Lewis BarbaraCabs in the U.S. seem to be a full-fledged part of the urban landscape – yellow cars fit perfectly into the panorama of New York City skyscrapers and city parks, service seems impeccable and how gracefully Hollywood movie heroines get out of cabs. You immediately want to try a ride.
Well, to make it easier and more convenient, we’ve compiled a guide about American cab services.
The difference in terms: how American cabs work
In the U.S., a cab and a car service are not the same thing. Let’s quickly and simply figure out how they differ.
Cabs:
Yellow or light green (boro-taxi) cars in the case of municipal services, private car entrepreneurs (who have bought a license to haul their own vehicles) do not always paint their cars yellow;
the cost of the trip is calculated by the meter;
pick up passengers only on the streets, at airports, railway stations, near major bus stops (except boro-taxi – these only run in residential areas);
they do not come on call;
Most drivers are migrants, and outside the city center they may not speak English very well.
Car services:
Work on-call through a call or request on an app;
can both provide ridesharing and rent cars (carsharing);
In most regions they are not allowed to pick up passengers on the streets;
the cost of the trip is usually known in advance;
They are more likely to return your things left in the cab (the bigger the company, the higher the probability).
If you need to take a cab outside of downtown New York City, where there are hundreds of them along the streets, it is better to use cab services.
The most popular car services
Not all services can be profitable or convenient. We have compiled a ranking of the five most popular car-calling services in the United States and tell you about their advantages and disadvantages.
Uber. The most popular and reliable service in America – supports the function of deferred call for a cab to a certain time, has a large fleet of cars and affordable prices. As an option you can use the function UberPOOL when fellow passengers are added to you. This allows you to ride at reduced fares (only $5 for any distance). However, in the morning, evening, and on holidays, all fares can increase dramatically due to high demand.
Lyft. A direct competitor to Uber. Cars of this service are easy to distinguish – plush fluffy pink mustaches on the bumper or hood. This service works on the same principle, but it does not yet have such a large fleet, so during the rush hour you will not be able to call a cab quickly. The company is constantly conducting promotions, passengers are given discounts and bonuses. If you register with the app, the user gets the first ride of $15.
Via. One of the cheapest 24-hour carpool services – the driver collects hitchhikers and takes them to different points on the route in one trip. It costs almost half as much as a regular cab ride, so if you have no preconceptions about strangers, it’s a pretty good option.
Gett. Gett service is disliked because of the frequent tardiness of drivers and poor geolocation, by which you can not always track the car. Often the driver refuses to order. But they have a flat rate for a ride – only $10 for trips of no more than half an hour and 4 miles. It is best to ask for a car from this service in advance, when you are not in a hurry.
Tipping in Taxis
It is an unspoken rule that you have to tip the driver for any cab ride. In the case of payment by card it can be withdrawn automatically. There are some rules for calculating tips.
Separately we should note the “extras”: if during the ride the cab driver “in a friendly way” tells you some useful information (eg, about hotels or where it is best to catch a car next time), it is also reflected in the amount. More will be expected for a tip – up to 20-25% of the trip.
Even if such sums for a ride seem too large to you, you should not forget that cab drivers are one of the most dangerous professions in America. Their risks are almost 2 times greater than those of police work. Petty robberies happen regularly, so you shouldn’t speak about their greed or unreasonably high prices.
It does not matter if you take a cab, a car, a bike, or a bus. The main thing is to be in America. After all, nowhere else can you get such pleasure from the roads, travel and interaction with the urban environment.