I might have a possible solution or suggestion to ride shares and ride share companies like Uber and Lyft.
My suggestion? "Groups!"
Basically how that works, and for those that work for such ride share services, the drivers need to impose a "group" system. That being... when you pick up a fare or ride whom you like and have a pleasant experience, you then add that person to your "group-list". The more ride requests you respond to and the more pleasant experiences you encounter, the more people to add to your group. Those people that you would gladly service again. Eventually, and hopefully, you'd have a long long list of repeat riders with whom you have had positive experiences, then you could dictate your service only to those riders in your group and ignore those requesting rides that are not in your group.
Want to expand you group? You will have to take a risk with driving a stranger, but those positive experiences will turn that stranger into an addition to your list. The goal, to have a group list long enough to keep you busy.
Also, Uber and Lyft riders themselves would be building their own passenger credit history, credit history for past pleasant experiences with the drivers, and with the drivers rating the passenger. A rating system for the riders who treat you respectfully. No drunks, no one vomiting in your back seat, no one yelling at you or messing with property... your car.
I mean.... it's a start. And maybe the solution to the very scary ride share industry.
Let people prove they are worthy to ride. Then, drivers can stick only to those they have serviced before, or stick with riders that have a positive record on file from the other ride-share drivers.
We need this, and why not? Why not give some protection to the drivers? Take some of the risks out of the drive sharing service. Drivers could still make a good living and earn some extra income while protecting themselves to some extent.
Drivers.... you must protect yourself. Those with evil intentions you DO NOT want to deal with regardless of the money. A drunk yelling at you, vomiting in your car, damaging your car, or those people who live to be your worst nightmare. It only takes one bad apple to mess up your entire day or night, and you don't need to put up with that shit.
There are plenty of riders who simply need a ride from point A to point B, with nothing else in mind. Stick to those riders, after they prove themselves as respectable.
Yes, the answer just might be with the group system. People that you would want deal with repeatedly, people you can trust. People that won't murder you in your own car. And as F---ked up as this world is becoming, you have a right to pick and choose and avoid those bad apples.
My system is just a start, a rough cut of an idea. Something that could lead to some sort of safer ride share system. After all.... you can't just walk into bank and get a loan, you must first prove yourself. Prove that you can be trusted as a borrower. AND... have a good credit history. True??? No banks should be giving out money to just anyone, and no ride share driver should be giving rides to strangers. The driver needs to know the person has used ride share before and can be trusted not to MURDER YOU!!!!!
Is THAT too much to ask?
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