Walking Everywhere, and Anywhere!

Every now and then I will update this blog with thoughts about walking, and being a pedestrian in Southern California. Between 2014-2017, this blog also featured several posts about my bicycle adventures around Southern California, but as of 2018 I am back to just being a pedestrian. Riding a bike was fun until someone through a water bottle in my chain one day late at night, so since that time I have just felt safer walking.

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Walking And Talking Vlog


My bike tire popped the other day, so I had to walk. This seemed like a good opportunity to do a walking and talking vlog.

Why Uber And Lyft Are A Good Option For Pedestrians

Most people want to drive, so transportation is not an issue for them. However, not everyone is interested in driving, and some people do not want to own a car. Or maybe, someone would rather hire someone to drive once and awhile.

In the past, I had to take taxis, and some of my experiences were not the best. Southern California has a large population density, but places are spread out between each other because we are the largest state in the continental 48 states. I do not take Uber and Lyft every day, but once and awhile when I go to visit a friend I like to use their service. I also liked that you can sometimes find a female Uber driver, not that I have had any bad experiences with the male ones.

However, it just reminded me of my days taking taxis. The cabs would act like they could pick and choose who they wanted to pick up. That is all fine and good, but it does not work for someone who needs a ride and is lost in a rural area. I remember when I first moved to a new town and I had to wait two hours for a cab. Finally, an old fashion cabbie came and got me, and told me how he was appalled that taxis were not picking up jobs, and ignoring some people. He also had picked up a lady waiting at the hospital for over five hours for a ride. This is just not acceptable, so if new competition comes into town that is ready and willing to pick people up, guess who wins out.

So it is not that I am an uber fan girl, but every experience I have had taking uber has surpassed that of a taxi. Sometimes you even end up paying more for uber when there was a surge, so one time I spent 85 dollars on a ride that is usually thirty. The driver told me he got eighty percent, so I felt good about that. Another uber driver was using the service to help put her kids through college, and it was the only job that worked for her schedule.

So I know uber is not popular with taxis, but the reason I like it is because it is reliable, and I do not have twiddle my thumbs wondering if someone will pick me up if I am lost in a rural part of SoCal. It is also helping to cut down on drunk driving here, which is still a problem in our part of the state. Uber is also gaining popularity in Southern California because they are willing to provide a service the taxi cab companies are not. If a taxi company wants to build an app and become more dependable here in SoCal, then maybe people will consider cabs here.

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