Hey guys. Uber recently opened up the Request endpoint for developers in their API. I've always had this idea to basically create a Buffer for Uber - schedule your future rides and just relax. Some use cases that I can see myself and many others use Bumper in:
- When in a meeting, you can't take your phone out to call an Uber. Simply schedule the previous night and be focused in the meeting.
- Walk out of the airport like a boss when your flight lands so you don't have to wait around for your Uber.
- Need to get out of a party? Set the request time and "Oh look, my ride is here. I have to go now.". You are welcome. :)
I made v1 of Bumper in the last couple of days. It has pretty much all you can ask for from a v1 - you select your pickup and dropoff locations, select type of vehicle (there are price estimates) and time date/time of request. The app then automatically requests your ride when time comes.
As soon as Uber opens up the Request access to general public, I'll shoot you an email and let you play with it!
And now, just for PH users, here's an inside look.
I also have plans to make an API for Bumper so any of my fellow developers can integrate Uber ride scheduling in their own apps.
What do you think?
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@karangoel very cool! Would the scheduling of an uber after your plane landing take in to account if there are delays? What would be cool is if there was an IFTTT/zapier type system in place so as soon as you land, the uber is called, giving you time to get through arrivals.
@jonbstrong if the native so no, but because there will be an API maybe someone like kayak with an existing flight infrastructure could do that. Interesting idea though.
@simonlea_ You had a similar question to mine it seems. PH should probably update the comment thread in a gmail / quora like fashion if there happen to be some new comments from the moment one starts writing.
Very useful. Hope to taste the product real soon.
One question, is there a possibility of including a price criteria? As in, if the surge pricing is more than 2.5x for a particular category, sometimes it is cheaper to go for higher category if there is no surge pricing for it. So the app can make intelligent decisions accordingly? Well, this might take it away from its simple execution.
There has been a lot of talk about why Uber hasn't allowed scheduling - one of their data scientists wrote a blog post about it from what I remember.
Good to see it built, but I do worry that this could cause a lot of people being late when the uber has arrived, because they've forgotten or whatever
@_jacksmith From a talk I watched, the reasoning is that ideally, you shouldn't need to schedule. Cars should arrive quick enough that scheduling doesn't make any sense. In SF I believe the average wait time is about 5 minutes, which is quite good.
Uber should be (and probably already are) trying to predict when you need an Uber. Have a flight landing at 11am? Uber waiting for you automatically at 11.30am at the pickup area. Scheduling is something of the past - events should work for us.
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How would this work with Surge Pricing and availability?
@koenbekkering We'd text you if there's surge pricing in place or there's no rides available. For now, I'm thinking manual control will then take over - you'd have to use the Uber app.
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