OK, so I have had it with the Woking RailAir coach link. I need an
alternative means of reaching the airport. Train from the South Coast
to Woking is fine. But what are the alternatives for reaching the
airport?

Has anyone used Uber? How does it work? What is the service like?

e27002 aurora wrote:

OK, so I have had it with the Woking RailAir coach link. I need an
alternative means of reaching the airport. Train from the South Coast
to Woking is fine. But what are the alternatives for reaching the
airport?



Where is your journey starting from?


Anna Noyd-Dryver

On Sat, 1 Apr 2017 09:14:03 -0000 (UTC), Anna Noyd-Dryver
wrote:

e27002 aurora wrote:

OK, so I have had it with the Woking RailAir coach link. I need an
alternative means of reaching the airport. Train from the South Coast
to Woking is fine. But what are the alternatives for reaching the
airport?



Where is your journey starting from?


Starting from the Portsmouth area.

In message , at 09:14:03 on Sat, 1 Apr 2017,
Anna Noyd-Dryver remarked:

OK, so I have had it with the Woking RailAir coach link. I need an
alternative means of reaching the airport. Train from the South Coast
to Woking is fine. But what are the alternatives for reaching the
airport?

Where is your journey starting from?

And don't tell us - just stick it (and LHR) in Google maps and punch the
"train" icon.

Although if the Reading Railair link is out too, it may well be "via
Central London" is the only answer [including some via Reading,
Paddington and back].
--
Roland Perry

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at 09:14:03 on Sat, 1 Apr
2017, Anna Noyd-Dryver remarked:

OK, so I have had it with the Woking RailAir coach link. I need an
alternative means of reaching the airport. Train from the South Coast
to Woking is fine. But what are the alternatives for reaching the
airport?

Where is your journey starting from?

And don't tell us - just stick it (and LHR) in Google maps and punch
the "train" icon.

Although if the Reading Railair link is out too, it may well be "via
Central London" is the only answer [including some via Reading,
Paddington and back].

Via Hounslow West used to be an option. Isn't it any more?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

"e27002 aurora" wrote in message
...


Has anyone used Uber? How does it work? What is the service like?

It depends a lot on whether the service even exists in your area (I know
people who use it from Heathrow) and how many active drivers there are at
the time you want to travel.

I set up my Uber account when I was in New Jersey on business for a couple
of weeks during the summer of 2015. It worked well there. You need the Uber
app on your mobile with a registration that is easy to set up.

After that the rules vary slightly by location, but the basics a
1. use the the app to book a ride
2. your car turns up and you get in. The app gives you the driver's name and
'phone number, and the registration/description of the car. The driver will
call you if they can't find you or there is a delay.
3. when you reach your destination you get out.

That's it: no fiddling with cash or hand-written receipts (I lost a wallet
this way in a taxi recently) - it's all done by payment card and email. For
Brighton and Sussex there is a guide he
https://www.uber.com/en-GB/cities/brighton-and-sussex/

Uber first became available in Brighton and Hove about a year ago but when I
tried it soon after the launch there were never any drivers available, so I
have always used one of the local taxi firms booking by phone from home or
by taking a taxi off the rank from a local station. However, when I arrived
at Brighton Station last Thursday evening the length of queue at the rank
suggested it would be at least 10-15 minutes before I would get a ride (for
a 5 minute journey); this is because the daft queuing system only allows 1
or 2 taxis to load at a time, leading to long queues of both passengers and
taxis at busy times.

I fired up the Uber app and there were cars available within a couple of
minutes from a pick-up point just outside the station so I went for it. The
driver told me there are now around 90 drivers operating in the area, and
the fare was quite a bit less than a metered taxi. I may well take another
look at Uber when I make the reverse journey at 5.00 am on Monday morning:
no more messing about with cash and and, if my initial experience is
anything to go by, nicer cars, nicer drivers and cheaper. What's not to
like?

--
DAS

In message , at 12:15:44 on Sat, 1 Apr
2017, D A Stocks remarked:
I may well take another look at Uber when I make the reverse journey at
5.00 am on Monday morning: no more messing about with cash and and, if
my initial experience is anything to go by, nicer cars, nicer drivers
and cheaper. What's not to like?

The alleged exploitation of their workers, the implications for
proportionate corporation tax receipts flowing to the UK, and the
possibility that having captured the market they can hike their fares.

History also shows that startups such as this are exceptional if they
succeed in the medium-long term, so what's your exit strategy if they
pull out of the Brighton market?

This is just a generic observation of the venture capital funded world,
not a prediction about any particular company trading today.

The BBC opines: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29653830
--
Roland Perry

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
news
In message , at 12:15:44 on Sat, 1 Apr
2017, D A Stocks remarked:
I may well take another look at Uber when I make the reverse journey at
5.00 am on Monday morning: no more messing about with cash and and, if my
initial experience is anything to go by, nicer cars, nicer drivers and
cheaper. What's not to like?

The alleged exploitation of their workers, the implications for
proportionate corporation tax receipts flowing to the UK, and the
possibility that having captured the market they can hike their fares.

the one thing about the taxi trade is that they can't monopolies the market
through lower fares and then hike them when the competition pulls out

the barriers to entry for a taxi company are so low that if you take your
fares back up to the regulated maximum the competition will soon pile back
in again.

to keep the competition out you have to keep your fares low forever

which is fine if your costs of operation really are low enough to support
that, but does mean that operating an unsustainably low fare to grab market
share doesn't work.

History also shows that startups such as this are exceptional if they
succeed in the medium-long term, so what's your exit strategy if they pull
out of the Brighton market?

catch the bus

He's a user not an investor

And they aren't selling a unique product

This is just a generic observation of the venture capital funded world,
not a prediction about any particular company trading today.

The BBC opines: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29653830

Careful, Recliner will be along soon to tell you you are an idiot

tim

In message , at 14:36:46 on Sat, 1 Apr 2017,
tim... remarked:
the one thing about the taxi trade is that they can't monopolies the
market through lower fares and then hike them when the competition
pulls out

the barriers to entry for a taxi company are so low that if you take
your fares back up to the regulated maximum the competition will soon
pile back in again.

to keep the competition out you have to keep your fares low forever

which is fine if your costs of operation really are low enough to
support that, but does mean that operating an unsustainably low fare to
grab market share doesn't work.

Except Uber is trying that. So your theory crashes in flames.
--
Roland Perry

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message , at 14:36:46 on Sat, 1 Apr 2017,
tim... remarked:
the one thing about the taxi trade is that they can't monopolies the
market through lower fares and then hike them when the competition pulls
out

the barriers to entry for a taxi company are so low that if you take your
fares back up to the regulated maximum the competition will soon pile back
in again.

to keep the competition out you have to keep your fares low forever

which is fine if your costs of operation really are low enough to support
that, but does mean that operating an unsustainably low fare to grab
market share doesn't work.

Except Uber is trying that.

I know

So your theory crashes in flames.

but as it hasn't got to the "lets put the fares up again" bit, how does,
where we are now prove that it will work?

There is a theory that its real MO is,

1) force out the competition

2) replace cars with self driving cars and put the fares up

But I don't believe that model will work either as:

a) I believe the date that driverless cars will be routinely available is 10
years beyond what the optimists think the date will be. (We have discussed
this before and you were in the same place as me), Uber can't survive that
long subsidising fares.

b) It will change the Uber business model from one of the owner-driver
financing the cars to Uber financing the cars, and I don't believe that the
financial markets will give Uber (FTAOD any one company, whoever they are)
the money to finance 100% of the world's taxi-cabs[1]. So there will still
be room for other companies to finance self-driving cabs and come into the
market and compete on a country by country basis. Uber does not own any of
the necessary IPR in self driving. There's nothing here that cannot be
replicated by someone else.

tim

[1] a finger in the air figure of about 250 trillion pounds, 400 times
Uber's current valuation