Anyone here ever use Uber?

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So I'm currently in the process of preparing for a trip this April to the Midwest Media Expo in Detroit and I've got a pretty good amount of the trip figured out (hotel reservations, flight bookings, etc). But something that came to my attention recently was the service known as Uber. Now all I currently know about it is that it's supposed to be an alternate taxi type of service. Aside from that, I don't know much. Seeing as I'll be needing some form of transportation from the airport to the hotel and then back to the airport when the expo ends, I'm asking "Is anyone here familiar with Uber's services and, if so, how does it compare to your traditional taxi system?" Any insight that you can give will be very much appreciated.

I occasionally used Uber as a slang word meaning Ultimate Best. I never knew it was a taxi system till now.

I know a fair bit about it but have never used it since we don't have it here.. yet. Our gov't said No at first, but now appears to be preparing to allow it - despite the opposition from the Taxi Mafia.

Basics: You download a phone app and use it to book a ride. Drivers use their own cars. You pay online via the app, then they get paid by Uber and Uber keeps a cut. You're free to tip them as you would a taxi driver. Prices are typically a bit lower than cabs, on average, but they also do what they call "surge pricing" where they charge premium rates during peak demand times - which are disclosed via the app when you book your ride, so read it carefully. It may be worth waiting until after "rush hour" for a cheaper ride.

They operate in hundreds of cities in dozens of countries. They bill themselves as a technology company vs. a taxi company in order to get around taxi/transportation laws & are ruthless about expansion, disrupting taxi monopolies everywhere. They piss off taxi drivers to the point of violent protests because once there's an alternative to their monopolies, their licences are no longer worth the $ Million many of them paid. Consumers want lower prices, so they continue to expand. That's how Uber now has over $50 Billion US in cash. I read that they also have an automated car R&D division that may eventually replace human drivers with self driving cars, eventually cutting their human drivers out of the loop and monopolizing transportation worldwide. Maybe, who knows?

In the meantime, I welcome their ruthless disruptive expansion as the local Taxi Mafia has had it too good for too long. I would use their services as well as possibly drive for them.. ie if they're operating here this year and I can login whenever I feel like it and use their location based app to see if there's someone seeking a ride from near where I am to near where I'm going, or at least en route, then why not get paid to drive home or to my destination? With my commute from the suburbs to the city and back again, or my Summertime weekend drives from the suburbs to the mountains, I could end up coming out in the black to drive around by making a pickup and drop off here and there. I really don't care if the Taxi Mafia ends up with a bunch of bankrupted families. Their business model is just as ruthless & corrupt as any other. It's time for change. Then if there's an even better more fair solution in the future, I'll support that - even if it's technically illegal. ie if Uber goes automated and I want to support real human beings, I'll pay cash to some gypsy cab driver instead - but that's still years and years away.

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