Stephanie Johnson, general manager of Red Tire Taxi, a Bloomington-based taxi service, suggested that the training Uber drivers receive, compared to that of a traditional taxi service, falls short, compromising the safety of customers. She also expressed concern for the lack of a company support center for employees.
“It’s intense and really stressful and you’re doing this for god knows how long of a shift,” Johnson said. “At that point, if you’re not adequately trained to handle that stress level and navigate efficiently, providing customer service all at the same time, you can become very overwhelmed very quickly.”
Uber, which spans 209 cities in 45 countries, uses a phone application to ?connect Uber-employed drivers to those in need of rides.
Unlike a traditional taxi service, Uber is a third-party service. The app acts as a middleman, providing a one-click link between drivers and riders.
“Think of it like eBay connects someone selling something with someone who wants to buy something,” said Chris Nakutis, general manager of Indiana Uber. “That’s what Uber is. It’s purely a technology platform that connects, through a smartphone application, a rider and a driver.”
Unlike eBay, Nakutis said Uber creates a safe and reliable platform. Uber does background checks on all its drivers, checks driving records and car history and provides a commercial insurance to riders and drivers.
Nakutis said with the low rates and the convenience of the platform, Uber is replacing the need and extra cost of having a car on campus.
“It’s really easy, right?” Nakutis said. “You download the app, you input your credit card, you open it up and the average ETA in most cities is around five minutes. It takes you where you are going in a single transaction.”
Uber is creating 20,000 jobs every other month, according to its website. With no set hours and job flexibility, Nakutis said Uber is changing the traditional idea of a college part-time job.
Johnson said Uber has not affected business, despite its similar service to Red Tire Taxi.
Because Uber connects riders and drivers via GPS, the closest driver is contacted first.
This means that riders cannot choose their own driver. This is different from Red Tire’s drivers, Johnson said, who build strong connections with students and provide them with a direct form of contact.
“The majority of our clients are IU students,” Johnson said. “I don’t think we’d have that if our relationship at some point wasn’t good.”
