Soon a phone won’t be required for Uber hailing.

[Simba's Mom]

I'd like to think that, as in the title of this thread"-phones won't be required, but that they can still be used if you want to get an Uber the "old-fashioned way". And I use an Uber all the time when I go to WDW solo-I feel that they make it safe enough by sending you a picture(and name) of the driver, the license plate # along with a description of the car. Maybe it's not enough for some and I'm too trusting, but so far it's worked.

 

[_19disnA]

Kiosks tend to be a pain in most places I have used them. The ones at various fast food restaurant at freeway plazas tend to be empty while people prefer to wait in line to order instead. Each one is different/not intuitive and the first time you use it you have to navigate/learn their particular menu formats to find what you are looking for. On some, if you don't choose correctly and/or need to return to a prior screen you have to start your order all over again. That is my impression of why most people avoid them.

For Uber it seems like added cost to put in those kiosks and not sure they will get additional revenue compared to simply using their phone app. I think as more people realize they are simply an online taxi service, the price comparison to traditional cabs becomes a bigger factor.

 

[Dead2009]

I feel like this will be useful for those who get drunk at sports games and cant use their phone properly, lol.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Is this just the OP's opinion for why a kiosk is being added because like others it doesn't really make as much sense to just say soon a phone won't be required.

I think it's for a different audience member entirely.

To me it's for the person who doesn't use rideshare as a norm so they don't have an account. Many of us get annoyed when something requires us to sign up for an account when we're unlikely to use the thing that is requiring it much.

I did google it and another point was made about international users which I think is a very good point ties into potential international service problems as well as usability of the service where someone lives. I know for us when we've traveled internationally there are times where a kiosk would have been so much better. Like in this town in Germany Uber was there but really didn't work well. In Scotland (both in Glasgow and Edinburgh) they use RingGo app for parking meters (and just to show how bad it is on Google Play it has a 1.5 star rating with more than 68,500 reviews, it's just an awful app), if a meter has a functioning card swipe no problem but when it doesn't well let's just say for international users (and even domestic but big time for international users) you just can't use the service, it just doesn't work. Signing up for an account then waiting for a verification code to be texted or e-mailed which never comes and inability to get the phone prompts to work when calling as an alterative way it's just useless. Even though that's not rideshare a kiosk to would have worked out well to use to not have to rely on signing up for an account and for an international visitor to get it to work.

 

[bcla]

I am not sure someone who isn't tech savvy is going to be any more comfortable using a kiosk.

The rationale might be about downloading the app, setting it up with the credit card, then ordering a ride. A single purpose kiosk might be easier for some, especially with payment via credit card point of sale.