Have you used the Uber car service mobile app?
According to
Uber:
Uber uses your phone's GPS to detect your location and connects you with the nearest available driver. Get picked up anywhere — even if you don't know the exact address.
When you request a ride, we’ll find a driver and let you track their location on the map. Feel free to put away your phone – we’ll text you when your ride arrives. Your driver’s name and car details appear in the app, and you can message or call if you need to.
View rates for your city in the app. You can also enter your pickup and drop-off locations to get a fare quote for your trip.
You don't need cash when you ride with Uber. Once you arrive at your destination, your fare is automatically charged to your credit card on file – no need to tip. We’ll also e-mail you a receipt.
Drivers not only meet Uber’s standards, they meet your standards. After your trip, you can rate your experience and leave additional feedback about your driver.
How useful is Uber for traveling to and from Roosevelt Island? The Roosevelt Island Twitterverse reports:
Last June, I asked
Roosevelt Islanders about their Uber experience and learned from Diana:
We love Uber. Wonderful service and fast. Especially from airports. No more standing in line to get a taxi!
I believe prices are about the same. But overall experience is way better. All the drivers we had so far were very kind and friendly. You get to choose what kind/size car you want. The cars belong to the drivers and they keep them very clean and don't drive as crazy as taxi drivers. As I mentioned, no need to wait in line at the airport. You just open the app and request a car and within minutes you're on your way home. And you can also use it in other cities and countries.
And all the payment is done seamlessly through the app (using credit card) so you don't have to deal with cash or worrying about having enough.
At the end of your route you get a receipt via email with the route map and time you've taken to your destination.
Derek:
I use Uber all the time from the Octagon. I usually use UberT and it's the same prices as metered taxi. UberX is sometimes a little better prices because of no meter fees. Always available, always on time and very convenient because you can watch the car arrive on the map so you know when to go down.
Jonathan:
Had a great experience first time I used them from here to go to LGA day after Xmas. Waited 10 min for a green cab and it was flawless.
and Kwame:
I use the Uber T service quite often and the taxi fare is the same as hailing a yellow cab. The only annoyance I have with Uber is that they must send the call signal to taxis on the UES. Usually, I get a couple of calls from the drivers telling me that they are on the UES and that they are not coming to RI. Typically, after the 3rd request, I'll get a cab closer to RI.
I asked Kwame:
Do you know if Uber send signal to taxi drivers in Long Island City/Astoria as well?
Kwame replied:
Yes, they do the signal to LIC/Astoria. Usually, I'm requesting Ubers at 1/2 am, so maybe more Ubers are on the UES. But I have a feeling that Uber incorporates the borough location into the request system and Roosevelt Island is considered Manhattan. I could be wrong about that.
Yesterday, I asked for an update by Roosevelt Island Uber users. From Diana:
I wrote my positive review the first time, but they had made some pricing changes lately - and now it's cheaper than a yellow taxi.
Kwame:
Yup. It's a pretty good service. The only issue that I have is that sometimes for an RI pickup the app hails cabs from the Upper East Side rather than Queens. But, once a driver cancels, the app finds another taxi.
and Derek:
I have had great experiences with Uber in the past..... lately though, I've had the same problems described here. The drivers that answer the request have been on the upper east side, so I try again or they cancel. I think Uber needs to re-organize it's "zones" so that it can recognize when a request is coming from RI. I had to do something old-fashioned recently and call Olympic for a car because I was wasting too much time trying to get an Uber from Queens. I paid $43 for a ride that would cost about $28 on Uber!
Newcomers to the Roosevelt Island Uber discussion have similar things to say. From Kristy:
Yes! Love it! Cheaper than yellow taxi and I can hail one via app any time of day.
Niki:
L-O-V-E! We have taken it both to and from the Island, (lower west, Brooklyn, midtown, airport, etc.) all positive experiences with friendly, professional drivers. Also one morning our scheduled airport sedan with dial7 was 10min late, we finally got through & they said that the driver messed up and was delayed, he would be another 15min! So I pulled out my UBER & they quoted 6min so I told Dial7 to forget it and waited for UBER, they were here in under 6min & saved the day!
Emily:
I love UBER and have had success taking it from the island but I've also had issues with drivers who are in manhattan picking up my request and then canceling when they realize where they have to go. Usually there are enough drivers in queens that I get one eventually, but it can take a little longer sometimes.
Marc:
I've had positive experiences using UBER, having taken it both to and from the island. As others have mentioned, at times it will get cabs from the UES, but I normally cancel (or the driver calls and cancels) and the 'local' ones closer in Queens/Astoria comes closer. Its also usually cheaper than a regular cab and convenient to use via the app.
and Caitlin
UBER is great! I haven't used the app going to/from Roosevelt Island but we did use them during our move to Brooklyn when we were picking up furniture off Cragislist. We just called for an UBER suv and we never had any problems. They work off of good reviews but we always tipped them with cash if we were moving something large/heavy.
I asked Caitlin:
What about tipping Uber drivers?
Caitlin replied:
Tip is included in the quoted cost. What drivers really want is a good review! Drivers can also review you as a customer. I think this is why UBER drivers are UBER nice!
You can download the
Uber mobile car service app here.
This
NY Times video tells us more about Uber.
Also more information on Uber experience from these videos.
Next Roosevelt Island mobile app crowd sharing story will be
Airbnb apartment rental
sharing on Roosevelt Island.
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