Taxi wars: Trying to find a ride with Uber — and failing

Editor’s note: This is the last story in a four-part series, reported and published with the Houston Chronicle, which examines the impact of Uber, the app-based ride-hailing service, on America’s fourth-largest city. Read parts one, two and three.

HOUSTON — If you’re in the right place and don’t need special accommodations, this might be the best time to look for a ride in Houston. Taxis are plentiful, with willing drivers in the usual spots. An army of UberX drivers are eagerly combing Houston streets, and many believe the number is growing.

It’s truly a buyer’s market, said Midtown resident Todd Slusher, 26, who frequently uses Uber. “I’ve never waited more than five minutes,” he said. “It’s great.”

That convenience, however, isn’t evenly distributed across the city. In popular neighborhoods such as Midtown, where many people live, work and play, Uber rides are easy to come by and the app gets high marks. But in areas farther from the core, and for disabled passengers, a ride can be far harder to find.

When Uber representatives argued for rule changes in Houston, they said the app-based service would democratize driving and create opportunities for enterprising drivers to find niche markets, including serving Houston’s disabled community. But the wait for an UberX vehicle — the company’s low-cost brand — can be longer in Houston’s central, working-class Third Ward than downtown or in trendy spots such as the Heights neighborhood.

Word of mouth is just reaching the residents of the Third Ward, a predominantly poor and African-American area. “For a long time, they just didn’t know about the service,” said Lateefah Eburuche, an UberX driver who lives in the Third Ward.

Access is improving in Houston, Uber says. It recently declared that “the number of rides beginning in underserved neighborhoods increased significantly in the first half of 2015,” which city officials do not dispute. And in response to scrutiny of the corporation’s practices, Uber announced in early September that it would partner with the local NAACP and the advocacy nonprofit Change Happens! to recruit 5,000 drivers from underserved communities, where underemployment is widespread.

Although Uber doesn’t strictly control where drivers work, many with UberX say they avoid areas where demand is lower and the crime rate is higher, preferring to stay uptown, near offices and bars.

Charles, a driver who declined to give his last name, said he will drop off anywhere in Houston. But if he doesn’t like the look of the neighborhood, he will not stick around or accept a rider. “I’m out here by myself,” he said. “There’s parts of this city that just are not safe.”

To date, taking an UberX from downtown to the once rural, suburban city of Humble has been easy, but finding a return trip, more uncertain. Within Houston’s outer freeway loop, home to roughly 2.2 million, Uber is everywhere. Outside it, where another 4 million people live, service can be spotty — for UberX and cabs alike.

According to the rules set by Houston and many other cities, however, there is a big difference between the two kinds of vehicles: Cab companies must guarantee service everywhere, to everyone. Uber drivers have no obligation to work in a particular neighborhood.

Uber has gained a loyal following by providing timely service in high-traffic areas — “approximately three minutes now in major cities throughout the U.S.,” said Susan Shaheen, co-director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley. An abundance of drivers, however, increases competition for trips, making it tougher for drivers to earn a good income, some say. Company officials disagree.

“We don’t create demand; the riders do,” Uber spokeswoman Debbee Hancock said in an email detailing the company’s practices. “By analyzing that data on a regular basis, we can provide insight into the historically busiest areas and share that information with our driver partners so that they can maximize their earnings.” Researchers at the firm Data & Society assert that, to the contrary, Uber misrepresents both supply and demand; it determines pricing based on a combination of predicted and actual demand and displays “phantom cabs” to passengers on the app.

It’s undisputed that the company identifies “consistently high demand” areas where bar hoppers and others are looking for a quick trip. Uber marks off these zones for drivers, establishing online boundaries known as “geofences.” Hancock refuted the idea that Uber doesn’t adequately serve low-income areas, noting that the Third Ward lies within one of these geofences.

Disability rights advocates, meanwhile, say the entire paid-ride system has gaps, and hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. “Make no mistake, the disabled community is equally if not more responsible for this condition,” said Toby Cole, who led the task force, along with Colvard, that recommended changes in Houston’s vehicle-for-hire rules. “We have failed to find our voice.”

Partly to appease concerns raised by the disabled community, city officials asked Uber to participate in discussions about how to serve disabled riders. Cab companies also had a slot on Cole’s task force, along with Lyft, an Uber competitor that has remained involved even though it is not operating in Houston.

Last month, the task force finally settled on regulations that set a minimum number of wheelchair-accessible vehicles in cab fleets over time. Uber and similar app-based companies, meanwhile, can choose whether to meet the standard by providing accessible vehicles or by guaranteeing disabled passengers rides within a certain time frame.

Uber would most likely provide wheelchair-accessible service by contracting with a vendor specializing in transportation for disabled clients. Uber has a similar arrangement in Austin.

Cole, who called the task force recommendations a “workable solution,” said these rules are a good start, but that oversight will be key. “Without enforcement, these recommendations mean nothing.”