well.

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Yet, there are other drivers who have taken the opposite route, going from Uber and Lyft to driving a cab.

Mickey Kelley operates the San Francisco Taxi School, which offers prospective cab drivers the courses they must take to get licensed. Classes range from five to 15 students each week. He estimates that from one-third to one-half of his students over the last six months have been former Uber and Lyft drivers.

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Flywheel referred me to Abdallah Hammad, 49, who has been driving for the company for about three years. To supplement his income, he drove on the side for both Uber and Lyft for about a year, but stopped around seven or eight months ago. The main reason: the extra cost and “wear and tear” of using his own car to do business.

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[FrodosPet]

1. Uber Man - Rate Cuts - I Quit - Detroit $0.30/mile

[RandySF]

2. Uber is too expensive

I keep their app on my phone as a last resort.

[FLPanhandle]

3. Taxis can compete but they have to upgrade their service and cars

Uber and Lyft exist because some taxi companies ran crappy cars coupled with poor attitude drivers.

Taxis need to upgrade their fleets to Uber level cars, implement smartphone hailing technology, and teach drivers about customer service. Do that and Uber goes out of business.

[FrodosPet]

4. Ours had done that from its founding

Which is why we are still around and starting to recover while several others in the area went out of business.

But the rapid drop in Uber fares has led to those people with nicer cars realizing that they cannot afford to continue doing it. The car age standard has slipped from 2007 or newer to 2000 or newer. And the money to spend keeping your car on the road is going to eat into already meager profits, so safety will be a developing issue over the next couple years, as more and more maintenance is delayed or ignored.

Best scenario for Uber drivers: Use it for networking to find a real job.