If you’re a woman who’s ever hailed a cab before, you know the uncomfortable feeling as you sit in the backseat of a stranger’s car, forced to listen to euro techno, and unable to pinpoint the strange smell unsuccessfully masked by a dangling pine air freshener. In the worse case scenario, the cabby makes an inappropriate comment, or glances at your legs through the rearview mirror, making your whole body stiffen with anxiety. His comment is followed by an awkward silence and you run up to your apartment as soon as he pulls up to your building. Not a good experience, and one that went under the radar as it was more of a hassle to actually report it than to just suffer in silence.   

Fast forward to 2015 when a rideshare company has made it its mission to create a much better ride. Uber has stirred up controversy lately with a San Francisco judge who agreed that an Uber driver is an employee and awarded her $4,000 in back wages. Whatever your issues with Uber’s managerial ethical practices, it’s clear that they have taken over the taxi market thanks to their focus on delivering customer happiness. Uber is a business, and anyone who knows a key factor of a successful business plan is that you need to put your customers first.

Try it if you haven’t already. My first experience riding in Uber was with my colleagues to lunch. A modern, black toyota pulled up driven by a woman. She was cordial, but not overly talkative. Her coach was clean, smelled nice, and it was an overall pleasant experience. I finally got what all my peers were talking about.

Thanks to their extensive two-sided review system, and the fact that Uber drivers must purchase their own vehicle giving them more incentive to keep it presentable, most experiences are very different from the cab rides of yesterday. This has landed Uber as the king of the roads and with their valuation set at $40 billion, it doesn’t seem to be putting a dent in their progress. Why? Because technology has come to the rescue with a network that connects drivers with passengers via their phones or personal computer devices, creating a virtual world of ratings and reviews.

Different government agencies and private interest groups have joined up to fight Uber. But what is actually a threat to taxi drivers is the fact that Uber is quite frankly, a more pleasant, cleaner, and more convenient experience. So despite the roadblocks, is looks like Uber will win.  

In 2009, Uber transformed the way passengers got around in cities across the globe. Thanks to GPS tracking, both drivers and passengers can connect with each other to quickly book a ride. Uber is the poster-child of how new technology, coupled with high-demand, can quickly saturate a marketplace. What is really fascinating though is that the experience is no longer this anonymous act of calling a number and hoping you’ll have a pleasant ride. Apps allow you to view a driver’s history and see the ratings from riders over the years. We realize that the system isn’t perfect, but the rating system gives customers the upper hand and drivers incentive and accountability to offer a great experience. Since everyone can rate their driver, 5 stars being the best and 1 the lowest, no driver can misbehave without risking a paycheck.

But it isn’t just the drivers that are being rated. Customers also leave a “Reputation Trail” as drivers can rate them too. This is very different from the days of cabs and the feeling of helplessness on both sides of the equation in the case of a bad experience. In this new system, everyone is accountable, so I think that ups the user experience exponentially. And that in a nutshell is exactly why Uber will win. This harkens back to people’s new trust in the aggregated. Although statistics show that most have lost trust amongst one another, they have gained trust in companies that hold trust as their foundation. It isn’t so much trusting the Uber driver, but trusting 50 passengers who rated the driver with 4.5 stars and above.

It hasn’t all been smooth cruising for Uber when it comes to trust. Headlines report sexual assault across the country, with a recent investigation of an Uber driver who allegedly raped a USC student after driving her home from an off campus party. Uber quickly responded with an investigation, but more measures need to be in place to ensure the safety of its passengers in addition to the quality of service. Part of having a successful business is maintaining trust so there is certainly room for the company to grow when it comes to this significant issue.  

Technology has shaped our modern lives in more ways than one. One of those ways is how we get from one place to another in a convenient, comfortable fashion. We can’t go backwards, just forwards as this is the nature of innovation. Technology has enabled Uber to create a network of drivers and passengers, connecting them in cities across the globe, and giving them a voice. With their voice, they can describe how wonderful, or how terrible their experience has been. This is the true genius behind the rideshare company. Whatever critics say, it’s the consumer who has the final say. They are saying goodbye to inconsistent, funky cab rides and hello to smooth, comfortable, passenger experiences.