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| Side Car |
Stick your hand out in San Francisco and it may become a tad
tired. No you are not competing to get
the world record for keeping your arm out, but trying to hail a taxi. Twenty minutes pass and nada. Well low and behold if you have a smart phone
(you do this is San Francisco) download the app Side
Car. Side Car is your answer to a
taxi drought. It is a community based
service where prescreened, approved drivers use their own vehicles to drive you
from point A to point B for a price significantly cheaper than taxis.
So what you do is tell Side Car
where you are, and where you are going.
It will then tell you the average community price and the closest
driver. When a driver accepts your route
a picture of said driver and their vehicle will pop up. Additionally, it will tell you how far away your
ride is. Gone are the days of sticking
your hand out and in are the days when you know you can go back and grab a
bottle of wine before your ride comes (true story). When you arrive at your location, you pay
through your phone and rate the driver.
The driver rates you as well. How
else will someone agree to pick you up next time, or you choose that driver if
they don’t have stellar reviews. If you
pay the community average and are not a bumbling idiot you will get your four
stars.
Skeptical? So was I,
but I just returned from San Fran and used Side
Car the whole trip. After dining
with a friend who lived in town she suggested used Side Car to go get ice
cream. Since I was with a group, I
agreed and the rest is history. After
our fabulous driver got us there safely I downloaded the app. Because my friend recommended me, I got $10,
and so did she. Talk about incentive,
especially since the average ride is around $10. For the rest of the trip before heading to
dinner we would tell Side Car where we were going. In less than 10 minutes our clean, safe ride
was there. As I took my last Side Car
ride to the airport I longingly hope for the day where Nashville is the next
city they choose to start service.
