“I work in advertising and am aware of placing your finest foot ahead, nevertheless it’s laborious to know when it crosses the road from being optimistic to being unfaithful,” he mentioned.
Katie Pilot, who lives within the Los Angeles space and works in export logistics, prefers to take one of many ready-and-waiting yellow cabs when she’s leaving large occasions fairly than wandering up a close-by aspect avenue to seek out her Uber. She nonetheless takes Ubers to the airport, however prices are creeping up, she mentioned. Since drivers ceaselessly cancel, she’s taken to paying the $16 payment to order her rides the evening earlier than. Her seven-mile journey to Los Angeles Worldwide Airport final month got here in at $55.
“I’m actually solely utilizing ride-share to get to the airport or round after I journey,” she mentioned. “The charges have gotten too dear so as to add on as an expense for a day or night out.”
As some clients report paying extra, Uber itself is attempting to spend much less. The looming financial downturn is driving the ride-hailing big to chop prices, in response to an e-mail from CEO Dara Khosrowshahi to staff, whilst its income bounces again from a pandemic-era dip. After a collection of challenges together with driver shortages and spiking gasoline costs, it’s laborious to know the place Uber’s newest product bulletins slot in — and whether or not some parts, like autonomous sidewalk food-delivery robots, will ever come to fruition.
A lot of the new options Uber introduced look like geared towards comparatively small teams of consumers, corresponding to occasion planners, sports activities followers who actually hate standing in line, and individuals who can use voice assistants with out dropping their minds.
“A few of these really feel nearly like a distraction,” Bliss mentioned. “It’s like, ‘The factor you used Uber for doesn’t work, however now you possibly can eat sizzling canine at Dodger Stadium simpler.’ ”
A spokesman for Uber mentioned the corporate has extra drivers in the US now than it did at every other level throughout the pandemic, and that costs and reliability are bettering. The variety of drivers didn’t lower in response to rising gasoline costs, he mentioned, and wait instances in Los Angeles, the place Bliss and Pilot reside, have gone down 10 p.c since this time final 12 months.
Right here’s what the corporate promised clients throughout Monday’s digital unveiling.
- Vouchers for occasions: Folks planning get-togethers corresponding to weddings or conferences may give their friends voucher codes for rides or meals. (Organizers can set a most worth, which helps with setting budgets and stopping shenanigans.)
- Voice ordering: Uber Eats will combine with Google Assistant, so you possibly can say one thing like, “Hey Google, order me panang curry from Jitlada Thai Delicacies.” It’s out there this summer season in English world wide with extra languages to return, the corporate mentioned.
- Journey planning: In the event you hyperlink your Uber and Gmail accounts, Uber will present suggestions for trip reservations proper alongside your flight, resort or restaurant reservations, it says.
- Constitution buses: Beginning this summer season, you possibly can hire these large get together buses individuals use for bachelor events and proms, in addition to passenger vans and coach buses. Open the Uber app and faucet “constitution” to see when it’s out there the place you reside.
- Sporting occasions: If you need meals on the stadium however don’t need to stand in line, you should use Uber Eats or Postmates (which Uber owns) to order meals from concessions. When it’s prepared, you get an alert and might go seize your objects with out the wait. It’s out there at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., Yankee Stadium in New York, Capital One Enviornment in Washington, D.C., Minute Maid Park in Houston, PayPal Park in San Jose and Roazhon Park in France with “extra to return.”
- Uber Consolation Electrical: Uber’s premium “consolation” choice now comes with a particular designation should you want an electrical automobile corresponding to a Tesla or Polestar. It’s out there in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego in the US, the corporate says, with extra places to return.
- Autonomous supply: In the event you’d want your meals be delivered by a robotic rolling buying cart with eyeballs as a substitute of a human, as we speak’s your fortunate day. Uber is testing these devices from maker Serve Robotics in Los Angeles, it says, in addition to autonomous supply with an all-electric automobile fleet from automobile firm Motional. Bear in mind, although: autonomous something is simpler mentioned than finished. Each Uber and Lyft have talked an enormous recreation about autonomous autos earlier than and have but to ship.
