So when people ride using Uber, what happens with the “radio”? What are the rules?
For about the past 3 years, I don’t even turn on the radio in my own car, so when riding Uber, asking the driver to do anything with the “radio” is unlikely, although I did think about the subject.
Drivers are rated by the passenger, and a high rating is necessary to remain as an active driver. Fighting over the “radio” is a potential hornet’s nest. I remember reading a post about a guy thumbs downing his driver because the rider wanted to listen to Spotify and the driver was not a subscriber.
Pandora just announced a deal with Uber to allow the rider to control the radio using the app. Pandora creates playlists that are specific to you, so the app will play “your” music through the car stereo.
If I were a driver, I’m pretty sure I would not like this. I can imagine picking up a fare who turns on gangsta rap and hearing “I’m gonna fuck you up, bitch” blaring at me. Your cell phone is just fine 😉 Drivers also rate riders, although I haven’t sought that out.
Uber rides tend to be relatively short – I doubt many people use uber to commute, other than maybe in San Francisco.
So if you ran uber, what woukd the rules be?
Turn the radio off. I don’t care for what passes as music nowadays. And oldies…they give me the creepy crawlers. I always carry a couple of books in my phone to keep my mind occupied.
Now imagine you are the Uber driver and your passenger has control of the radio. Uber vehicles are a gun free zone, in theory
As far as the radio? That’s the driver’s car and if he/she is a professional minded person, I would expect the radio to be quiet/low on easy listening or off altogether. My Uber rides are business related and I don’t think I have once listened to the radio. I do speak to my driver, however.
I’ve found the drivers to be agreeable to talk for the most part. My experiences with taxi drivers over the years have been uniformly unpleasant (except the black car drivers NASDAQ used to get me to/from NYC)