Peter Palmer: 12 Things You Didn’t Know About Uber

I have been using Uber for almost a year now now, usually for rides to and from the airport. I have always had good luck with the service, encountering friendly and safe drivers. One driver I met described herself as a sort of counselor to wayward travelers. Another told me about his time as a sanitation worker, making an easy $500-$1,000 extra per month, selling stuff people assumed was junk and tossed out.

Ride services and car-sharing programs are becoming more common these days, especially with smartphones.

GM recently announced a new program called Maven, that gives customers an ownership experience through the car-sharing service. One of Maven’s focal points is ease of use through a smartphone app. The program was recently tested in Ann Arbor, Michigan, home of the University of Michigan.

Since I grew up in a rural community, there was no taxi service of any kind. In fact, even if you had a bike, you were okay because you could pedal across town pretty easily. Many people have a hard time believing my first ride in an official taxi was in New York City in 2015.

While I don’t have a lot to compare from my own life, I’m told services like Uber are less than a traditional taxi – but I am not for certain on that. I’ve never had a fare over $30.00, although a Virginia woman received quite the bill after not being fully aware of the pricing guidelines.

Uber, believe it or not, might be turning into something more than just a ride service. A new graphic from our friends at ParcelHero details 12 things you may not know about Uber.

I was pretty fascinated by a few of them … like Uber doing helicopter service? Say what?!

*Carl Anthony is Managing Editor of Automoblog and resides in Detroit, Michigan.