Just Tap an App and your car will appear

Residents of Garland and Rowlett no longer need to worry about their transportation when traveling from point A to point B. Just a tap on an app on your smartphone can bring a car to your door in a mere 15 to 20 minutes.  Uber was the option of choice until we needed to ask a question about a certain charge and came to find out that is is impossible to get a live Uber person on the phone.

Uber keeps our charge information on file and you need not worry about paying or tipping your driver, so no money changes hands on Uber trips. The charges appear on your smartphone, and you approve them and will often be asked to rate your experience. Upon your approval, your credit card is charged for the trip. There is also Lift, another GPS *Global Positioning System driven service. Uber and Lift are very similar, but Lift seems to have more female drivers, and is the least expensive of the lot.

Both Uber and Lift drivers also offer other amenities, such as cold water for their passengers, cell phone charging, etc.  According to their ads, Uber’s online transportation network is now operating in 528 cities around the globe. Then there is the iconic Yellow Taxi Company. Having caught up with the times and with the use of modern technology, they also have an app that you can access on your smartphone. The one big difference is that the Yellow Cab can be called by phone, with a live human being on the other end  to give instructions to. The cab drivers are mostly men and they will accept either cash or credit card payments for their services.  The bright yellow color of their vehicles  are a sharp contrast to the private cars driven by Uber and Lift. The Yellow Cab drivers I have spoken with have had  a foreign accent. I have spoken with drivers from . As a passenger, I learned quite a lot about world geography and different cultures by chatting with drivers from Egypt, Somalia, yemen, Israel, Iraq, and Albania. One of the most memorable was an Egyptian history lesson taught by Samir, a Yellow Cab driver who waited 14 years for the opportunity to enter this country legally.

You no longer have to own or drive a car in order to get where you want to go. Uber, Lift and yellow Taxi Service have been tested by this writer quite thoroughly. Just a tap on the face of your smartphone can get you a response from all 3, but if you prefer calling and speaking with a dispatcher, call the Yellow cab.

Nancy Ghirla

Email: [email protected]