raven
Well-Known Member
Haven't driven by Disney Springs lately, have you? They have their own lanes, right down the middle of the road.
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News Disney considering a service like Uber at WDW - Confirmed as Minnie Van
- Thread starter durangojim
- Start date
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
That is one little area, not the entire property. To truly be effective, bus lanes also need physical separation otherwise they just become occupied by other vehicles during heavy congestion.
Robbiemoo
Member
For those wondering about the increased traffic, here's an old but classic photo among transit circles that illustrates the point perfectly. It's a bit exaggerated because it assumes single-occupancy vehicles (and bikes aren't an option at WDW), but the point is still clear:
Now imagine this at park closing time, when a dozen buses (or more) pull into the pick-up loop each minute. Even if a small percentage of the ~100,000 onsite guests chose the Uber-like service, it would have a huge impact on traffic throughout WDW (not to mention the chaos of trying to find the correct car at the loading area, unlike a taxi where you just get in the first one available)
Additionally, I fear that something like this could lead WDW to reduce service for the regular transportation, if ridership starts to decline. It's a classic transit conundrum, where decreasing service causes lower ridership, which causes further service cuts. I know it's not perfect, but for what it is I think WDW's transportation system is actually quite good. For the volume of people it moves at peak hours, and the huge number of unique routes (5-6 destinations from each of 20+ hotels), it works better than most major US cities' transportation networks. Multimodal solutions will always be part of the overall system, but I fear that official endorsement of Uber-type service would cause more problems than it solves
Why not have a bicycle rental service? I know it won't solve any of the issues but at least here in Europe bike rental schemes like the London 'boris bikes' are being used more often for short distance trips. I'm sure this could be done with minimal investment.
On the main issue is love to see a PRT system in WDW. That would trump uber and be a real modern day Epcot style solution, but I can't see top brass wanting to shell out for something with little cash return
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Steel City Magic
Well-Known Member
It'd have to be competitive with mears. This would be great though! Can't tell you how many times I've sat in the TTC bus pickup lot till 3 am waiting on my $37 shuttle back to the airport. (And they're always surprised when I tell them I'm only there for a day trip, I'd like to be picked back up in 10 hrs...)
DisneyDaver
Well-Known Member
WDW will care about guest experience if guests stop visiting WDW. If guests complain, but still visit, then WDW has no reason to care.
ninjaprincesst
Well-Known Member
It would be a great alternative, especially for those of us who would never use uber.
matt9112
Well-Known Member
lol why would you never use uber. i cant wait to hear this.
ninjaprincesst
Well-Known Member
For one thing I work for a medical courier a person we rejected due t background check was hired by uber 2 days later. There have been multiple women raped by uber drivers (it's all over the news) and I have heard of multiple instances of Uber price gouging and Uber charging people 4 and five times the price they thought they were paying, but mainlya comapny that will hire a two time convicted drunk driver that is also a registered sex offender, nope, just don't trust them.
asianway
Well-Known Member
Uber: Where the unemployable find work
matt9112
Well-Known Member
my father makes six figures at BBH and is uber on side *l (obviously he isnt doing it much but still)
you cannot have the flexibility and ability to surge while keeping costs low if you turn it into a taxi company. (more or less what you guys want) uber is like 10 bucks in boston to my old house a cab easily 30. granted carrying a weapon makes me alot less worried about the slight chance of it being a rapist. (something i dont do at WDW)
side note i fully support stricter background checks for drivers but thats about it. keep in mind many states like MA have now made that a requirement.
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asianway
Well-Known Member
matt9112
Well-Known Member
thats like most jobs sadly. if disney can compete with uber prices go for it but i doubt they can unless they accept a loss. taxi pirces are insane and the service sucks. everyone i know in boston has ubered on a few occasions without issue.
Pixie VaVoom
Well-Known Member
My hubby just started with both Uber and Lyft in the last month. both companies had local representitives that wanted to meet and interview him personally. and they take personal data and ask permission to do a background check. I'm hoping this means that they are a little more careful about their hirees now.
Bairstow
Well-Known Member
Does every single story about an Über driver being involved in any kind of misdeed somehow seem to get picked up as national news?
Seems to.
I wonder what possible reason there could be for negative attention being perpetuated against one or two companies and not against their competition (taxi drivers and their unions)?
TeriofTerror
Well-Known Member
Every Uber driver I've had (in multiple cities) has been been absolutely lovely. Professional, friendly, knowledgeable, and even occasionally entertaining. I feel safer as a solo female traveler with Uber and the precautions it has in place than I ever do in a cab.
AEfx
Well-Known Member
Yeah, that's pretty much my thought on the matter as well. I'm sorry to those devout, but Disney transportation generally sucks. I stopped using it years ago.
It would depend. Traffic isn't nearly as bad as folks really think at WDW - it's more being not used to the area and feeling more crowded than it really is. And it also would only be a subset of guests, who likely would be traveling in small groups.
I guarantee you, unless you are talking the monorail trip from the MK resorts to the MK, I can beat Disney transport from one location to another on property driving at normal speeds. Particularly during the day when transport (i.e. buses) are running at their non-peak time schedules and from park to park, and they are no longer directing traffic after the morning rush. You can get great parking spaces and be walking gate to gate of any park in 20 minutes. Disney transport, when you include waiting times and such, and the fact that you can usually park just as close if not closer to park entrances than the buses get you at some parks, is much slower for park hopping.
Now, if you didn't even have to deal with parking but just have a private vehicle waiting for you and get dropped off? Man, that would be MUCH quicker. It hadn't even occurred to me that people would use Uber at Disney - it shouldn't surprise me, but it's not a service I use. I have no idea what prices are like, but I would definitely think about that if I didn't have my own vehicle at WDW. Anything other than those buses...
OliveMcFly
Well-Known Member
This is all I can think of as I read this thread.
JoeCamel
Well-Known Member
Probably spoke english as well?
New York just removed the requirement that taxi drivers read and understand english. Seems less than 5% were born in the US
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/20/nyregion/new-york-taxi-drivers-english-exam.html?_r=0
TeriofTerror
Well-Known Member
I had a driver in Raleigh with very limited English, so much so that Uber listed him as hearing-impaired (which he was not). But he was nice and got me to my destination speedily and safely. No complaints from me!