Urban life is different than life at the country
manor, especially when it comes to getting around. It doesn't
matter if you live, work, shop, sight-see or vacation in the city,
you have to get from A to B and back to A, and there's an App for
that. Several come to mind, let's call those Smart Apps(es).
Chicago is an ideal city to live, work, shop,
sight-see and vacation so let's talk about Hailo, Uber,
ZipCar, and Divvy, which are available there.
You register with these services and have all the
protection of your credit card company in case something upsets
you. No money changes hands, even tipping is built in, you don't
even have to carry your credit card. You can even split a fare so
you're not always paying for your deadbeat friends. You even get a
quote before you book.
Hailo gets
you a cab, tap-tap. No walking to stand on a corner flailing your
arms only to see passengers in the back of the approaching cab.
Hailo drivers are all licensed in the city of Chicago and approved
by Hailo. With a built-in tip and fares being handed to them I
can't imagine any driver willing to screw up anyway. I have my
built-in tip a little higher than most, hoping that I get
preferential treatment when cabs are dispatched.
When you're finished with dinner and ready to go to
the next place for drinks and entertainment, tap-tap for a cab, pay
the bill, and walk to the curb. You can get home safely that way
too. Hop out of the cab and your receipt comes to your phone in an
email.
If you need a little more flash, maybe it's a date,
or a business thing, and you want to impress, Uber gives
you "Black Cars". You get to pick between Black Car, SUV
or Luxury Car depending on your wants or needs, tap-tap and within
minutes your car and driver arrive.
The trains to Chicago dump you somewhere in the
South Loop on Wacker, tap-tap a Black Car picks you up and takes
you to Water Tower Place to shop the Magnificent Mile. You shop
'til you drop and stagger to Gino's for pizza. Once rejuvenated
tap-tap a Black SUV picks you up, and your mountain of gifts, and
drives you back to the train.
Maybe you have lots of stops and want something
that's yours for the day, or half a day, or a few hours at night.
Maybe you want to lock your stuff in the trunk while you bounce
around the city, Zip Car can do that for you.
Zip Car has cars parked (indoors) all around the
city that you can rent by the hour or day. You pay $6 a month to be
a member and you get a Zip Card. When you rent a Zip Car, tap-tap,
your Zip Card gets programmed to unlock the doors and
ignition. Zip Car pays the gas and insurance so you are good to go.
All you have to do is return it to where you got it and, get this,
the parking spot is reserved for you.
Divvy rents bicycles. You can
be a member or just buy a one day pass. Using the App you find a
location, or maybe you're standing in front of it, and you dip your
key or enter a code at the kiosk to unlock a bike. You peddle to
where you want to go, dock (return) it in the nearest Divvy Bike
station, and walk away. When you're ready just repeat the process
to go to the next destination, or back to point A.
Each leg of your journey should be less than 30
minutes station to station. You aren't renting one bike for the
day, you are renting several bikes to make your day. Why would
anyone want the hassle of one bike anyway? It's not like they're
hard to find.
There are hundreds of stations, one at the Adler
Planetarium, Field Museum, Millennium Park, Art Institute, Cultural
Center, Museum of Contemporary Art, Water Tower Place, Cadillac
Palace Theater, Willis (Sears) Tower, and Zanie's Comedy Cub
to name a few. Divvy even has 24/7 phone support.
