Uber Introduces Uber Taxi In DC Ahead Of Inauguration

Uber,Uber DC, Uber Taxi, DC startup,startup, InaugurationBlack car hailing service Uber is no stranger to Washington DC. The nibletz.com team got a chance to hang out at the Uber DC offices in DC’s Dupont Circle over the summer and learned then that DC loves Uber.

Last year for President’s day the creative Uber team had their customers hailed around in actual motorcades which was quite a site inside the beltway.

Over the summer when Uber had some trouble with members of the DC city council everyone from tv news celebrities to members of congress actually took to Twitter to have some legislation that would have halted Uber’s DC efforts, squashed. Eventually the city council backed down.

This time around it’s another good piece of news for Uber as they are unveiling a new form of Uber-ing just in time for the Presidential Inauguration next week. Uber has unveiled the new Uber Taxi feature.

With Uber Taxi customers will be able to use the same app to hail a traditional DC cab. No worries Mr. T won’t be pulling up to cart you away but what you will have as the opportunity to save a little change over Uber’s traditional black sedan and limo services, and also you’ll be able to hail a cab in DC without getting passed by.

“Just like with our black car service, open up your Uber app and you can easily request a DC taxi, pay with your credit card, and do it all with just the tap of a button. In a nutshell, UberTAXI offers the reliability and convenience you expect from Uber at a lower cost, so you can pick exactly what kind of ride you need, whenever you need it.” Uber said in an email to their customers.

They continued “Thanks to the pro-innovation, pro-consumer legislation passed last month by the DC Council, we know that Uber is here to stay, which is why we are rolling out new transportation options like UberTAXI. But make no mistake: it’s still an experiment, and we will continue to improve on UberTAXI as more people use it.”

Uber does warn that their traditional sedan service will be the default when Uber-ing in DC but the Taxi feature will be there after you take the latest update.

We’ll warn you from experience that it may take a little while longer than normal especially based on their service in Charlotte during the DNC. However Charlotte was a pop-up market for the convention while Uber in DC has been running now for over a year.

There are plenty of great DC startups coming to everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference, over 2000 tickets sold but a limited number are still available.

 

DC Uber Driver Accused Of Rape

Uber,Über DC, Über DC rape, startup,startups newsThe unthinkable, that some opponents of private car hiring app Uber have been anticipating, has finally happened. According to our good friends at In The Capital, a DC Uber driver has been accused of raping a customer.

The accusation comes by way of the Cleveland Park Email listserv. Cleveland Park is a neighborhood in Washington DC. The Cleveland Park list serv post says the crime was caught on tape.

In The Capital is reporting that Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson Hugh Carew, has confirmed they are investigating forcible sexual abuse case in Cleveland Park that occurred on December 8th.  There are conflicting reports between the actual police report which suggests the attack happened on a Friday while the police report says it happened on a Sunday.

Uber DC General Manager issued a statement saying:

“We cannot comment on an ongoing criminal matter, but it is our policy to deactivate the driver account of someone if we receive information that they have been suspected of committing a crime,”

The email on the listserv reports that the crime was actually captured on the family’s home security cameras, with a clear shot of the perpetrator.

Here is the complete email:

A woman’s teen-age daughter used Uber car serve to return to her home
last night after a late evening. The car drove up the family’s driveway
around 3:30 AM. The girl walked to the door but the driver called her
back. When she went back, the driver struck her on the head and raped
her.The family has a security camera in the driveway. The camera showed the
driver carrying the girl’s limp body back to the house. She is now at
home, trying to rest. The entire family is of course very shaken.

Because of the cameras, they know who did it. As of this morning, he had
not yet been arrested, but many officers are involved and he will be.

Linkage:

Source: In The Capital

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