I just discovered that Google tracks me most of the time. I searched through the archive back to days when I drove rideshare and the mapping of the places I went was all over the place. This would be expected of course, but it is crazy to actually see it illustrated.
The action, observation and prevalent topics of conversation out in the Ride Sharing world of Austin Texas. Warning - no language filters or grammatical preferences were used in the posting of the material contained in this blog. Expect anything.
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Sunday, September 13, 2020
09/12/20
Sunday, August 9, 2020
08/08/20
As I was throwing business cards into the recycle container from two recent businesses I have been associated with, I discovered some business card from FARE when I drove ridesharing for them. This prompted me to look in the back of my vehicle and see if the magnetic signs were still back there. They were. These magnetic signs came in very handy at night in helping the riders more easily locate the vehicle. The signs are fairly large at about 2' wide by 18" tall. When a rider would say that they couldn't see me, I knew that they were either blind as hell, stupid as hell, or lying out their ass in trying to work around the cancellation fee. Anyone with eyeballs would not miss these signs. The business card photo looks the same size as the magnetic sign photo below but that was certainly not the case.
FARE had office space next to the Four Seasons Hotel and if I ever needed anything from them I could just take a few minutes and walk down there from work. They were very helpful in this respect but not so much in helping me work with the riders to insure they were happy with their ride.
Also included below is the first e-mail that I received from Fare, and the last e-mail that I received from them. FARE was more expensive than the others and they made it clear that they were not going to be part of "the race to the bottom" with prices, when Uber and Lyft returned to Austin. They were not willing to compete and the only advantage they had was the ability for riders to save their favorite drivers in the app and be able to request that specific driver in the future. Of course the ability for that to function depended on whether or not that specific driver was online when the rider needed a ride. It wasn't really much of an advantage as I was on multiple riders list and never had a rider specifically request me. I had already stopped rideshare driving when FARE left as my vehicle at the time was no longer what I felt comfortable transporting people with.
Tuesday, August 4, 2020
08/04/20
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
07/22/20
In my never-ending job search, I came across a job at Hertz for a Maintenance Manager. Obviously this is maintenance on vehicles and is not exactly what I have been doing for the past 35 plus years, but it may be close enough. I adjusted my resume to reflect my early days in hotels when we also had to manage the maintenance to the guest transportation vehicles. I also included my days of driving a truck and at working for the highway department where I also had to coordinate the maintenance for that. Of course I included my time as a rideshare driver as well, including the stats that are easily obtained from the Uber site. That was another reason that made Uber so inviting. Helpful data was there and available. Obtaining this same information from the other 2 companies I drove for while Uber was gone, Get Me and Fare, was limited. Here are the stats
- 4.5 years as an Uber driver so far. Technically, I am still activated on the platform. It is also important to note that even when Uber was "gone" from Austin, they remained active in the surrounding areas. I actually did several rides for Uber in the areas of Cedar Park and Round Rock during that time period.
- 1,369 rides for Uber
- 4.97 Satisfaction Rating. It stayed at 5.0 for a very long time.
- $14,436 driving for Uber
- $226.56 driving for GetMe. I knew it wasn't much but I thought it was more than that.
- $3,482.55 driving for Fare. I had signed up for GetMe and Fare at about the same time but was able to get processed through GetMe first as they did not require a review of the automobile by a mechanic. Immediately afterwards I received a call from Fare. The caller had a voice like "Puddy", the guy that played Elaine's boyfriend in Seinfeld (Patrick Warburton) and the conversation went like this.
Fare, "when are you going to start driving?"
Me, "as soon as I get the vehicle reviewed by a mechanic."
Fare, "can you do it soon we need some drivers?"
Me, "lol, okay. I am surprised to receive this call." "I will get going soon." (I am still laughing to myself because of who he sounds like)
You have to know the voice I am referring to or there will be none of the intended humor.
- 71.5 miles was the longest trip. Corsicana Texas to Garland Texas.
- $75.00 approximate highest earning single trip. The one from Corsicana was $73.76 but I believe there was one with GetMe that might have been a few dollars higher. The GetMe ride was a group of bikini-clad females leaving Lake Travis and going to the Residence Inn on 4th street. Just in case you were wondering who the riders were and what they were wearing.
Tuesday, July 7, 2020
07/07/20
The first one was a very common sight when going through downtown heading North on Congress Street.
The second one was mentioned in one of the posts. After dropping off the rider, I drove up on someone selling lemonade on the sidewalk and stopped to get some. This was out past Leander off of highway 183 almost to the intersection of 183 and 29 near Liberty Hill. There were only a handful of times that I made it out that far on that side of town.
Photo number three is also mentioned in a blog post. I do not like pets in the car but was always accommodating to the riders. This one was well behaved even when his owner left him with me for about 10 minutes while he went into the bank to get money so he could recover his car that had been towed. This was in the Lakeline area and the drop off was almost to the airport. I had to stop and clean the dog hair out of the car after the ride and THAT is why I don't like animals in the vehicle.
The last one was a picture of a property for sell in Round Rock or Georgetown, by a realtor friend of mine. I posted the photo on Facebook, prompting a brief exchange of pleasantries between us.
That is all. More than four years of driving and these are the only photos that I took.
Friday, July 3, 2020
07/03/20
The latest update from Uber discussed earnings averages of the drivers. The information stated that they were averaging $20.00 an hour which I thought was pretty damn good especially considering the situation. There were a few nights that I only made it to a $10.00 an hour average but not very often. I usually ran more towards the $30.00 an hour range. The update also shared rider demand information. It was not a surprise but did further deepen the sadness felt about downtown as the information and the accompanying map showed that most of the demand was in the Round Rock area. No indication of any demand in downtown. Before, there would be so much demand in downtown that the area on the map in the app would be such a deep red color that it was almost black. Red of course indicating a very high demand. Its just sad. The soul of downtown Austin is gone.
Saturday, June 13, 2020
06/09/20
"I should not have done this," was my first thought as I exited the freeway and could already see and feel the sadness. I could see the indicators of the protests that had been taking place including the barricaded police station. I turned onto 6th street and observed what appeared to be an abandoned town. There was no one. The bars and restaurants were all boarded up and the inevitable tagging had taken place. Businesses closed, no one in the cafes and restaurants, none of the usual foot traffic from all of the office buildings, hotels and restaurants. No scooters, no taxis, and no Ubers. The only activity was around the construction sites. I turned on Red River to get towards Caesar Chavez street. As I passed the Fairmont I could see people setting inside at what appeared to be a restaurant. That was a little encouraging but a very far cry from the quantity of people that would usually be seen. I turned right on Caesar Chavez and headed for Mopac. I had seen enough.
The contrast to what downtown was before, is saddening. Downtown is dead. I sincerely hope that it can be revived and that the vibe that was always in the air before, can return. I can now say with 100% certainty that there will not be a big rideshare demand for some time. I had stated with optimism before that I would continue rideshare driving once everything returned to normal, thinking that normal would be in a matter of a couple of months at the most. That simply cannot happen. I wont say "impossible" although I probably should.
It is very likely that this will be the last entry in this blog. It is unfortunate but I can say that it was interesting and fun. It made a lot of stories, in fact, the only thing I regret is that I did not start doing the blog sooner. When reading this blog, be sure and click on the older dates as well. I noticed that those don't always expand out so they can be selected for reading. There is a lot of stuff spanning several years.
Thanks for reading and I am hoping that this is not the end although its nice to know that every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
05/19/20
Friday, April 3, 2020
04/03/20
Friday, March 20, 2020
03/20/20
With that, I will close out this journal entry with the hope that the next entry will be one of liberation, celebration, and fascination.
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
01/28/20
01/26/20
Thursday, January 23, 2020
01/23/20
I made it home without any more requests and turned off the app, missing out on a $3.00 bonus by getting 1 more ride. It could have easily been a $150 night but I am beat down for the day.