{"id":1796,"date":"2016-06-20T14:47:11","date_gmt":"2016-06-20T14:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=1796"},"modified":"2016-06-20T14:47:11","modified_gmt":"2016-06-20T14:47:11","slug":"a-beginners-guide-to-ridesharing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/a-beginners-guide-to-ridesharing\/","title":{"rendered":"A beginner’s guide to ridesharing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Things are changing in the automotive world, big time. Just a few years ago hardly anybody had heard of electric cars, let alone driverless cars<\/a>, let alone Uber. But just a few years later, here we are on the cusp of what seems like an automotive revolution. And it\u2019s all being driven by a whole new economic paradigm: the sharing economy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even though ridesharing services like Uber and <\/span>Lyft<\/span><\/a> are now worth over $60 billion combined, many people still haven\u2019t used them. So what do beginner ride sharers need to know?<\/span><\/p>\n

What Is Ridesharing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It used to be the case that if you wanted to get a taxi, you faced a lot of competition. Hailing a taxi in a crowded city like LA or London was tough. You had to hope that you could hail a cab without being pipped at the post by somebody else.<\/span><\/p>\n

But talented entrepreneurs soon realized that there could be another way. Thanks to the mobile internet and GPS, it might be possible to connect drivers to people wanting lifts over an app. In fact, this is exactly what both <\/span>Uber<\/span><\/a> and Lyft did back in 2009 and 2012. They realized that they could connect people together using a ridesharing app. And that people could order rides to their destinations over an intelligent system. In this way, they could bypass the old taxi system which limited the number of drivers. Now anybody could give anyone else a lift.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"ride-sharing1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

IMAGE SOURCE: www.youtube.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

How Do You Pay?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the old days, you had to carry around cash in your pocket to pay for a taxi. It was just something that we accepted as a necessary part of life. But then Uber and Lyft showed us that there was another, easier way. Rather than paying by cash, all transactions are carried out through the companion app. And this includes tips. This is super helpful for obvious reasons.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ridesharing companies have their own unique pricing structures. Both Uber and Lyft charge by the mile, like the traditional taxi industry. And like taxis, they also have minimum fees if you\u2019re just <\/span>traveling<\/span><\/a> a short distance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prices aren\u2019t set in stone, however. As with most services, there are opportunities to get discounts and money off through organizations like <\/span>Rydely<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s Is The Experience Like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the big complaints of the taxi industry is that anybody can drive for Uber and Lyft. They\u2019re upset by this because for decades they\u2019ve tried to restrict the supply of drivers to boost their wages. One of the arguments again ridesharing companies is that they are less regulated, and drivers aren\u2019t vetted. But as with traditional taxi services, violence, and abuse is extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"ride-sharing2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

IMAGE SOURCE: en.wikipedia.org<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

What\u2019s cool about ridesharing services is just how high-tech they are compared to an old-fashioned taxi ride. Users can now track their route on the companion app. This gives people extra peace of mind when traveling with somebody they don\u2019t know.<\/span><\/p>\n

Users can also expect the price per mile to vary depending on the time of day. Late at night or during the middle of the day, you can expect to pay less. But in the evenings, you may have to pay what Uber calls \u201c<\/span>surge pricing<\/span><\/a>\u201d when demand is high.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even though ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft are now worth over $60 billion combined, many people still haven\u2019t used them. So what do beginner ride sharers need to know?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1028,1029,1027,1026,741],"class_list":["post-1796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","tag-grabtaxi","tag-lyft","tag-ridesharing","tag-ridesharing-services","tag-uber"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1796"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1799,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1796\/revisions\/1799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}