Hyun Ji Im’s blog post talks about his views regarding Uber, a transportation company that wants to come back into service in Vancouver to help solve transportation issues. He thinks that they can come back and be very successful due to our constant transportation issues, but I disagree. From my perspective, I do not see Uber being a huge competitor in the Vancouver area. They already left two years ago after numerous issues with their business ethics such as unfair business practices, which earned them a bad reputation. What makes Uber stand out in accordance to other companies is their convenience, and wide selection of car options that appeal to all the customer’s needs. Taxi services in Vancouver have also adapted online methods for cab bookings and limo services, which are relatively the same price and if not cheaper than what Uber offers. Taxis also come in different levels of luxury, dependent on what the customer is willing to pay. Also, the lower mainland has different regulations in each municipality for transportation services, which could be hard for Uber to be in coordinate with all of their regulations.
In relation to the issues with the Translink services, people are not going to root to other options for transportation when looking for an alternative that can match the price Translink offers. Even if there are issues, when they are resolved people will continue to use it as it is the cheapest and most used transit service in Vancouver. The Skytrain and Bus are both fast and easy, with convenient stops all over Vancouver. Uber has no real competitive advantage over them, limiting their business competition strictly to vehicles. For Uber to come back to Vancouver, it will be challenging as issues with business ethics have limited their ability to grow and compete with existing transportation services.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/car-hiring-operation-uber-seeks-to-return-to-vancouver/article20822761/
http://www.theprovince.com/Marketing+professor+gives+TransLink+handling+recent+problems/10056508/story.html
Photo 1: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:TransLink_(Vancouver)_Logo.svg
Photo 2: http://www.news1130.com/2014/10/07/uber-advertises-jobs-in-vancouver-despite-hold-on-new-licences/comment-page-1/