I use Lyft from time to time, especially when traveling (most of my travel is to cities), and have never had a bad experience. You could always download both apps and compare prices.

They can be much less expensive than a cab. For example, I was in LA recently, and a nearly one-hour trip (it was rush hour) cost just over $20, because the distance wasn't very great. In a cab it would have been a lot more, since time is taken into account, not just distance.

Both DD live in the city. I think Lyft is winning out over Uber. I think they treat their employees better.

When you arrange for a ride, you will get the price ahead of time and agree to it. You can also put in the tip. This way, when you are at your destination, you jump out, done.

Once we shared a ride. DD arranged for us to get a ride up to the train. I am not sure how this worked but there was a young woman in the car who then got out a few blocks later.

I know that Uber will raise the prices for the same trip when it rains! Again, you agree to the price so it should not be a surprise.

You will know the make of the car and there is a count down to where the car is and how long it will take to get to you.

I would check with your local car service to compare Uber and Lyft. For example, I know what my local car service charges for a ride to the train station. If I decided on Uber, I would have an idea.

Once we shared a ride. DD arranged for us to get a ride up to the train. I am not sure how this worked but there was a young woman in the car who then got out a few blocks later.

When you order the car you have a choice: a shared ride (the least expensive), a regular car, and a couple of levels of larger or more luxury vehicles, depending on where you're located. The app tells you the different prices right up front.

It's wonderful not to have to fumble around with cash...but you do have to remember to complete the ride, i.e. rating the driver and adding a tip if you want to, once you get out.

" I think Lyft is winning out over Uber. I think they treat their employees better."

Lyft just completed its IPO and has been granting registered riders major discounts on a repeated basis, as a way to juice upward its revenue. Lyft drivers and Uber drivers are usually the same people. Next time take a look at the decals on the windows, many drivers have both. They're more the same than different but as of my last overseas trip, Lyft only had US ops.

I believe both services use demand pricing, meaning, at peak times, prices go up.

An advantage for both compared to cabs is that both pick you up wherever you are by locating you specifically from the GPS data on your smartphone, In a smaller European capital last year, we went off wandering and when we were done walking around, simply pinged Uber and got picked up on the random street where we were located. There were no cabs or other means of public transportation in sight. Very easy. In the same city, however, a different driver on another occasion took a wrong turn and wound up taking us on an undesired and unintended 30 minute detour (by getting on a highway with no easy opportunity to turn around). The charge for the long ride was automatically processed, but I was able to contest it easily and the whole ride was free (with Uber).

I've used both and my son drove for both. I haven't seen any difference in either. The rides are more expensive during peak times. I've gotten discounts for Lyft but not for Uber, although, haven't used Uber in a while. I like them. The cars are usually very clean and don't smell funky like some taxi's do and they are so much cheaper than taxis. I haven't had any issues except for once, and don't remember what city it was, but several times the drivers took our ride but then declined it and we had to wait for like the 3rd driver to pick us up. It still didn't take that long to get a ride.

I've used Lyft twice, my DD has used both and seems to prefer Lyft d/t better pricing. If you are signed up with them, you can enter your desired pickup/destination to see what it will cost and compare. My only observation is that their routing software will take you on the (supposedly) fastest route, not the shortest -- so we paid more for the extra mileage because the driver got onto the nearby outerbelt instead of taking the road that was a direct, straight shot from our pickup point to my neighborhood.

Also, I learned that sometimes walking a couple of blocks to a main street results in a lower fare.

I no longer drive and I love Lyft. It is an inexpensive way to go to local stores and events. Out of all of the many Lyft rides I have had, there was only one which did not go well, the incoming driver did not seem to know how her GPS worked so I just cancelled that ride (with her blessing) and got another. I was going to set up with Uber also but there was some technical glitch and they said they would help me, after several inquiries they never got back to me so it is Lyft only for me and I am happy with that.

Wow --- this has really helped ! I didn't know ANY of this . All I've heard is that Uber can raise their fares anytime they want & that kind of turned me off . We don't have a cell phone , but I'm sure the computer can handle the arrangements when we decide to use it. *** Now I want to go somewhere and test it out !!!! LOL

All the time. And I don't tip on the app - I always carry a few ones with me to tip the driver.

Hmm, book woman, could be a problem here. My cell phone usually but not always receives texts, and seldom receives calls here. Hmm.

Why not just use a local car service?

eld, I'm not sure other parts of the country have as ubiquitous a market presence of the "local car service" or black car providers as does NYC and its surrounding area. I often used them when visiting NYC on business trips, arranged by my company. I'm not sure that kind of thing is so common elsewhere. Would people these days use a car service for just around town trips instead of a cab or Lyft/Uber?

In my area, the equivalent for the longer hauls is called "limo services" and many can be quite flaky. I have one I use now for to/from the airport when doing so is cheaper than parking the car but it took a lot of trial and error to find one. This is a family owned business that's quite reliable. Others I've experienced were less so.

I've used uber several times. We prefer the convenience when out of town and attending events. Door to door service with no need to be concerned about parking, unfamiliar streets etc.

I tried to use Uber when I needed to get home from the ER - I had ridden in the ambulance with my grandson. Uber driver spoke practically no English and could not figure out one hospital from the other downtown - there are 3. He talked to various nurses trying to guide him - useless. I finally called a Yellow Cab.

My first experience with Uber was when I was on vacation in Boston about four years ago. I loved it. Made getting around so much easier. And like Elmer said, they'll pick you up anywhere. I like the fact that when I've requested a ride, it shows me the name of the driver, the car, and license plate. I just look for that vehicle coming to pick me up.

I did try Uber a couple of times in London a couple of years ago, and that didn't go well. I later learned from talking to a taxi driver what all taxi drivers need to go through to drive a taxi in London. A couple of taxi drivers told me it can take up to five years to get licensed to drive a taxi, and that they have to pass a couple of extensive written tests and verbal test. Apparently anyone can be an Uber driver, but they tend to lack the experience. I only tried an Uber twice, and both times the driver got lost, couldn't find us, etc.

I went to the Uber website and found that you can use Uber even if you don't have a smartphone:

The Uber app is made for use on smartphones.
If you don't have a smartphone, you can still login to your account and request a ride by visiting our mobile website, m.uber.com.

If you don't have a cell phone that accepts text, you can sign up with Gogograndparent to use Lyft and Uber. https://gogograndparent.com/

We don't have Uber or Lyft here in Vancouver BC. They are putting in a pseudo hailing service through the taxi service. There's a lot of skepticism as to whether it will be anything close to the hailing services that people seem to like so much. I take the occasional Taxi but have never been on Uber or Lyft.

Haha. We had a London taxi driver that couldn't find my sister's house in a part of Holland Park. We had to guide him there, so much for "The Knowledge" they have to know.

toomuchglass, Uber does have what is called "surge pricing" where at times and in places of high demand- such as at a stadium after a game/rock concert, etc- prices can get really silly, several times the normal price. But, as you are notified of the cost when you're booking, you can reject the booking and go with a regular cab instead, since they don't do surge pricing.

I've been driving Uber lately while I'm searching for a 'real' job. The higher rates are called surge pricing and are typically established when there is a high demand in a specific area (sporting events, concerts). Uber Pool is a lower priced option in which you may share your ride with others. The pool ride should only pair you with riders along the same route, although if their pickup and dropoff are midway through your route, they could be dropped off before you.

Uber navigation leaves a lot to be desired.

PKponder, most drivers with whom I've ridden use Waze.