Uber in Trinidad and Tobago - TO PAUSE OPERATION May 30 2018

[eliteauto]

yeah I completely understand some peoples rationale for wanting Uber, however in our local context Uber cannot compete with registered taxis and especially registered taxi services, a person with the theory of a local taxi staging a robbery/ upsurge in crime so instead they choose a PH taxi with no real background checks, no guarantee of proper vehicle maintenance, no insurance coverage etc as an alternative is not particularly smart. If safety is a major concern and they are willing to pay for that peace of mind they would use the variety of approved taxi services available

[Miktay]

Doesn't Yellow Cab have a fixed fare for hotel to airport and airport to hotel trips in Miami?
US$25 or something like that

IDepend on a lotta things. The kinda cab companies (there are several 'cab companies in each city)...the driver you get...the part of town youre in...whther youre inna hotel or house...the punctuality of the driver/dispatcher...etc

On the latter point...before the era of lyft/uber....i developed the technique of calling three different cab companies at the same time...and grabbing the first cab to arrive...as insurance...cuz drivers were always late or would never show up.

I missed at least one CAL flight because i didnt arrive at MIA in time. Not to mention that MIA iza jungle...even in the best circumstances.

But...like another poster wrote...uber and lyft are licking up the US taxi cartel.

[pete]

It's not only about safety but also about convenience. Much easier to open an app on your phone and see how close a car is to you and then order a ride than try to find a taxi service. My friends from San Francisco came here with about 15 others last year and had HORRIBLE experiences with all the taxi services they used except for one in Tobago. If Uber was operational last year that's probably all they would have used.

[Chimera]

two issues i regularly have with using uber is in miami...half of the drivers speaking spanish

i dont know directions at all up there...so the driver cant expect me to be able to give them directions to where i select i going.

about 4 times i end up at the cargo section of the miami international airport because thats where GPS send the driver, and they insist they must follow the gps, now i does choose miami airport hotel instead of the airport itself. guaranteed correct location.


the other thing is...sometimes it would say a driver is 5 mins away....then 8 mins away...then cancel

the other day the uber driver had a old iphone 4s and i dont know if it was freezing or what....and he didnt know the area at all....end up driving around dadeland mall for 10 minutes and i tell him drop me back where he pick me up

shouldnt have that issue down here hopefully

at the very least, its a good app to have activated so worst case scenario....you have a way to get home and you dont need cash in hand to get there.

[megadoc1]

One question I have ,can uber provide a service in trinidad without being made to pay vat?

[sMASH]

That is like what's app And face book, imo.

But since u brought it up, because it is payment to a foreign company, online using it credit card, OPT should be charged as well.

Lolz.

[rspann]

FATCA.

[uncle sam]

is it reliable enough to drop my drunk ass home after fete? cuz I'm not seeing any cars avail this hour

[Lordshelinator]

Just curious.....insurance for hired cars protects passengers. So normal insurance for private cars does not cover any passenger? If that's the case.....it sounds like insurance is a mafia of some kind.

[sMASH]

Insurance is s rip off,, until u hit a BMW with a tiida... because I can,,, I mean U can only afford a tiida

[pyromaniax]

Had a co-worker try it out yesterday for lunch in POS. Elantra arrived promptly carried them shops of maraval and back. They used a promo code and ended up getting that ride free no problems.

[jhonnieblue]

i wont mind using it at all. inherently safer than private cars and ph taxis (based on the way they drive)
i use uber all the time when i travel and never had a bad experience.
of course it wont be for daily use, but say when i drop my car to service or any situation where i need transport outside of my regular travel ill def be using uber.

[ADONI]

Also, when rain buss down in town... If I had to travel and deal with flood in City Gate, I would cry like first day in kindergarten...

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

yeah I completely understand some peoples rationale for wanting Uber, however in our local context Uber cannot compete with registered taxis and especially registered taxi services, a person with the theory of a local taxi staging a robbery/ upsurge in crime so instead they choose a PH taxi with no real background checks, no guarantee of proper vehicle maintenance, no insurance coverage etc as an alternative is not particularly smart. If safety is a major concern and they are willing to pay for that peace of mind they would use the variety of approved taxi services available

If local registered taxi Association came up with a similar system that worked off route then there'd be no space for Uber here. But they only wanna run specific routes and dictate where they dropping you off or picking you up otherwise they charging a lot more.

[pete]

I guess it's much easier to attack an organisation utilising PH drivers than individual PH drivers? A whole industry of illegal activity around the PH business from renting out private cars to people and they in turn using them to illegally ply them for hire. There are numerous "PH taxi stands" all over the place and the police do little to nothing to stop them and because they basically can do very little. At what point can you charge a PH driver? It's just them giving someone a drop until that person hands over money. Same with Uber, wiride, etc etc.

The government has a hell of a job trying to stop this. Maybe it's time to embrace it.

[megadoc1]

True ,just outside cunupia police station have a ph taxi stand

[Slartibartfast]

I guess it's much easier to attack an organisation utilising PH drivers than individual PH drivers? A whole industry of illegal activity around the PH business from renting out private cars to people and they in turn using them to illegally ply them for hire. There are numerous "PH taxi stands" all over the place and the police do little to nothing to stop them and because they basically can do very little. At what point can you charge a PH driver? It's just them giving someone a drop until that person hands over money. Same with Uber, wiride, etc etc.

The government has a hell of a job trying to stop this. Maybe it's time to embrace it.

Not to mention that in a lot of less profitable routes you will only see PH taxis. If they remove all the PH taxis it would be impossible for some people to get transport for that last 1 or 2 km to their house.

Even in Trincity it's ketchass if you want to go Beaulieu when all the taxis only want to go to the mall.

[Redman]

Populist move...afraid of the back lash from the 'smallman'
Which would be led by the opposition.

[Monk BANzai]

yeah I completely understand some peoples rationale for wanting Uber, however in our local context Uber cannot compete with registered taxis and especially registered taxi services, a person with the theory of a local taxi staging a robbery/ upsurge in crime so instead they choose a PH taxi with no real background checks, no guarantee of proper vehicle maintenance, no insurance coverage etc as an alternative is not particularly smart. If safety is a major concern and they are willing to pay for that peace of mind they would use the variety of approved taxi services available

If local registered taxi Association came up with a similar system that worked off route then there'd be no space for Uber here. But they only wanna run specific routes and dictate where they dropping you off or picking you up otherwise they charging a lot more.

Didn't Linus Phillip / Route Two Maxi Taxi association allude to doing this last year when there were rumors of a price hike due to fuel prices being adjusted?

I've used Drop (after my initial misgivings and frustrations of the app options, which they've changed btw Duane,) and the car was a private car, driver was most pleasant. I'm a public user of a system. The price $60/Arima to pairco was fair to me given that a registered taxi service charged me $100 for the same trip ( yes becuz you hadda do your own research at times) .... Saying that being under a registered taxi system takes care of safety and background checks is moot when, as 's public transport user, I've seen many taxis and maxis being driven in less than safe conditions, and like the PTSC, use drivers with dodgy histories.

Time to embrace the changes that are taking place and prepare to deal with some issues. We live in a world full of apps. Maybe design one that allows tracking of your phone once you go mobile, and send that data to a public system for easy recall. We're in too an advanced state of living to be bogged with menial issues.

Both systems (registers maxi and taxi services) can work in tandem, but having the established systems reaching out to the newbies to offer not just advice, but training.

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

If anything the main issue is insurance. A private car is not insured for paying passengers. The insurance company therefore will not cover the passenger in case of an accident etc. I think that is where Uber has their own systems or agreements.

[megadoc1]

But ent uber claims that their insurance will cover?
Edit : Sorry I saw Duane's complete post

[Monk BANzai]

If anything the main issue is insurance. A private car is not insured for paying passengers. The insurance company therefore will not cover the passenger in case of an accident etc. I think that is where Uber has their own systems or agreements.

Exactly. The guy that runs the local Karting thing... He isn't insured locally because no one locally would insure him.

[worksux101]

Once insurance is sorted, there is no reason for Uber not to be used.

Reality is the socioeconomic status of those using Uber are different to persons hiring PH and Maxis, so those services arent likely to feel a thing.
Saying Uber isn't welcomed in TnT is the typical example if why it remains a banana republic.
If you compare to 'developed' countries, we have a long fixed route system (Maxis/Buses) equivalent to a metro, shorter fixed routes (taxis) equivalent to their buses/trams, and personalised trips (PH) equivalent to foreign taxis. The price range for none of what's locally available fall under the same bracket as Uber, which has been shown to reduce DUIs.

What baffles is that the respective Ministry is launching an investigation into Uber but ignoring the plague of PH drivers - anyone here in law enforcement can tell you the vast number of incidents that occur involving these cars that never get media coverage. Its absolutely ridiculous that they're allowed to continues unregulated - but hey...banana...

[2WNBoost]

From the looks of it, it's up to the insurance to cover your rass.

https://www.uber.com/legal/terms/tt/

Excerpt:

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.

UBER SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA, PERSONAL INJURY OR PROPERTY DAMAGE RELATED TO, IN CONNECTION WITH, OR OTHERWISE RESULTING FROM ANY USE OF THE SERVICES, EVEN IF UBER HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. UBER SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, LIABILITY OR LOSSES ARISING OUT OF: (i) YOUR USE OF OR RELIANCE ON THE SERVICES OR YOUR INABILITY TO ACCESS OR USE THE SERVICES; OR (ii) ANY TRANSACTION OR RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOU AND ANY THIRD PARTY PROVIDER, EVEN IF UBER HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. UBER SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR DELAY OR FAILURE IN PERFORMANCE RESULTING FROM CAUSES BEYOND UBER’S REASONABLE CONTROL. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THIRD PARTY TRANSPORTATION PROVIDERS PROVIDING TRANSPORTATION SERVICES REQUESTED THROUGH SOME REQUEST BRANDS MAY OFFER RIDESHARING OR PEER-TO-PEER TRANSPORTATION SERVICES AND MAY NOT BE PROFESSIONALLY LICENSED OR PERMITTED. IN NO EVENT SHALL UBER’S TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICES FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES AND CAUSES OF ACTION EXCEED FIVE HUNDRED EUROS (€500).

[ADONI]

So anyone of you guys sign up and pulling legit PH?

[src1983]

I'm sure insurance companies can place a rider for Uber drivers.

The foreign guys at our company used it yesterday and was happy with the service they paid TTD43 vs USD20 (Hyatt taxi) from St. Vincent street to Hyatt

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

Guy calls for Uber from a fete. Very noisy but they got where he was. The vehicle arrives at the appointed time and the guy stumbles out the fete drunk 5 minutes later. He then says to the driver wait he have some partners coming so he must drop them to another fete. So they eventually come to the car also very drunk. The driver realizing how drunk they were starts the engine, revs it a few times and then says. Ok we reach. They all look at him, the first one get out and say whey boy this fete have plenty more people than the last one, second guy says thanks and the music nicer too. The third guy slaps the driver across his face. The said to him what was that for? He said you was speeding, ah thought you was trying to kill we!!!......

[Miktay]

lol...

i hope ppl understand uber drivers have the right to refuse a pickup...

[pete]

How does the insurance company prove you paid for the drop in the case of an accident?

[K74T]

Are there any area restrictions, i.e Beetham, Enterprise, other goon areas etc?