The car-sharing app Uber connects riders to drivers with the tap of a smartphone screen and has been in Honolulu since 2013. As stated in the North Shore magazine Presence, Uber is operating in multiple cities inter-nationally and is set to start services on the North Shore in 2016.
According to their website, Uber claims to make cities more accessible through their smartphone application, which allows riders to send trip requests to drivers and have a ride in 10 minutes or less.
For Ryan Domingo, a freshmen accounting major from the Philippines, Uber is a big advantage in terms of convenience. He said the bus “takes a long time before it arrives, and sometimes it’s full and you end up standing the whole time. But Uber is a comfortable and convenient way of traveling.”
Awapuhi Robinson, an Uber brand ambassador based in Hawaii, said Uber can help people enjoy safe, reliable rides at the touch of a button. She explained the application is a detailed tool to give both the drivers and riders a fulfilling experience from the ride. “The application will tell you exactly where everything is. All riders have to do is download an app and it will ping your location. The GPS spans the whole island to pin you to a driver who can take you to where you want to go,” said Robinson.
She said riders can use the app to estimate their fare. By sliding to the different options of an Uber X, Uber XL, Uber taxi, or Uber select, the fares will adjust, giving riders all the information they need before they purchase a ride.
“The biggest thing is making sure the students know how to use the application. We have our website available for them and videos to see how to use it and we can send information,” Robinson continued.
Bailey Trussel, a junior psychology major from Washington has taken Uber multiple times and said she enjoys the professional, convenient, and easy way of commuting that it provides.
Trussel points out that she feels good because in the Uber application, she can see exactly who her driver is and the ratings that they've gotten from other people. “I’ve never had a bad experience with Uber. They're always very clean and the prices are always reasonably priced.”
Emphasizing that Uber has numerous advantages, Robinson explained Uber does an extensive seven-year background check on drivers. This makes people more comfortable because they know that it is a legitimate ride.
She said, “It is a $7 fare ride from Laie Point to BYUH. And with multiple people splitting the fare, its actually cheaper.”
You can learn more about Uber at uber.com, and get local updates on Twitter at @Uber_Honolulu, or download the app for your iOS or Android device.