Category Archives for "Airports"
Recently, Hyundai released a flying car concept that it was bringing to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The full-scale prototype was then displayed at CES. Now the South Korean automaker has upped the ante.
Not only will Hyundai mass produce these electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, but it will also deploy them for Uber’s promised air taxi network.
Uber announced its aerial ambitions back in 2016 with a white paper that outlined a future “Uber Elevate” project. The ride-hailing company has said it wants to perform its own test flights in 2020, and plans to launch some version of an air taxi service in 2023, starting in Dallas Texas, Los Angeles, California and Melbourne, Australia.
Image Provided by Uber
Recently I've been posting about my belief that the days of the Uber driver are numbered because autonomous, self-driving cars are just around the corner. The technology advances have been so rapid that most of the potential problems are already solved and governments will be driven to early adoption in order to reduce the road toll and congestion.
I've had a lot of feedback in support but also some disagreement, from people who just can't see it happening that quickly, if at all.
That's OK. It's human nature to believe that the future will be just like the present.
We received this email from a new driver recently and thought others might benefit from the questions and answers.
G’day Phil and Sam,
Thanks for all the helpful hints.
Being a relatively new Uber boy on the block, around 6 weeks on the Sunshine Coast – south end – I have some questions that I am hoping you can answer for me:
Guys, I hope you can help.
Many thanks and much appreciated.
Hi,
Answering in order.
Regards
Phil
Phil,
Many thanks.
In respect to Point 2, I should have been a little clearer. When you get a job or a ping, are you the only one the signal goes to? Or does it go to 2 or 3 drivers and the first one to responds gets the job?
Also, in terms of getting a return trip to Noosa from the Sunshine Coast Airport, do you simply wait for the next arrival to see if you get a job – and what are the percentages of getting a job?
Many thanks,
Hi,
You’re the only one getting the ping. If you decline it (or fail to accept it) then it goes to the next closest driver.
I check the airport website for arrivals and factor in the 20-30 minutes between a plane arriving and the passengers collecting their luggage. I really dislike waiting, so I’ll only do so if the plane has already landed. That said, your chances of getting a job are fairly high. From my experience, around 80%. Of course, you don’t know whether they’re heading North or South until you start the ride, so it won’t necessarily be in the direction of home!
And unfortunately you can't use the option to get trips towards a destination (such as home) while you're in the airport queue.
Cheers
Phil
We've published plenty of feedback here from drivers who've suffered from unsatisfactory Uber driver support.
So it's good to be able to report a positive experience.
My own, in this case.
This morning, I picked up one of my favourite fares, from Noosa to the Sunshine Coast airport.
It takes about half an hour. The first half on the very scenic coast road and the second half on a 100 km/hr motorway.
It normally pays around $42. Not bad for an easy half hour drive and I usually pick up a couple of extra rides on the way back.
Except that this time the fare came up as $24.32! In other words, a reduction of 43%. Not acceptable, Uber.
There are many things to like about Uber's navigation app.
I'll have a separate post on what I consider to be the ideal setup for music and navigation.
Unfortunately, there’s no one size fits all guide here. Not only does each state in Australia have different rules and regulations, but even the different airports within a state have different rules.
I’m going to cover the two airports that I’m familiar with, namely Brisbane and Sunshine Coast, both in Queensland.
My colleague on this website, Sam Griffiths, will cover the Melbourne airports at Tullamarine and Avalon and we’ll both investigate other Australian airports to bring you their current rules and regulations.
And what was it all about?
Uber drivers being allowed to pick up and drop off passengers at Melbourne airport. Just like they are all over the world and at other Australian airports.