Uber to Test Chicago Market

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ometimes hailing a cab is a pain. If it's raining or snowing out, it sucks standing in the cold, wet weather with your arm in the air, only to see every yellow car whiz past you, already occupied—nevermind the idea of having the cash on hand when you're an "I never carry cash" sort of person. One company, called Uber, has the solution to both of those.

One company, called Uber, is working to change the way we hail a cab.

With this service, consumers can order a private car (usually a Lincoln Town Car, how swanky) using a smartphone application, where their credit card information is stored.  But, instead of charging fare like normal cabs do, because the service is so on-demand, they have higher rates and the payment is made through the application rather than with cash.

"To date, we've been all about this really high-end service and we've always said we're everyone's private driver," said Uber's Chief Executive, Travis Kalanick.

In Chicago, however, the service will be tested on taxis rather than with Town Cars, since the city already has a huge supply of them. Also, Uber doesn't hire drivers in its system, but signs up drivers that are already licensed and are looking for more customers during their off hours. While this makes sense, we wonder how safe it might be for someone who is trying to work extra hours—at what point are they too tired or burned out to be a safe driver?

Still, having a taxi on-demand will be much nicer than calling and hoping one shows up, as personal experiences have shown us they don't always show up on time...or at all.

[Source: Chicago Tribune]