|
| Solution to a problem : the missing piece |
Uber Technologies Inc. (stylized as U B E R) is an American international transportation network company headquartered in San Francisco, California (New office photos). The company develops, markets and operates the Uber mobile app, which allows consumers with smartphones to submit a trip request which is then routed to Uber drivers who use their own cars.
Future of Uber according to Wired
Uber is not a taxi company, it's a delivery company. And whether its cars are moving human beings or, as they are already in the US, physical products (and no, it's not just cats and ice cream), what it's really delivering is information about how to make cities more efficient.
Problem of Drivers
Uber promised to their drivers in India that each one will earn up to Rs 70k in uberX and up to 90k in UberSUV/UberBLACK but due to more availability of car the booking rate decreased over time in competition with Ola and local taxi players. Uber is not able to keep their promise of paying some minimum amount. Uber is still not making any money instead its loosing money in India.
Uber Driver are protesting against Uber due to lower wages. They are earning less and putting more number of hours. Many drivers have bought their own vehicles on loan thinking they will be able to repay their debt in few months but they are not able to pay.
Solution
It lies in dynamic pricing model. Let driver choose their per km rate to optimize their earning. Let customers choose which car they want to book based upon rate. Both will have freedom to choose car and set rate. There will be no liability on Uber to pay more to get driver on board.
All the vehicle are different, some are new, some are old, some drivers have good rating, some have bad rating, how Uber can treat them all and on same scale and pay them same. This model is good for some drivers who bought their car earlier and re payed all loans or they bought second hand for taxi business only but its not at all good for new vehicle owners who are under heavy loan due to new purchase.
Uber should change their app to show all vehicle details before booking them with rating, reviews just like amazon, flipkart, eBay shows customers.
Customer should be able to filter available cabs based upon rate, rating, distance/time, cab type, model, cab age, driver sex (women will feel safe) etc.
Driver should be able to set rate (or a range of rate), customer rating, payment type.
I know these options will make the app messy in beginning, and it will not be one-click cab ride but over the time, this can be improved and then app may suggest customers to optimum rate and driver to book automatically. Same as for drivers , system will set rate and other details based upon history.
More thoughts
I will keep adding more thoughts on this. Till then I would like to know your comments.
Most important links to check next ...
See Also: How to know, if you have already applied promocode
Still not on uber: Uber India Sign up and get 1 free ride
Still looking for ideas: 7 ways to save money while shopping online