03-22-2017, 10:56 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Lodestone
Hi Kirt
Oh, and you get to give rides to strangers who are on vacation and traveling and thus often drunk/disoriented/jet-lagged, or possibly missing their ship's departure. Or, you get to give rides to Punatics without cars, as referenced in the "Hitchhiking" thread.
I can hardly wait.
All riders I picked up were very civil. One even warned me about doing the bar closing run ("one pukes in your car and you're done for the night, maybe longer"). Punatics w/o cars aren't likely Uber riders since it requires a credit card and isn't really "cheap" to that crowd.
In essence you have hitching, HeleOn, Uber, taxis, car owners, as the continuum. Uber isn't yet an option for most of east Hawaii as far as I can tell. And even if/when it takes off I can't see the average hitcher using it.
Of course, I hope it works out for you (and me
) but it seems that, aside from making any reasonable money, the biggest "downside" is making pleasant small talk with people hip to a way to travel that is between the bus and the taxi. And that isn't really so bad. The online Uber driver forums are full of horror stories, but millions of successful rides happen without incident.Time will tell. But the uniqueness of Puna (spread out and economically disadvantaged) may mean that if something like Uber is successful, it will be in a unique way. Who knows?
I suspect many new driver apps have gone in. I was never sure if being in on the beginning was a pro or con, but hey, it don't cost nuthin' (once I pay for my dash cam at least
). 50 cent/mile tax deduction. And I keep my car cleaner. If I do a Costco run this week I'll see if I can't do a couple Kona airport to Waikaloa runs to pay for some of it. I wonder how the grand opening is going over there...
Cheers,
Kirt