All i can say is that it sounds really stupid

 

Check it out at uzurv.com. I like the idea that riders can choose their drivers.

 

I'm excited to see Uzurv coming onto the market, if for no other reason than its one of the few Richmond-based tech startups out there. I live 3 blocks from their office and have met one of the partners, who is also an Uber driver.

The app will be useful for pickups in the suburbs, especially at odd hours (such as those 4 AM runs to the airport). It will even offer a tip button - they call it "incentive."

I signed up for the beta, so we will see if Uzurv gets any traction with riders. Richmond Uber pricing is now down to 80¢ per mile, which is barely profitable for me to begin with. Advance reservations do add a big "hassle factor" for the driver (extra wait time, rescheduling, more phone calls, etc.) so I'll only accept prearranged trips through Uzurv if the incentive is big enough.

 

Interesting concept BUT I'm not sure it will ultimately work in the end once their fees of nearly $3.00 come into play....

Hello.... Pax are CHEAP and so far drivers are plentiful.

Andy

PS- Maybe they can switch gears and make us a GOOD Ride Share / TNC app..

 

Interesting concept BUT I'm not sure it will ultimately work in the end once their fees of nearly $3.00 come into play....

Hello.... Pax are CHEAP and so far drivers are plentiful.

Andy

PS- Maybe they can switch gears and make us a GOOD Ride Share / TNC app..

The rider and driver are both charged the fee too

 

I wouldn't use it as a pax. The biggest benefit I can think of is being able to choose drivers with nice cars. I'm tall, so getting a Prius, civic, focus, or corolla blows. But my avg ride is very short, so I'm not paying $3 every day to avoid a subcompact.

 

Ummm I'm still trying to pronounce the company name. What does it mean?? Why does it have a "Z" in it?? Why couldn't they call the company "HoocUp"? Or maybe "No,Izurv"? Do I get in trouble if I say you're hot? Or if I ask is that a bottle of Tequila on the cabinet in your photo?

 

I won't get offended just don't ask me out on a date. No it's not - Jamaican rum from vacation last year

Yeah I haven't gotten the name either though. I feel like it had something to do with u reserve but it still doesn't fully fit

 

Once the driver confirms in the UZURV app that s/he has met with the rider, UZURV will send a reminder to both parties to open their TNC apps. The rider can then request a ride through the TNC service and the driver will be pinged as the closest available driver.

there simply is no guarantee of that
seems more dead miles will be involved
but I guess u can use this to sort of filter out destinations for longer trips only

 

Illegal in VA. Snapshot of email uploaded.

 

I hope Uzurv has some good lawyers and/or lobbyists. I would argue that they're still operating within the law in Virginia, as the TNC (Uber) is still the one matching the rider with the driver. When the reserved driver arrives at the pickup point, they should ideally be the closest driver and thus be the one pinged by Uber at that point.

The one thing Uzurv should do if they haven't already is apply for a Virginia "transportation of passengers broker" license with DMV. Anyone who sells transportation in VA but is not a transportation provider is supposed to have this license.

Like many legalities in the TNC business, this seems a matter of semantics.

 

From the point the rider accepts the driver the driver goes to the location and then the rider is suppose to open the UBER app and request a ride on UBER.

This is legally considered a street hail. We are supposed to take blind app requests. Not stand next to someone and let them ping us. Hard to prove in reality however and prob a lot of drivers have had to do it for one reason or another.

 

yeap, and its considered a street hail in washington DC as well. I believe someone posted the statue on this a while back

 

Yes it is semantics.

Rider initiates the ride. Rider chooses their driver. Rider approaches the driver when it arrives. Not a street hail in any way. Driver does not get out of their car.

If DMV has not officially approved UZURV yet, doesn't mean they won't. Finding illegal technicalities are arguments coming from a biased position of jealousy.

 

If DMV has not officially approved UZURV yet, doesn't mean they won't. Finding illegal technicalities are arguments coming from a biased position of jealousy.

lol jealousy
funniest stuff ive read all day

 

It's illegal. I got off with a warning after being tricked to do a pre-arranged pickup using facebook Messenger....an app.....at the airport. It's no different. It's in plain English, there are no semantics. Everyone deserves all the truth. Someone gets caught, its a fine and 1 year suspension which affects the driver, not you. End of story.

 

Two points:

It's a PREARRANGED Reservation, not a street hail. It's booked in advance with a complete waybill.

Second, why not market this to passengers looking for commercial car service, in addition to TNC customers?

I'm hoping Uber is not calling the shots in terms of Uzurv's marketing and operations business model. There's way more car service customers than Uber Black and SUV customers.

 

Which is also illegal

 

I wouldn't know about VA, but prearranged reservations should fine so long as they are run by commercial limousines. Couldn't Uzurv just make the app available for permitted BLACK AND SUV drivers, regardless of whether they run the trips on Uber, or without Uber?
I'd be happy to take their reservations, use Uber's SUV pricing, and run the job. No need to pay Uber the 28%. I can process CC with Square. What's not to like?

 

A law in VA prohibiting a reservation app doesn't pass the smell test. Why would that exist, except as a protectionist measure? Prearranged is statistically much safer than demand mode operators like taxis and TNCs. You'd think regulators would want to encourage reservations. Prearranged limo companies have been using reservation apps for years already. So, if there's regulations prohibiting TNCs from having this feature, the law makers don't have safety as their main reason for creating those rules.

What's further baffling, Uber and Lyft define the trips as prearranged anyway (despite that being a completely false assertion.)

Does this law in VA mean that taxis cannot set reservations for their customers? Taxis can only take street hails?