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.

08/04/20

As someone who has been a rideshare driver for several years, I can certainly relate to the recent shooting incident in Austin that resulted in the death of a protester.  I have driven into downtown as festivals or events were ending and there are people everywhere.  You turn a corner and you are in it with no way to get out.  The protesters, being in their single-minded state, do not realize this.  I have seen multiple videos and read multiple articles of vehicles that accidently get caught in a protest and are forced to defend themselves against protester's aggressions.  That is when people, usually the protesters, start getting hurt.  

Being a protester does not automatically protect a person from being a dumb-ass.  All of the yelling and signs-on-a-stick, are not going to protect a protester, or anyone, from vehicles or bullets.  The protester has to shed the single-mindedness and be aware of their surroundings so they can understand what is going on, what their own body movements could be signaling, and what could be developing around them, to keep themselves safe.

Any driver should be aware of what activities are going on in the areas where they could be driving.  I can say that Uber has been good about posting events although I do not know if this event was posted as I have not regularly been on the app.  Regardless, there are resources that can be reviewed before starting to drive so that a driver is aware beforehand of what may be encountered and does not become a dumb-ass driver.  I have seen plenty of those out there.  (12/14/19 post)  They can't even park their vehicle in an empty K-mart parking lot but they think they are qualified to drive in downtown Austin during rush hour or on a Friday or Saturday night.  (before the pandemic)

Everyone should understand themselves, what they are doing, and what is going on around them so that they don't do dumb-ass things.