All travellers have their own unique tales of woe when it comes to taxi trouble. You know the kind: ditched on the ride to the airport, passed over for a passenger on a longer route, swindled out of cash or worse, left by the roadside. Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick decided there was no reason you couldn’t travel well — and in style — and founded Uber in 2009. The company created an eponymous app in 2010 to help connect people with vehicles for hire. The app calculates the fare, which is automatically billed to the customer’s credit card. You can also rate drivers — and they can rate you — based on the experience. The service is available worldwide, with a variety of luxury options. The company customises rates according to each city’s location and infrastructure, passing on the benefits to both riders and drivers. The trick seems to have worked — in 2011, the company netted close to $50 million in funding and is now valued at $3.8 billion.
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