joejones

https://www.uber.com/cities/tokyo

The website says "launching soon," but if you activate their app you will see that they have already deployed a handful of cars here, which seem to spend most of their time prowling around the Roppongi/Aoyama area though you can hail them from other points. I will give them a try soon and report back; one friend had a very positive experience.

Fares are sort of in line with Tokyo taxis. I haven't done the math, but I am told by more numerate folks that Uber is somewhere in between daytime and overnight taxi fare levels.

armagebedar

I'm not sure what the benefit is over a regular taxi -- better cars? English speaking drivers? In cities where street hail or dishonest taxi drivers are issues I can see the attraction, but Tokyo?

AlwaysAisle

I had same thought, what is advantage of using Uber in Tokyo? Within what considered as metropolitan Tokyo (東京23区内) taxi is abundant and usually have no problem spotting and hailing taxi, all need to do is simply walk out to one of busy street and do not have to wait for long before spotting taxi. The driver not knowing the destination pretty much become thing of the past that now pretty much all taxi in Tokyo has GPS. What I can think of advantage of Uber is English speaking driver? Maybe Uber is targeting English speaking visitors who do not have good command of Japanese in Tokyo?

freecia

JapanTaxi also produces an English iphone app which is somewhat like Taxi Magic
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/japa...481647073?mt=8

The screenshots show a mobile payment option which could be handy for those who don't carry much cash. Uber registers your credit card so you don't need to pay the driver directly which is great for those who don't carry much cash (common enough when I'm state-side but not so when I'm in Japan).

I imagine that such an app becomes more useful after the last train and you're not really in a night district where the taxi's are passing at that hour? Or during horrible weather where you'd prefer to have a taxi come to you?

A friend told me she knows someone who sends his dates home in the SF area via Uber on his tab. Kind of classier than calling a cab and covering her cab fare with cash upfront.

joejones

Street hail is not always easy in Tokyo. I have stood around like an idiot for 10-15 minutes at times waiting for a taxi to show up before giving up and taking a train. Sometimes you are just in the wrong place at the wrong time for that.

Here is the rate comparison as one of my friends figured it:

Taxi = 312.5 yen/km + 51.4 yen/min (min. 710 yen)
(+ 20% surcharge late at night + extra charge if you order)

Uber = 300 yen/km + 65 yen/min + 100 yen base fare (min. 800 yen)

I have been using the "Japan Taxi" iPhone app for a while, which lets you order a cab using GPS and then pay with credit card through the app. It works with a few of the huge operators like Nihon Kotsu so availability is generally good, and it's handy when you want to pay for someone else's taxi ride, but it has a clunky interface and you have to pay a surcharge for ordering the cab.

5khours

I agree in Uber is not much use in central Tokyo because the taxis are so good and it's also easy to call a taxi (I generally call Kokusai) if you're not on a well traveled thoroughfare.

That said, I think there might be a market for longer fares if they offer competitive rates. Drivers typically get around 30k yen in fares per day. If they had an efficient way to do TYO<>NRT runs, they could charge much less and still make a lot more money than they do with normal driving.

joejones

So I tried Uber. The black car I ordered turned out to be a good ol' MK Taxi (Toyota Crown) fitted with an iPad mini connected to the Uber app. A good ride as always, nicer than regular taxis, but nothing earth-shattering from that perspective.

There are a few aspects that are more user-friendly than simply calling a taxi. Getting a car is simple -- you only have to call up the app and push a couple of buttons (you can also input a destination address if you want). You can see where your car is in real-time, both before pick-up and while en route. The app handles the payment for you, so you don't need to mess with cash or even sign anything upon arrival.

On the other hand, availability is spotty. I have looked at the app periodically over the last few days. Sometimes it's possible to get a car in 15 minutes, sometimes there are no cars available at all. I assume this will get better as more people use the service.

Price-wise, it came out around 30% more expensive than a regular taxi on the run between my house and office, but about the same as ordering a regular taxi in the morning considering the applicable surcharges (and it would also come out even late at night). I'll probably keep using street hail for non-time-sensitive runs during the day unless they bring their prices down a bit.

Those of you interested in trying it out can use my invite code for a 2,000 yen credit: 6w9m1

5khours

Good info. Tks.

armagebedar

Uber has officially launched in Tokyo: http://japan.cnet.com/news/service/35044892/

It still seems they only have about 5 cars in all of Tokyo, though. Has anyone other than joejones used their service recently? At a 30-50% premium over regular taxis, it only really makes sense during the late-night 割増 period (or if you simply want to look like a baｌler, I suppose :-P).

gnaget

I don't understand the appeal of Uber unless availability or cleanliness and safety are major issues. They charge a significant premium to regular cabs. In DC I always use Washington Flyer to go to IAD because they always have nice cars and drivers; not sure what Uber would offer that is better. Some of the regular cabs in DC are horrific and now the rates are higher than in Virginia (used to be lower.)

In the US there is this ridiculous service called Lyft or something like that with pink mustaches attached to private cars.

joejones

The cars are nicer (more room, equipped with TV) and payment is smooth. Those are pretty much the only benefits.

5khours

I use Uber a lot especially in NYC. Cars are much nicer. Much more reliable. Easy to get even in peak periods. From the airport can be cheaper than cabs when you factor in tips and especially if you use Uber X.

All of this is less of an issue in Tokyo. I do think there is room in the market in Tokyo for longer distance trips (i.e. to/from the airports) with lower fares. The drivers who contract with Uber will tell you the big advantage of Uber is the fact that even though they make less money per ride, they always stay busy while they're working. In Tokyo, if a driver could do 4 or 5 RT to NRT from Tokyo with fares in both directions, they could easily charge 1/3 of the normal rate and still come out way ahead. The problem with taxis in Tokyo is they're driving empty 75% of the time.

joejones

Unfortunately the Uber model in Japan is not the same as in the US due to regulatory limitations, so they can't recruit individual drivers to try and undercut the taxis...

5khours

I would certainly assume there are regulatory limitations, but there may be some scope to get around them. Uber uses different models in different cities in the U.S. For example in NYC, they don't charge commission on taxi dispatches...basically a bone they had to give the taxi drivers to get them to drop their opposition to Uber. In NYC, Uber makes all their money off private livery vehicles.

I think the issue in Japan is primarily whether taxi and hire companies have any flexibility to adjust rates. I don't know what the current regs are. If I were Uber, I would try to target some of the smaller hire companies or I would be looking at locations other than central Tokyo where taxi service is not so good and not so ubiquitous

armagebedar

I agree with gnaget's comment (which mirrors what I read from Uber's manager in Tokyo) that Uber is a hit in places with unfriendly, unsafe, sometimes corrupt taxi service. Tokyo is already basically where Uber is trying to shoot for overseas. Their only real differentiating factor (if not price) would be car and driver quality. I don't know if a 30-50% premium makes sense on a large scale -- and that's ignoring Uber's notorious surge pricing.

If Uber could partner with one of the smaller, unaffiliated Tokyo taxi companies (i.e. not Tokyo MK, Kokusai Motors or those tied to private railway operators) and strike a deal to get drivers to do Uber pickups when they are otherwise idle, that would seem to me to be the way to go if they want to expand outside the "Uber Black" hire car service.