If your New Year’s resolution is to give up Uber, then Flywheel is ready to help make it happen. The upstart, competitor taxi app company announced unlimited $10 flat fee rides on New Year’s Eve in San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, and Sacramento.
Starting at 8pm on Wednesday and running until 3am on Thursday, Flywheel riders will pay just $10 for any ride that would normally be under $50. Anything exceeding $50 and the rider will be required to pay the metered balance.
Almost everything about Flywheel and its promotion appear to be direct responses to the troubles of Uber and other ridesharing solutions. The flat-fee promotion takes direct aim at Uber’s surge pricing, which shot up as high as seven times the normal rates last New Year’s Eve. Riders reported fees of over $500 in some cases.
Even the time range of the offer appears to be directed at Uber as the rideshare service suggested in a blog post that surge prices would start around 8pm and remain high until just before 3am.
Flywheel is a direct competitor with the likes of Uber and Lyft in the sense that it’s a ride service, but the startup relies on a network of licensed, professional cab drivers. By using existing taxicab drivers, Flywheel ensures that drivers have undergone a background check and that the cars are commercially insured. Uber has recently had a plague of problems regarding rider and driver safety.
For drivers, Flywheel hopes to make the missed fares worth their while by offering a 100 percent tip at the company’s expense.
Photo via Frozen Hell/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)