I love Uber and take it whenever I travel and don’t rent a car. I rarely use cabs. My drivers except 1 (he didn’t tell us we chose wrong car…annoying!) have been excellent. One refused to drop me off in a sketchy neighborhood until is safely entered the building and confirmed it was the right place. I’ve had just as many women as men drivers.
Btw, you can track others using Uber. It’s an app feature.
I would be no more concerned about a random uber driver than a random taxi driver.
I don’t see the concern. I’ve used Uber by myself. You aren’t going to suddenly disappear. My 23 yo city dwelling daughter uses it on occasion. I don’t think twice about this. I’d rather her use an Uber than stand on an isolated el stop or bus stop late at night.
The countdown is simply counting how long it will take to get to you, that’s all.
There’s more security in an Uber because there is a record that Jane Smith ordered an Uber to pick her up at 123 Main Street and take her to 456 First Street and indeed Uber driver number 789 picked her up at 9:01 pm.
If you hail a cab in the street, there is no such trail.
Uber is the new city living IMO.
An Uber driver is not a total stranger. The driver has been registered with Uber and Uber has all information about the driver and your trip. When you order your trip, the Uber app gives you the car license number, model, and color before the car arrives. The Uber driver also knows your name and will ask for your name before you step in the car. You won’t be kidnapped by an Uber driver.
In my experience, Uber cars are newer and cleaner than taxis.
I use Uber a lot as does my D. I have yet to have a problem - but I understand where the OP is coming from as there have been numerous press accounts of bad experiences.
I am 150% comfortable with cabs in NYC and while I am not quite at that point with Uber, I don’t hesitate to use them. I was in AZ for a few days last month on my own and I knew I would not travel beyond a 10 mile radius of my hotel. I did not bother renting a car at the airport - I used Uber and it worked out fine. In AZ I did have some female drivers although I do not see that as often in the major cities.
I still am on my guard though when I am outside of densely populated urban areas. I always check that I can unlock the back door as soon as I get in the car, and I always have pepper spray within reach in my purse. In the cities you would have to drive far to get to a remote area, in AZ one turn off the highway can take you into the desert!
Goodness…when do we allow them to grow up these days.
I’ve never used Uber and likely won’t. It’s a contentious issue in our city and I will continue to support the taxi company that we have used for a long time, and am more comfortable using taxis if I have to hail one on the street. Too many issues with Uber concern me, insurance being the primary one. And this week there was an instance of an Uber driver taking a young woman passenger to a secluded area and sexually assaulting her. I know that could also possibly happen with a taxi but I haven’t heard of any such incidents.
Our Uber account is attached to my credit card. I get a message telling me where and when the pickup and dropoff were and how much the ride cost. This was especially useful when my kids were in high school because it allowed them to get home from a party safely but I could see information about the ride so that if I felt it was necessary we could have a conversation the next day. We live in the suburbs so taxi service is pretty much nonexistent and the last thing I wanted was for my kids to have to choose between calling home and perhaps being embarrassed or getting in trouble, and getting into a car with a teenager who’d been drinking. One of the nice things about Uber is that it doesn’t require the rider to have cash on hand. All you need is your phone.
Use Uber by myself–no problem. My daughter in Philadelphia uses it too. I used Uber X when I was in NYC in February. I left my cell phone in the SUV and it was really easy to get it back. Dont know if would have been possible with a cab.
bromfiled with a cab your phone would be gone , it would be on a one way trip to Tajikistan with in 5 minutes of the driver finding it.
I travel to Chicago for work quite a bit. I use Uber all the time - it’s much less expensive than a taxi, and the app is soooo convenient. Never thought twice about my daughter using Uber alone.
My 16yo uses it alone several times a month. I prefer her using Uber to cabs because I know who the driver is. Like amom2girls, I prefer her taking it when she is alone at night to taking public transportation.
I think that your suggestions are great! My girls aren’t out at that time of night alone. If they need a ride home we pick them up. Each of my girls calls whenever they are walking alone or waiting for the bus. I think it’s because they are so tethered to their iphones and that they don’t know what do with themselves when they have to stand around waiting;) Bonus for me is that I get to chat with them a few times during their day, which I love. DD16 is usually taking it around 8/9 when she gets done with dance. She talks to me the whole ride home. The Uber app links up to our main account so we watch it that way, too. Thank you for the suggestions…
I call Uber the new ‘designated driver’ for our kids.
Just another thumbs up for Uber, including alone and for a young woman. (I just can’t live my life assuming a catastrophe is around every corner.) My D has used Uber dozens of times in several locations. It’s been a lifesaver, and when a young woman is heading home from a night out at 1 am, I think it’s a lot better to call an Uber than to try to find a cab on the street.
But attitudes about Uber are funny. I had a (very) minor hospital procedure early in the morning. H dropped me off and headed on to work, and I planned to take an Uber home (we’re talking about a 15 minute ride). Since I’d had anesthesia, the hospital rules required that someone drive me home, and somehow for them an Uber driver didn’t count as “someone”. I said “You mean I could go home with my [imaginary] 16 year old who has had his driver’s license for one day and has no clue how to handle an emergency, but a vetted adult who drives for a living isn’t okay?” I even offered to sign a waiver of liability. The request had to travel up and down the hospital bureaucracy, which took ages, but they finally allowed me to leave in an Uber car, with an orderly waiting with me to be sure I got off okay. If they had said “no” it’s a mystery to me what their plans were for me or what they would have done if I’d just waltzed out the door.
I think their desire is to have someone not only to drive you but to ensure you get into your house safely and into your bed safely and set up with any food, drinks, etc you might need, which is why they want a personal friend versus an Uber driver.
Just another thumbs up for uber. All 3 dd’s use the service and I love that you know WHO the driver is. Much better than the anonymous cab driver is. Before, during and after the fact there’s a record–not so with a cab driver. If a driver were inclined to be creepy in any way, I would think his ratings would reflect that. I was unaware you could set it up that someone other than the rider is emailed the details about the ride–great feature on uber’s part.
And I do think we’re beginning to use ‘uber’ as a term applicable for any uber-type service. I was just visiting d2 in DC and my dd frequently checks both uber and lyft because one is often less expensive than the other. While driving with a (woman) lyft driver, we began talking and she said that she used to work for uber but switched. She said that Lyft drivers get to keep more of the fare than with uber, they can be tipped (you’re prompted after the ride; d2 says she gives $1-2 per her very short, within DC rides), and that lyft is generally more friendly to its drivers. Of course it was just this one driver’s opinion but, now that I’m home, I’ll be more inclined to try Lyft when it makes sense.
Love Uber, especially for getting to the airport and back. All drivers have been very nice, interesting people.
Just an FYI about surge pricing. There’s a free iPhone app called Surge that shows you what the surge rate is (if any) by location, and it can vary from block to block. I didn’t know this before and thought it was just how busy it was in the general area at a given time with the number of drivers available.
And no, I’m not affiliated. 
I just read about it somewhere, downloaded it and was surprised surge rates were that location specific. Probably not the case in the suburbs, but I live in a large city and sometimes I can just walk to the corner or one block up and either avoid surge rates or get a lower surge rate.
Well I used it. First, there is always a danger getting into a strange car with a strange person no matter how vetted they are. That is just a reality…even more so for a single woman. Yes, rare, but everyone always thinks it won’t happen to them.
So, my neighbor across the street who is 20 years younger came over to help me with my app and I received a promo code. We chatted outside as I waited for the driver to show up. Turns out they went to high school together! I was his first uber, too! We laughed all the way to my destination. You could tell he was a little nervous, too. I felt much better and with the promo code was only $6.
Turns out my neighbors hubbie is an uber driver and won’t mind if I ask him. Win win!