So this is of course anecdotal but the only time I use Lyft (I avoid Uber) when it's very important I get somewhere in time, like catching a plane early in the morning. Given the nature of Taxis, it would take a lot before I would trust Taxis with this.
Edit: The last time I booked a taxi it was 2-3 years ago for a 4am ride to PDX. I booked two to be safe, only one came anyways.
Having done the traveling consultant thing for a while, I completely agree with this sentiment. There is no such thing as a reliable driving service. I've used cabs, black cars, and apps. None of them are anywhere near 100% but one of them is obviously a lot more convenient.
My last experience with a taxi was going to Logan airport. I called one; dispatcher said it'd come in 10 minutes. Never came 15 minutes later. Called another, same thing.
Ended up flagging a taxi down (taxis rarely drove by where I lived but I was in luck (?) after 30 minutes of waiting on the curb).
I am a frequent user of Uber. I don't use Lyft at all. I don't see any reason to use Lyft over uber. It's price estimation is wrong. Uber says $39 for airport, Lyft says $35 - $46 for airport. Estimated time of arrival is also wrong. Uber says it will take 4 mins for driver to come while Lyft will say drive will reach in one minute. I mean I can see on the map there is no way driver can reach in one minute.
Whenever someone say he uses Lyft over uber and I ask the reason. They always says they don't like Uber because they can't tip the driver. I understand there is tipping culture in USA so that could be reason to prefer Lyft.
I can't speak for jngreenlee, but a lot of people are uncomfortable with Uber's business tactics and ethics. Their HR team allegedly sidestepped one employee's very serious sexual harassment complaints, they've allegedly been complicit in using stolen LiDAR IP, along with a whole host of other shady things they've done in competition with Lyft.
Howdy fellow Austinite, you somehow managed to speak for me anyways! These are additional reasons for me to have some resistance switching, even if Lyft had failed me in some way (they haven't).
Add to it that they want to "always know my location", etc
I use Lyft over Uber because Uber is an awful company run by a scumbag and there have been dozens of different high-profile reasons over the years (and many of them in the past couple of months) that any one of them would be a good reason to drop Uber.
I find that very odd; I haven't noticed that much of a difference between any of the taxi-like apps I've used. I almost always end up sitting in the front, especially in Austin.
Plus, don't most drivers drive for both companies at the same time?
That's a surprising experience, I take an Uber at least 2-3 times a week in the bay area and I sit up front almost every single time, unless I have a package with me. I have never been asked to sit in the backseat, even after >700 Uber rides.
Here in Portland almost every driver uses both apps so I don't find a difference in driving. I prefer Uber simply because there's less expectation of tipping and the price is about the same.
Not Op but a few reasons why I prefer Lyft: The app is (subjectively much) nicer, the company seems to treat their drivers better, tipping let's me thank excellent drivers (rating less than 5 stars hurts their livelihood and I reserve for safety or other exceptional cases), Uber drivers annectodally have been less courteous and have canceled on me or refused to actually come to my spot, and Uber the corporation has garnered a bit of a reputation I am hesitant to support.
I use Lyft because Uber has a reputation for being hostile towards their drivers. anecdotally, drivers I've spoken to either used both companies but preferred the way Lyft treated them, or had given up on Uber entirely.
For a while there was a story every week about Uber on HN. Stories of high up executive hires leaving the company, blogs about their toxic culture, revelations of programs like greyball that used machine learning to help avoid government agents, their "Hell" map which uses fake users on other Taxi/Lyft platforms to track all their competitors, how Uber drivers get paid 1/3 of what they did three years ago in many cities, and the list goes on and on and on.
The place is a figurative shit show. Even if the drivers get paid the same from Uber vs Lyft, and even though all companies do shady things, I think I'd still rather give my money to Lyft than anything to Uber.
Edit: The last time I booked a taxi it was 2-3 years ago for a 4am ride to PDX. I booked two to be safe, only one came anyways.