Uber and a taxi go head to head
Uber arrived in Calgary last month to fanfare, a W. Brett Wilson celebrity ride, the creation of an amusing unregulated cab ( Associated Cab’s “Taxy”) and a whole lot of curiosity.
We were curious, too, so we decided to put the new service to the test against the city’s traditional cab services — and what better way to do that than going on a newsroom lunch run?
We started by meeting in Bridgeland to order a sushi lunch for our newsroom colleagues; then, laden with our takeout bags, we simultaneously called a cab and ordered an Uber car and sat back to see which one showed up first.
Our goal was to do a wholly unscientific, side- by- side comparison of the two services — Jamie Dirom took the taxi and Meghan Potkins took the Uber car.
And the winner? Uber — though the results were pretty close.
When it came to response time, Uber arrived in six minutes and 20 seconds — more than three minutes faster than the cab — and might have arrived sooner had the Uber driver not circled the block twice, looking for the address ( similarly, Dirom’s taxi driver called to check where he was).
But while the Uber was faster to arrive, there wasn’t much to separate the services on the eight- minute journey back to the office. The Uber was 18 seconds faster getting from Bridgeland to the Herald, and both drivers took the same route back.
Touted as a cheaper alternative, Uber indeed won the price battle. The final Uber fare was $ 11.01, while the cab’s metered fare was $ 11.40. Pretty close, but then there’s the tip, which brings the cab fare to about $ 13 or more, while Uber has a no- tip policy.
Overall, while Uber came out slightly ahead on time and price, there wasn’t a huge margin separating the two services. Both drivers were professional and courteous and their vehicles were clean and comfortable.
We were surprised to discover that our Uber driver — who declined to be identified for this article — formerly drove a cab for nearly a decade before deciding to give it up to work for Uber. He told us he didn’t like all the restrictions and rules involved in driving a cab, or the nearly daily negativity he encountered on the road.
He also said he wasn’t worried about the city’s recent covert crackdown on Uber drivers; he said he was assured in a recent meeting with company managers that Uber would take care of any tickets drivers received from the city.
As for which service to use, it might come down to personal preference: If you’re OK with giving Uber your credit card info and you’re not put off by some of the safety concerns raised by city officials, the Uber app is undeniably convenient.
We both preferred Uber’s carhailing experience, because we could see on the app where Potkins’ car was the instant she ordered it. She also had it ordered and on the way before Dirom was even done explaining where he was to the taxi operator.
Potkins says she was sufficiently impressed with the service that she’ll use Uber again. But while Dirom likes the app and the slightly cheaper pricing, he’s not so sure. If he was a regular taxi user he probably would, but he uses cabs so infrequently that he’s not sure it’s worth signing up for Uber’s service or keeping the app on his phone.
Though Uber might have come out ahead in our unscientific experiment, we leave it to you to decide which service is more convenient. And we’d like to hear from you: Are you an Uber user? Is Uber a welcome addition to Calgary’s transportation landscape? Email Potkins at mpotkins@calgaryherald.com.