I have used Uber/Lyft a dozen times or so while getting vehicles serviced or a hop to the airport. I guess my expectations are low but I don't find them dangerous or any worse than cabs or other SoCal drivers. Just a simple person eeking out a living in their own car. I treat them with kindness and respect just like a waitress or doorman and have never been disappointed.

Side note: A large percentage have been from ME descent.

I have used Uber a several times now.

We went to Orlando to go to Holloween Horror nights, we stayed in a Hotel downtown then Ubered over to Universal and back so we did not have to deal with parking or worry about a DUI. It was my first time in using it and I was sold. Nice clean car, really nice guy driving, he even had snacks and drinks in a seat back pocket hold thing for us to have if we desired for free.

We recently went to a wedding in downtown Tulsa and did not bother to rent a car, we planned on walking once at the hotel, except it was 12° out and windy when we were there in January. So we Ubered everywhere. Every ride was nice.

Used them again in Wilmington, and again, really nice people driving very clean and tidy cars.

Our last trip to NYC last spring we took a cab from the airport to hotel, it was nasty and the driver was a maniac.

We had the hotel arrange for a car to take us back to the airport and it was an uber. Nice clean car and the guy drove like a normal person not an cabby.

Uber from now on for me.

It happened last time I was in LA/Anaheim. I was standing in front of the Hilton but the driver was circling around the entrance way down at the end of the driveway over 500' ft away. It's like their app doesn't show I'm at the Hilton but rather some general area.

Their accuracy is usually dependent on your phone's GPS accuracy. Most phones are only good for accuracy to 25 yards or so and the Lyft signal gets pinged from your phone GPS location. A 25 yard error can matter a lot in a dense city. I usually give a visual cue to my location so they can find me easily and then watch my Lyft screen as they approach so I can flag them down.

Their apps are white labeled versions of Google Maps, but with some contact info and third party relay services for emailing or calling when riders need to send you a gate code, call to explain where they are or you later find they left a set of car keys in your back seat. Uber and Lyft are software companies. Drivers pay to rent the software to find riders and then get paid via the cashless app. I did this in my BMW wagon because I have an unlimited mile warranty and had usually enjoyed my interactions with the drivers when I was a rider. The stories I racked up are just amazing. Met some super cool people, smoking hot women, plenty in bikinis, drunk, piling in to/fro the pool party at a local casino, met a bounty hunter, a few cops, a porn star, F-35 mechanic and on and on. Very cool experience.

The money can be better than what I made, but I was never free or willing to work the really lucrative times due to my real job and not wanting to pick up drunks late at night and risk their puking in my car. Best tip I got was $20 on a $2.69 fare to the stadium across the street from the hotel.

Edit:

And yes, you can use other software, but don't often have the time to look up the address, switch to another app, enter it, then go back to the Uber/Lyft app for the next ride and see where the request is. You have 15 seconds to accept or decline and are often too busy driving and navigating to see where the rider is exactly. Pop up just says "4 minutes away" without your having to poke around to really find the address. Very cumbersome to not use their app.

minimumwage

So one more question: front seat or back? I sit in the front unless they motion back or have stuff in the front. I’ve have had some really great conversations and some really awkward rides sitting next to someone who wouldn’t say more than a few words.

I prefer people sit in front, but they rarely do. So many times they have a route they want me to take that's different from the app's navigation. And once we start down that road, I need them to guide me the whole way. And when I was doing it, I really didn't need the money. I needed the human interaction because I was working from home and not seeing any customers ever or co-workers except 3-4x per year at company gatherings or trade shows. As much as I hate people in general, I have to say the experience renewed my faith in humanity. I really met only super cool people, often very well educated and traveled. I can honestly say the only bad ones were the ones who didn't say anything. And that's really not so bad.

Around here, it seems like the cabs are even worse than the Uber/Lyft guys.

Yesterday coming home from work, I was at an intersection about 3 cars back from the front and saw a cab turn right from the far left lane. There 3 lanes and all 3 were full of cars including a 24' or so box truck that was turning right from the right lane that had to stop for the cab.

You'd think that the driver would think, "hmm, I wonder if this person is wanting a ride from that great big hotel that I've almost pulled up to?" but there isn't a common sense test to become a driver.