Community Chat

[beautywithin]

Good afternoon everyone hope you all are enjoying your day! I have an unusual situation that I live alone and can't drive and I am in my early 50's. I have long periods of time I am by myself and wish I could get out more. I have a a few family members in town and some really good friends but I don't see them as much as I want to as they are very busy and they always have to come and see me which is an inconvience to do it on a regular basis. A friend told me about Uber and Lyft last year and they were only in my city a short while due to insurance regulations and they are trying to bring it back for next year. I just went on both sites to see what the fares are and to go to my mom's which is 9 miles away the cheapest would be $13 and the most would be around $18 for one way! It is not in my city yet so the fares are not out yet but I picked the cheapest and most expensive rates and these are the rates I came up with. This is very expensive for me if this is right and would not be that much far off from taking an actual taxi. So I am wondering if any of you can verify if you used Uber or Lyft or know someone that has and if these rates the way I calculated it are in fact correct. There are no other transportation companies available to me outside of medical transportation which I take all the time. 

Thank you all for your time and God Bless!!

[sunshine45]

i cant tell you if your figures are wrong or right, but my daughter and many of her friends use uber and lyft to get around town rather than a taxi......she has been using it for several years now and has never had a problem. one of the best things about it is that no cash changes hands.....it is all done online.....

[beautywithin]

I also like the fact that you don't have to worry about carrying cash to pay. If my calculations are correct, it just seems that paying $26-$30 round trip to go 9 miles is a lot and I can't afford to do that. Thank you for your time!

[brii]

My daughter and her friends use it to get around up at school. She said it's reliable and relatively inexpensive.

[beautywithin]

On the Lyft site for example for Cleveland the base charge is $1.25, cost per miles is $1.12 and cost per minute is $0.20. So for 9 miles this all adds up to be $14.33 for one way! To me I don't see how that is a viable option for me and is very expensive. 

[beautywithin]

Oh I just noticed there is a trust safety fee of $1.55. So that is a total $17.43 one way for 9 miles!

[millieshops]

Ouch!  For those of us who live alone, this is a problem.  I'm very aware that for me, the first life skill I'm likely to lose will be my ability to drive, vision being the cause.

One thing to think about - buying a car, maintaining it, insuring it costs plenty and for me right now, that's what I want, but I'm also working to convince myself that when the time comes for me to give up my own car, I'll have that money to spend on public transportation where available or on taxis, Uber, etc. 

They're never a substitute for your own car, but where I live, just the insurance is over $1200/year.  Right there I'll have $100 month to pay for rides plus no gas costs, no tires, no oil changes, and no monthly payments.

I wish you well at finding someone to help you at a price that makes sense for your budget.

[Mominohio]

I may be way off here, and don't mean to take your question a different way, or offend in any way, but if you are needing a ride on an occasional basis, I would offer up a suggestion. 

Many churches are looking for ways to offer service to their communities. There might be a church in your area, even if you don't attend, that would have folks there that are willing to be of service and give you a ride on occasion.

We have many churches, even in our rural area, that are looking for community service projects and ways to help out. It certainly wouldn't hurt to ask friends and neighbors if they are aware of any churches in your area that might have a community service program that would consider doing this for you. You could even contact churches yourself, and ask about their programs.

That does sound like a lot of money for a ride on any kind of regualr basis.

[beautywithin]

Thank you for trying to help me. I have gone to a few churches when a friend was able to pick me up and they put the word out if anyone can pick me up and no one is able to. I have called another 10 churches in my area and no one can help me. I have put ads out and no response. I recently learned how rare my particular situation is. Weeks go by I don't see anyone or go out. I don't feel well a lot and I can't go outside in the winter and it has been 3 years now since I had to stop driving. I will just keep trying to be positive and be grateful for what I have. It just gets hard after a couple of weeks being by myself. I guess what I need is finding ways of coping with it because for my situation it is just impossible to expect I will be able to get out and see people on a regular basis. So I can scratch Uber and Lyft off the list. 

[NiteStar]

beautywithin.........I'm so sorry there isn't a more viable option for you and I agree that the uber fares sound really high. Do you have someone that brings groceries or toiletries to you?  If so, maybe they could give you a ride somehwere and then you would only have to pay the fare to get back home.