Uber

[Bri]

I don’t use uber often, maybe just getting to and from the airport, but when I do I have a routine (sadly). I never get picked up in front of my house.

1. Always sit behind the driver
2. Roll down the window before getting in the car
3. Get in, close the door, then quickly reopen to make sure the child lock isn’t on (hence opening window first).

I execute these steps in a few seconds so it’s a swift process before we get moving. It’s a shame to have to do this, but we have to stay safe.

[Pegmeister]

Oh Bri, that makes me anxious!! We’ve never used Uber. I’ve always felt somewhat apprehensive about it.

[Bri]

I understand. Most people are. I’m not a worrier but we have to be diligent.

Oh Bri, that makes me anxious!! We’ve never used Uber. I’ve always felt somewhat apprehensive about it.

[cpjones]

I don’t use uber often, maybe just getting to and from the airport, but when I do I have a routine (sadly). I never get picked up in front of my house.

1. Always sit behind the driver
2. Roll down the window before getting in the car
3. Get in, close the door, then quickly reopen to make sure the child lock isn’t on (hence opening window first).

I execute these steps in a few seconds so it’s a swift process before we get moving. It’s a shame to have to do this, but we have to stay safe.

Bri.... Excellent moves!

[Cyrilo Croes]

I understand your complain and I’m really sorry that you where not able to get the service when needed. I don’t know the reason why as to you where not able to get the service on that date but I may explain why it’s not easy sometimes to get the service when looking for this. First of all, service is not perfect and that’s universal, any kind of service is not perfect e.g. even hotels that work the latest state of the art booking systems sometimes end up overbooked. Service in restaurants is not perfect either and sometimes a lot of people enter at ones when not expected and it’s not easy to provide the same good service that usually is given etc,etc. It happens all the time and will continue to happen and there is nothing we can do about it but to accept it the way it is. Have you ever wondered why as to Arubus ( bus company) does not run after 11:00 am ? well the reason is obvious, there is no market for it at that hour,at least not for it to be profitable but nobody complains about this and it seems that it’s understandable and acceptable. Now as to taxi service we are not perfect either and if you need a taxi all the way over to almost at the other end of the island when most of the touristy activity is at the northwestern end, eagle and palmbeach and in town where sometimes there are even 5 ships dokked in at the port you don’t have to be clairvoyant to know as to what I’m going to say next. If it’s extremely busy in the touristy area then it would be very very difficult to provide the service all the way to the eastern end of the island and these kind of requests are very very rare. When guests head to places like Baby Beach f.i. we ask them if they need us to come back to pick them up of which most of the time they agree for we tell them that it is very busy in town and they understand. I have nothing against an app the minjster of public transportation announced but the question is will this help ? in what way ? The current basestations are against it though for they do not want competition.

[Arawak]

Now as to taxi service we are not perfect either and if you need a taxi all the way over to almost at the other end of the island when most of the touristy activity is at the northwestern end, eagle and palmbeach and in town where sometimes there are even 5 ships dokked in at the port you don’t have to be clairvoyant to know as to what I’m going to say next. If it’s extremely busy in the touristy area then it would be very very difficult to provide the service all the way to the eastern end of the island and these kind of requests are very very rare. When guests head to places like Baby Beach f.i. we ask them if they need us to come back to pick them up of which most of the time they agree for we tell them that it is very busy in town and they understand. I have nothing against an app the minjster of public transportation announced but the question is will this help ? in what way ? The current basestations are against it though for they do not want competition.

Thank you for the reply. This was my original point. The taxi service is great,for tourists. The entire industry is completely focused on them. But for the locals, it does not work. Aruba has a big problem with the amount of vehicles on the road. I would love to be able to just call a cab, but it simply is not possible for us as locals. Of course the local market is smaller than the tourist market, because one it's too expensive for locals most of the time and two, 99% of them are in the tourist areas. This is simply not sustainable on the long run as you need to cover the local population as well. If they can not grab taxis, then obviously people will try to come up with another service, because there is a substantial need for it from what I have personally experienced.

The taxi industry is always against more taxi permits being given, but they are mostly not available when needed by a local who isn't in the direct vicinity of the tourist area. It's supposed to be a free market. Where companies can form to fill holes not currently being filled by the existing industries.

As of now there is a hole that is not being filled and potential new companies also can't form because the taxi industry dsn't want more permits given out. Something has to give.