It was way past two, Halloween night outside San Francisco’s Armory Club and we wanted to continue the party. We knew our odds of getting a cab for six people would be zero to none, so in unison we turned to our smartphones and fired up Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar. In silence we fidgeted waiting to confirm a ride, as if there’d be a prize for whomever got something first. The award of the night went to our friend (who was dressed as a fox) for confirming an Uber SUV for six.
Upon Uber’s arrival, the driver helped us in, offered us water, didn’t mind when a friend dressed as Daenerys from Game of Thrones requested to stop by her place on the way. You could say we became instant friends with the driver, in it to win it on Halloween night. And as any friend would, we felt betrayed when we realized that surge pricing that night had made a 15-minute ride cost over $200.
The rising popularity of these digital services suggests that society is now more comfortable with trusting complete strangers. My grandmother would probably bust out her rosary and start praying at the notion of getting into a stranger’s car instead of a bus.
The digitally powered sharing trend has had real-world consequences, including some well-documented bad experiences. An Uber driver ran over a family and killed a 6-year-old on New Year’s Eve. Airbnb is still trying to downplay that some members downright destroy their short-term apartments. And who knows how many STDs can be traced back to Tinder. But for the most part, our trust remains unwavering because these negative press clippings do not appear to be the norm. The fact is that most people take a car share without getting into a car crash, with or without praying.
Lyft’s fee is technically considered a donation, furthering the notion that we’re really getting a ride from a social acquaintance. But you wouldn’t necessarily feel the need to donate money to a friend giving you a lift. Similarly, there’s no way you would step out of a Lyft with just an offer of “I’ll buy you a drink next time.” Would a friend charge you surge pricing? With or without the pretense of “community,” this car share phenomenon sprung purely from the shortage of cabs in big cities and the surplus of unused personal vehicles. It’s supply and demand, Silicon Valley/American ingenuity at its finest.
It’s remarkable that it doesn’t take years for a company to build customer trust anymore. All it takes is a reliable service. “Like a good friend, State Farm is there,” the insurance giant claims in its commercial. Even though it may be ironic to compare Uber to an insurance company, given the car share startup’s murky liability issues, Uber has garnered a similar connection with its loyal users. It’s like the good friend who gives you a ride on a rainy day without asking any annoying questions.
Oscar Raymundo is a writer living in San Francisco and the creator of ConfessionsOfABoyToy.com.
Illustration by Jason Reed