Advantages And Disadvantages Of Uber Service: Essay On Improving Quality (70 Characters)

Overview of Uber Technology Inc

Discuss about the Uber Metropolitan Traffic Fatality In US.

Uber Technology Inc is a ride sharing transportation network that has its headquarters in San Francisco within California and it operates in around 633 cities across the world. This popular platform can be used with the help of website or the mobile app (Uber.com 2018). Uber has acted as a pioneer in relation to sharing economy and the changes that have been brought about in the universities is referred as “ Uberisation”. Uber makes use of a dynamic pricing model and the prices differ on the basis of projected time along with that of distance. This essay analyzes in detail the advantages and disadvantages of Uber Service and the measures that can be taken in order to improve the quality of service of Uber.

Uber Technology Inc facilitates connection between the independent contractors ( drivers) with that of the riders by the help of an app. The services of Uber cost less than that of a traditional taxi that signifies the relevance of Uber in the present market. The company has been able to experience success and is hence looking forward to expansion. Uber Technologies Inc has been instrumental in providing ride-for-hire services to that of 57 countries and to that of 250 countries across the world. The products of Uber are available under many brands like that of Uber X, Uber XL, Uber Pop and Uber Taxi (Cusumano 2015). The upgrading of the navigation service with the help of de Carta Mapping Company has been of great convenience for the company.

The products of Uber are all based on digital technology. The consumers can download the app in their smart phones and then use it in order to avail the cab service. The consumers can request for that of a drive by making use of the app in order to contact a driver in the vicinity (Brazil and Kirk 2016). The app can help the customers in tracking the location of the car and it alerts the customer on the event of arrival of the car.

The most used service is that of Uber X which is a low-budget option. The drivers make use of their own vehicles in order to transport the passengers. Uber Taxi helps in connecting the licensed taxi driver to that of the passengers. The Uber Black can be made use of by the consumers who want to ride in that of a high-end sedan. Uber SUV helps in connecting the users with that of the SUV’s and Uber LUX provides the most expensive service with that of luxury vehicles (Wirtz and Tang 2016).  The consumers can enjoy the benefit of low-cost options like that of Uber Pool that provides opportunities to the passengers to share the rides that can help in splitting the costs.

Advantages of Uber Service

Cab hailing services like that of Uber has made it easy for the consumers to get a car from their location and they can get the car within a very short span of time. In important cities like that of New York the regulation in relation to the taxi industry has helped in keeping the cars clean. The credit card of the passengers is linked to that of the account that does not necessitate any cash to be exchanged at the time of payment (Edelman and Geradin 2015). The processing of that of the payments need not necessarily be processed on immediate basis. After the arrival at the destination, the passenger can walk out of the car without worrying about any kind of payment. E-mail receipt is sent to the passengers who have got expense accounts and the customers do not have to track the paper receipts.

Once drivers accept the assignment of transporting the passengers, passengers can very conveniently track the route of the drivers. The passengers can also communicate with the drivers if such a situation is needed. The unprofessional drivers are sent out because the passengers can get the opportunity to rate the performance of the driver. Low rating given to the drivers can help in alerting Uber service and proper action will be taken against such kind of drivers (Chen, Mislove and Wilson 2015).  The drivers would not be able to escape after any kind of misbehaviour with the passengers and this makes Uber a coveted service among the consumers. There are many cities like that of Los Angeles that does not have any kind of stringent regulations and in them the average citizens can provide the Uber service.

Safety is offered to the drivers who work with the Uber service. The drivers of Uber enjoy great amount of freedom unlike that of the yellow cab taxi driver who have to work by that of 12 hour shift. The drivers get the opportunity to log into the system and also go off the system and they can allocate the work hours on their own (Greenwood and Wattal 2017). The drivers can also avoid the expensive taxi rental lease by getting their own vehicles. It means greater amount of profit for that of the drivers. The drivers do not have to face the stress that arises on account of favouritism along with that of office politics. The passengers who are rude and aggressive are also sent out of the network because the drivers can also rate the customers. Consistent low rating towards that of the drivers can even cause the de-activation of the account of the customer (Geradin 2015).

Disadvantages of Uber Service

Uber Transportation Inc occupies a valuable space within that of the personal transportation market. It is instrumental in providing the facilities of both the yellow cab taxi along with that of the limousine service. Uber provides the benefits of these two services and reduces the difficulties associated with these services (Wirtz and Tang 2016). Uber cap hail services have been able to garner competition and it has helped in increasing the supply of that of cars within that of the market.  It has provided supply of the cars to that of the outer neighbourhood and within the suburbs.

Promotion Codes are offered in case of cab hailing service Uber and the customers can get opportunities for free rides and cash backs. They can make use of these opportunities in order to gain profit. The traditional yellow taxis do not give any such kind of offers and this proves to be advantageous for the passengers of Uber service (Chen, Mislove and Wilson 2015). The passengers can get free first rides that attract them to make use of the service.

There are certain disadvantages that are associated with the using of the Uber cab service. Surge pricing is a method of pricing that deals with the raising or lowering of that of the prices on the basis of supply and demand. The availability of the cars can be termed as supply and the number of passengers who want to ride in the car can be termed as demand. The price of the Uber service is dependent on that of the intensity of demand (Wallsten 2015). The price increases on account of the demand of the service and the fare hikes occur when the demand is high of the cars. The cheap prices make the customer to avail the service even for short distances instead of that of walking. Trip cancellation by that of the drivers can lead to disruption in the plan of the drivers (Wirtz and Tang 2016).

There are different states where the transportation industry regulation is lax. In such a case, average citizens can enter that of the E-hail network and act like service providers. This can help in increasing the supply of that of the drivers but the drivers may not be that motivated. The low prices have an impact on the earnings of the drivers. In major cities like that of New York the drivers are asked by Uber to buy late model cars that are very expensive (Caranza et al. 2016). They have to bear the cost that is associated with that of the service. The drivers contribute to a great extent to the brand of that of Uber. The drivers had to rely on the surge prices so that they could make up for that of the low fares. The intake of that of new drivers have decreased to a great extent the average earnings of the drivers.

Measures to Improve Quality of Service

The drivers have to work for long hours so that their income can be compared to the earning that they were able to earn almost two years ago. Long duration of time behind that of the wheel can jeopardize safety of both the drivers along with that of the passengers (Cusumano 2015). These kind of conditions along with that of customer trip cancellation can make the driver to lose opportunities of making money during that of the busy hours. It can have a negative impact on the morale of the driver.

Price competition can prove to be destructive for an industry even if it is offering invaluable service. Uber promises to the customers of providing first class service at a price that is far less than that of the taxi prices. Uber is engaged in a battle with that of Lyft and other E-Hailing services and they are competing to provide the best service (Edelman and Geradin 2015). The drivers have to bear most of the expenses hence it is proving to be disadvantageous for them. This is adding to that of the stress of the drivers and unless this is amended it will provide poor service in the long run. Uber is competing directly with taxi and other car service. This has proved to be good for the drivers but bad for the traditional taxi service.

There are certain strategies that can help in improving the services of Uber. Uber is instrumental in setting their own rate which depends on the kind of service being offered. It takes a commission of around 25 % (Mahmood 2016).  The regulation of the e-hailing services can help in controlling the pricing strategy. The individual taxi brokerages should be allowed to set the rate in the event of the ride being pre-booked. By the help of de-regulation of the fares, the taxi companies would get the chance to compete (Malhotra and Van Alstyne 2014).  Taxi brokerage can bring in the policy of surge pricing if it wants to.

Background checks should be done on the drivers and the city should carry out periodic audits so that it can verify the authenticity of their background. The vehicles should be properly inspected before it comes on to the road and inspections should be allowed at the mechanic shops. Flexible licensing fees are necessary for both the company and for the drivers (Glöss, McGregor and Brown 2016).  The taxi drivers of Uber service should pass a full time training program so that they can become licensed. They can also opt for a refresher course that can be held after every four years. Online videos can be provided to the Uber drivers so that they can be trained about the rules and the safe manner of driving.

City should have set criteria for that of the basic training program. The e-hailing services like Uber can provide the training but the city should set certain criteria’s on the basis of which the training is provided to the taxi drivers. The requirements can vary on the basis of the hours that the driver will work. Every vehicle should have the appropriate insurance. Commercial insurance pertaining to the taxi cabs should be brought down (Rienstra, Bakker and Visser 2015). The policies that should be developed should allow co-operative fleet insurance that can reward the drivers who have got good records.

Conclusion:

It can be concluded that Uber has greater merits as compared to that of the disadvantages. The service provided by Uber is less expensive as compared to that of the traditional taxi that shows the importance of Uber within that of the present market. Digital technology is made use of by Uber Technologies Inc. Consumers can easily make use of the popular service by downloading the app. There are different kinds of low-cost option like that of Uber Pool that can help the passengers to travel at a much lower cost. It also proves to be of great advantage because the passengers need not track the paper receipts. The drivers can provide rating to the passengers that can help in driving a rude passenger away from the network. The discount and special offers provided by Uber Technologies Inc further help in the process of attracting the passengers who can make use of the profitable service.

References:

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Caranza, V., Chow, K., Pham, H., Roswell, E. and Sun, P., 2016. Life Cycle Analysis: Uber vs Car Ownership. Environment, 159, pp.1-19.

Chen, L., Mislove, A. and Wilson, C., 2015, October. Peeking beneath the hood of uber. In Proceedings of the 2015 Internet Measurement Conference (pp. 495-508). ACM.

Cusumano, M.A., 2015. How traditional firms must compete in the sharing economy. Communications of the ACM, 58(1), pp.32-34.

Edelman, B.G. and Geradin, D., 2015. Efficiencies and regulatory shortcuts: How should we regulate companies like Airbnb and Uber. Stan. Tech. L. Rev., 19, p.293.

Geradin, D., 2015. Should Uber be allowed to compete in Europe? And if so how?.

Glöss, M., McGregor, M. and Brown, B., 2016, May. Designing for labour: Uber and the on-demand mobile workforce. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI conference on human factors in computing systems (pp. 1632-1643). ACM.

Greenwood, B.N. and Wattal, S., 2017. Show Me the Way to Go Home: An Empirical Investigation of Ride-Sharing and Alcohol Related Motor Vehicle Fatalities. MIS quarterly, 41(1), pp.163-187.

Mahmood, Z., 2016. Should Internet Companies Like Uber and Airbnb Be Regulated?.

Malhotra, A. and Van Alstyne, M., 2014. The dark side of the sharing economy… and how to lighten it. Communications of the ACM, 57(11), pp.24-27.

Rienstra, S., Bakker, P. and Visser, J., 2015. International comparison of taxi regulations and Uber.

Uber.com. (2018). Making career moves? Sign up to be an Uber Driver or get a ride to the airport | Uber. [online] Available at: https://www.uber.com/en-IN/ [Accessed 20 Mar. 2018].

Wallsten, S., 2015. The competitive effects of the sharing economy: how is Uber changing taxis. Technology Policy Institute, 22.

Wirtz, J. and Tang, C., 2016. Uber: Competing as market leader in the US versus being a distant second in China. SERVICES MARKETING: People Technology Strategy, pp.626-632