UBerMOTO

[Lumbini]

UberMOTO ( nice to see the motorcycle taxi and its outlaws now have competition [emoji106]

http://m.themalaymailonline.com/drive/article/ubermoto-promises-to-leave-bangkoks-traffic-jams-eating-dust

[meom]

LOL.

The regular guys at the top of my soi will probably shoot me or the driver if I take a ride from Ubermoto.

[richard_smith237]

I can see the need for UBERx and UBER Black as they offer a safer, better, more reliable alternative to conventional Taxis.

I was always under the impression that the Taxi-Moto's were quite fare and good - and, a motorbike is a motorbike, its not as if they can offer something more such as seatbelts etc.. Although I do wonder if UBER Moto offer the use of half decent helmets ?

[Lumbini]

Don't think Uber MOTO will be going wrong way on streets , running lights and making the sidewalk their private shortcut path winding around pedestrians coming up from behind . If they do possibly Uber will ban them as they monitor their drivers on GPS . If you walk around Bangkok the motorcycle taxi is the enemy seemingly not having to EVER follow rules .

[impulse]

Here's my forecast: Uber will be right there in the dot.com graveyard with Napster after they burn through their $10 Billion fighting lawsuit after lawsuit for their business model which requires their drivers violate all kinds of hack laws around the world. And their drivers will be the next to sue them, demanding retroactive employee benefits and the states and nations will follow on with their lawsuits for employment taxes. Then it will be customers when they get hurt in an Uber ride and the driver fudged just a little on his insurance and isn't covered for hauling passengers for hire. Then bystanders when the Uber drivers shoot at people between rides.

And burning $1 Billion a year in China to maintain market share against Chinese competitors? Idiocy.

UberMOTO? I can grab a motosai in 60 seconds or less (usually 10 seconds or less) on just about any street in Bangkok. Faster than I can pull out my phone and get connected to the interweb.

[impulse]

Although I do wonder if UBER Moto offer the use of half decent helmets ?

Gotta be honest with you, I always take my 1:10,000,000 chance that I'll get killed on the 1km Motosai ride before I'll take the 1:?? chance of getting fleas (or worse) from a shared helmet. Commuting to work every day on a motosai taxi, I wear my own helmet. Because I have places to store it at home and the office.

Other occasions, I'm one of those idiots without a helmet. But it's hopping on the 2 wheeler at all that makes me the idiot. Not lack of a helmet.

[richard_smith237]

Although I do wonder if UBER Moto offer the use of half decent helmets ?

Gotta be honest with you, I always take my 1:10,000,000 chance that I'll get killed on the 1km Motosai ride before I'll take the 1:?? chance of getting fleas (or worse) from a shared helmet. Commuting to work every day on a motosai taxi, I wear my own helmet. Because I have places to store it at home and the office.

Other occasions, I'm one of those idiots without a helmet. But it's hopping on the 2 wheeler at all that makes me the idiot. Not lack of a helmet.

I'm not sure of your odds there.... In a nation with the second highest road *fatalities I suspect the odds may be a little worse... But, that said, you seem to have your options cleverly covered, using your own helmet etc... BUT, I also agree with you... taking a motorcycle here at all is taking a chance, something I'm not willing to do unless its necessary....

Having done so in the past I've had to stop the rider and tell him to ease off... I've stepped off I bike about to rear end an opening passenger door... IMO the general moot-taxi rider in BKK doesn't see the developing dangers, so I simply don't use them - One slip, one fall, one bang on the head and its game over - I won't be able to do my job, I won't be able to support my Wife and pay for my Childs education.... its not worth the risk IMO.

All that said: I'd like to believe that UBERs 'grading' system allows for those rogue racers to be stricken off their list, thus offering a generally safer option for those willing to use motorcycle taxi's (UBER Moto) - this in itself is a good thing.

*[with data collected in a highly questionable way circumnavigating WHO guidelines for such data (i.e. only deaths on accident site count, RTA deaths in the hospitals are not counted.... apparently]...

[Lumbini]

Impulse i would be interested if you have EVER used Uber ? I would think not as anyone who uses it most times loves it . I use Uber X daily here and every city I travel in and it's been amazing not one bad experience with clean cars and a completely different experience than taxi with tracking , history , a way to rate drivers and much more. Give it a try ?

PS : would NEVER get on a motorcycle here or any city Uber or not as staying safe is priceless .

[impulse]

Impulse i would be interested if you have EVER used Uber ? I would think not as anyone who uses it most times loves it . I use Uber X daily here and every city I travel in and it's been amazing not one bad experience with clean cars and a completely different experience than taxi with tracking , history , a way to rate drivers and much more. Give it a try ?

PS : would NEVER get on a motorcycle here or any city Uber or not as staying safe is priceless .

I must admit that I've been pretty satisfied with my taxi experiences in Bangkok, so I haven't felt any need to try GrabTaxi or Uber here. But now you've got me curious. I still think they have a Napster-like flawed business model, but I've been wrong before.

As far as motosai taxi safety, around my place (near Asoke), I sense they're a lot safer than walking down sois with no sidewalks, illegally parked cars and lots of blind corners from overzealous developers building walls right up to the edge. They're dangerous, but less dangerous than the reasonable alternatives. I very rarely take them for extended trips of more than a kilometer or so, or on to main roads. For those trips, I have my truck, my bicycles (another death trap), or I take a taxi, the MRT or BTS.

[ericnoodeeka]

Impulse i would be interested if you have EVER used Uber ? I would think not as anyone who uses it most times loves it . I use Uber X daily here and every city I travel in and it's been amazing not one bad experience with clean cars and a completely different experience than taxi with tracking , history , a way to rate drivers and much more. Give it a try ?

PS : would NEVER get on a motorcycle here or any city Uber or not as staying safe is priceless .

you can call me an idiot, but how does this uber thing work? i have never used it.

and is it widly abailable? how many taxis do they have?

thanks for your time, eric.

[PT4]

​​

you can call me an idiot, but how does this uber thing work? i have never used it.

and is it widly abailable? how many taxis do they have?

thanks for your time, eric.

​

​Eric - Good question. I wondered exactly the same, at first.

1) Uber is like a taxi, but it's not a metered taxi. You call when you want to go somewhere. But it is a private car, usually owned by the driver: no taxi colors or sign on top or meter on the dash. Some Uber cars are very nice; some are just ordinary.

2) You call for an Uber car with an application on your smart phone. The app is free. Within the app is a real-time map that shows your location, using GPS. When you click "request a car" any drivers nearby will be notified of your location.

Now it starts to get complicated:

​

​3) At this time, in Bangkok and some other Thailand cities, there are two companies that offer similar service: Uber is one. The other is GrabCar. Each has their own smart phone app. The Uber app is very intuitive and easy to use. The GrabCar app is "clunky".

4) Prices are about the same for Uber and GrabCar.

​

​5) Uber will only send one of their Uber cars (or, in downtown Bangkok, an Uber motorcycle). With GrabCar, they will send one of their cars, a motorcycle, or a regular, metered taxi -- your choice.

​

​6) Just to confuse things even more, in Bangkok, there is also one taxi company that has its own smart phone app: All Thai Taxi. It looks like a typical, meter taxi, bright yellow color. No private cars like Uber and Grab Car offer.

​

​So, which should you use? I use all three: Uber, Grab, and All Thai. In central Bangkok, service will be similar for all of them. Out in the suburbs, Grab has the most cars available, by far.

​

[Lumbini]

Impulsive why not try Uber ? First ride is FREE ? After trying service you may find your real thoughts and projections about this company and its future are not accurate . PM me your email or Line address and I will send you a free ride ?

[impulse]

Bangkok Post today indicated the Thai blogosphere was griping because Uber jacked up the price of a ride by 40% when the BTS was on the fritz.

Anyone know if that's valid?

[ericnoodeeka]

​​

you can call me an idiot, but how does this uber thing work? i have never used it.

and is it widly abailable? how many taxis do they have?

thanks for your time, eric.

​

​Eric - Good question. I wondered exactly the same, at first.

1) Uber is like a taxi, but it's not a metered taxi. You call when you want to go somewhere. But it is a private car, usually owned by the driver: no taxi colors or sign on top or meter on the dash. Some Uber cars are very nice; some are just ordinary.

2) You call for an Uber car with an application on your smart phone. The app is free. Within the app is a real-time map that shows your location, using GPS. When you click "request a car" any drivers nearby will be notified of your location.

Now it starts to get complicated:

​

​3) At this time, in Bangkok and some other Thailand cities, there are two companies that offer similar service: Uber is one. The other is GrabCar. Each has their own smart phone app. The Uber app is very intuitive and easy to use. The GrabCar app is "clunky".

4) Prices are about the same for Uber and GrabCar.

​

​5) Uber will only send one of their Uber cars (or, in downtown Bangkok, an Uber motorcycle). With GrabCar, they will send one of their cars, a motorcycle, or a regular, metered taxi -- your choice.

​

​6) Just to confuse things even more, in Bangkok, there is also one taxi company that has its own smart phone app: All Thai Taxi. It looks like a typical, meter taxi, bright yellow color. No private cars like Uber and Grab Car offer.

​

​So, which should you use? I use all three: Uber, Grab, and All Thai. In central Bangkok, service will be similar for all of them. Out in the suburbs, Grab has the most cars available, by far.

​

Thank you for this thorough explanation,i get it now, i will try it, thanks again for your time,eric.

[wirkdi]

That’s just how I see it.

[CaptHaddock]

Here's my forecast: Uber will be right there in the dot.com graveyard with Napster after they burn through their $10 Billion fighting lawsuit after lawsuit for their business model which requires their drivers violate all kinds of hack laws around the world. And their drivers will be the next to sue them, demanding retroactive employee benefits and the states and nations will follow on with their lawsuits for employment taxes. Then it will be customers when they get hurt in an Uber ride and the driver fudged just a little on his insurance and isn't covered for hauling passengers for hire. Then bystanders when the Uber drivers shoot at people between rides.

And burning $1 Billion a year in China to maintain market share against Chinese competitors? Idiocy.

UberMOTO? I can grab a motosai in 60 seconds or less (usually 10 seconds or less) on just about any street in Bangkok. Faster than I can pull out my phone and get connected to the interweb.

Not likely. The Uber model is overwhelming the regulated taxi business. In some areas the entrenched taxi industry may successfully resist Uber for a while, but in they long run they are doomed because the Uber model's essentially zero capital investment means they can always compete on both price and, as owner-drivers, on quality, also.

Unlike in the Napster case where the centralized recording industry successfully shutdown the music-sharing site, the taxi industry is a local, diffused enemy while Uber is the central entity with all the advantages of scale, like Amazon, for instance.

In my opinion, it's true that Uber is abusing their drivers by insisting that they are independent contractors rather than employees. The fact that Uber sets the prices, not the drivers, gives the lie to that story. However, in the current era of anti-unionism in the US Uber will get away with this. As another case in point, Amazon's success is entirely due to its avoidance of collecting local sales taxes, which amounted to a public subsidy that it got away with because of middle-class anti-tax resistance, although they have been forced to start collecting sales tax. I don't see any signs so far that taxing authorities are going after Uber in a big way.

As for China, well, all the western companies lose money in China, don't they?

[casualobserver]

Don't think Uber MOTO will be going wrong way on streets , running lights and making the sidewalk their private shortcut path winding around pedestrians coming up from behind . If they do possibly Uber will ban them as they monitor their drivers on GPS . If you walk around Bangkok the motorcycle taxi is the enemy seemingly not having to EVER follow rules .

For many these are the exact reasons we take a motorbike taxi, if he cant shortcut or mount a pavement or whatever required to get me from A to B fast then I might as well jump in a normal taxi.

[impulse]

Although I do wonder if UBER Moto offer the use of half decent helmets ?

Gotta be honest with you, I always take my 1:10,000,000 chance that I'll get killed on the 1km Motosai ride before I'll take the 1:?? chance of getting fleas (or worse) from a shared helmet. Commuting to work every day on a motosai taxi, I wear my own helmet. Because I have places to store it at home and the office.

Other occasions, I'm one of those idiots without a helmet. But it's hopping on the 2 wheeler at all that makes me the idiot. Not lack of a helmet.

I'm not sure of your odds there.... In a nation with the second highest road *fatalities I suspect the odds may be a little worse... But, that said, you seem to have your options cleverly covered, using your own helmet etc... BUT, I also agree with you... taking a motorcycle here at all is taking a chance, something I'm not willing to do unless its necessary....

For grins, I calculated my odds based on the USA statistic of 1.09 traffic deaths per 100 million miles, and 40x more dangerous per mile for scooter than in a 4 wheel vehicle.

I have about 1 chance in 4,000,000 that I'll be killed on any given 1 km motosai taxi commute to work in the morning. (Still, I wear my helmet to work and back)

My sources for deaths/mile stats:

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/general-statistics/fatalityfacts/state-by-state-overview

http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx

A previous post with my sources of scooter death ratios (Post #19):

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/896702-the-motorcycle-helmet-issue-and-thai-roadways/

I'm offering a free beer to anyone that repeats my calculations and gets a significantly different answer. It's worth the price a beer to know if I'm underestimating my risk...

[CaptHaddock]

Although I do wonder if UBER Moto offer the use of half decent helmets ?

Gotta be honest with you, I always take my 1:10,000,000 chance that I'll get killed on the 1km Motosai ride before I'll take the 1:?? chance of getting fleas (or worse) from a shared helmet. Commuting to work every day on a motosai taxi, I wear my own helmet. Because I have places to store it at home and the office.

Other occasions, I'm one of those idiots without a helmet. But it's hopping on the 2 wheeler at all that makes me the idiot. Not lack of a helmet.

I'm not sure of your odds there.... In a nation with the second highest road *fatalities I suspect the odds may be a little worse... But, that said, you seem to have your options cleverly covered, using your own helmet etc... BUT, I also agree with you... taking a motorcycle here at all is taking a chance, something I'm not willing to do unless its necessary....

For grins, I calculated my odds based on the USA statistic of 1.09 traffic deaths per 100 million miles, and 40x more dangerous per mile for scooter than in a 4 wheel vehicle.

I have about 1 chance in 4,000,000 that I'll be killed on any given 1 km motosai taxi commute to work in the morning. (Still, I wear my helmet to work and back)

My sources for deaths/mile stats:

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/general-statistics/fatalityfacts/state-by-state-overview

http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx

A previous post with my sources of scooter death ratios (Post #19):

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/896702-the-motorcycle-helmet-issue-and-thai-roadways/

I'm offering a free beer to anyone that repeats my calculations and gets a significantly different answer. It's worth the price a beer to know if I'm underestimating my risk...

I don't know if your numbers are correct or not, but the analysis is fundamentally wrong in at least two respects. First, is that you are not going to ride a moto once, you are going to do it repeatedly, perhaps every day or even more than once a day. So, the risk, though low, is cumulative. Second, the risks associated with riding a moto are excess risks. That's to say, that it's like jumping out of airplanes: you don't have to do it at all. Modern life involves some irreducible risks, but riding a moto is not one of them. Many of us have never ridden one and never will, especially in view of the fact that riding in a taxi or an Uber is very cheap indeed.

As another example, consider driving drunk. Probably you would never consider doing so and rightly. But the risk of having an accident from driving home drunk on one occasion is only about 0.001%. But the key point is that that risk is both cumulative and an excess risk. So, no thanks.

[HooHaa]

Don't think Uber MOTO will be going wrong way on streets , running lights and making the sidewalk their private shortcut path winding around pedestrians coming up from behind . If they do possibly Uber will ban them as they monitor their drivers on GPS . If you walk around Bangkok the motorcycle taxi is the enemy seemingly not having to EVER follow rules .

then one wonders why bother.

the motorcycle guys on my soi are great, i have been using them for almost 15 years.

[Lumbini]

Some of these replies confirm that while walking the motorcycle is the number one enemy and outlaw that makes it dangerous for pedestrians walking on side walk or crossing streets as the motorcycle does not need to follow laws . Thanks for the heads up [emoji106]

[impulse]

I don't know if your numbers are correct or not, but the analysis is fundamentally wrong in at least two respects. First, is that you are not going to ride a moto once, you are going to do it repeatedly, perhaps every day or even more than once a day. So, the risk, though low, is cumulative. Second, the risks associated with riding a moto are excess risks. That's to say, that it's like jumping out of airplanes: you don't have to do it at all. Modern life involves some irreducible risks, but riding a moto is not one of them. Many of us have never ridden one and never will, especially in view of the fact that riding in a taxi or an Uber is very cheap indeed.

As another example, consider driving drunk. Probably you would never consider doing so and rightly. But the risk of having an accident from driving home drunk on one occasion is only about 0.001%. But the key point is that that risk is both cumulative and an excess risk. So, no thanks.

"Excessive" is a judgment, and not a definitive.

Not much difference between me and the 10's of thousands (millions?) of foreigners who own and ride their own scooters and bicycles (and not just in Thailand.) And the multitude of tourists walking down my hotel dense soi every day dodging the cars with no sidewalks and illegally parked cars. Those folks are crazy IMO.

The other thing that's cumulative is the time I save by taking a motosai taxi compared to alternate forms. For example, I have taken taxis home from the Big C, and motosai's, and I save about 10 minutes every time I take a motosai. That's the nature of the traffic. (Don't even get me started on the white knuckle disaster that is driving my own 4 wheel vehicle, shopping in town) I only get so many minutes in my life, and I'm willing to take some risks to do more of the things I enjoy with those precious and irretrievable minutes- instead of sitting in back of a stationary taxi stewing over traffic.

I salute you for taking care of yourself, and don't disagree with your judgment. My risk/reward decision just works out a little differently.

Edit: BTW, the reason I take a motosai taxi instead of driving my own scooter is the additional risk of scraping some rich guy's Mercedes, or even an accident with injuries, and the liability and hassle inherent in that. Besides, with a very few exceptions, the guys in my area are good- much more skilled than I will ever be on 2 wheels.

[Lumbini]

Is saving a few minutes on motorcycle taxi worth giving up the protection an automobile gives when taking taxi ? Does anyone think wearing a helmet on a motorcycle taxi that breaks laws is equal to riding in a car ? Staying safe in Thailand may be job one to avoid real issues later . As they say here " Up To You "

[impulse]

Is saving a few minutes on motorcycle taxi worth giving up the protection an automobile gives when taking taxi ? Does anyone think wearing a helmet on a motorcycle taxi that breaks laws is equal to riding in a car ? Staying safe in Thailand may be job one to avoid real issues later . As they say here " Up To You "

A little more math. If you buy the math in post #18 above-

If I take a motosai taxi to work and back home every day for the next 10 years (5,000 total 1km trip segments), I have a 99.875% chance of not dying on the commute. The key is commuting only 500 km in any year.

On the other hand, I know guys who put 10,000 km or more on their scooters every year. I'm not too keen on their chances of going 10 years unscathed.

If you don't buy the math in post #18: once again, a free beer to anyone who shows any significant flaws in the calculations.