I am not one to complain publicly in my articles or on social media. I generally keep it to myself. But this weekend I was so annoyed with the taxi services in Sioux Falls that I feel I must say something. So here we go!

Living in Los Angeles the past seven years I have been totally spoiled. Constant, easy access to services like Uber and Lyft have made life a breeze. And it's saved me a ton of money.

But Sioux Falls still doesn't have those services, do we? I thought we were going to get them this summer and that Uber was coming - but nope!

I don't go out very often, but I did both Friday and Saturday nights. On Friday I didn't take a taxi, but my brother attempted to. After leaving the Blake Shelton concert it took them forever to land a cab and head downtown. He said over 40 minutes, which is rather ridiculous in a city this size.

Saturday night it was my turn. My friends and I called a taxi to pick us up in the Tuthill area and take us downtown. Originally, the dispatcher said it would take 20 minutes. Well, that 20 minutes came and went pretty quickly and 20 minutes after that. We had yet to see the cab.

One of the guys called the company and asked where the driver was. The lady said it would be any minute. Of course it took another 20 to get there. Sixty minutes overall to get a cab that would take us to a location about 3.5 miles away. I could have walked there faster.

After staying at a bar until last call that night, we obviously had no option but to get a cab again. It took another hour to arrive. An hour? On a Saturday night?

The worst part was that being the impatient lady I am, I was determined to find another cab while we were waiting. I called 11 companies and not one answered the phone.

Are you kidding me?

We were competing with the group standing next to us for a ride, so it was pretty frustrating. In the meantime I was tempted to call my father to come get us. I'm almost 30 - daddy should not be picking up my friends and I at 2:00 AM.

I have also heard many times that cab drivers in Sioux Falls are angry, rude and creepy.  If I am paying you to drive me home (and the prices are ridiculously high here, by the way) I would like to feel safe and content with my decision.

SO, can anyone tell me if Uber or any ride-sharing service is really coming? Sioux Falls needs it!

I do not condone drinking and driving WHATSOEVER, but I can see how some people would not find it worth it to wait for or compete for a cab, so they end up driving themselves home. Or walking, which is dangerous enough.

Something needs to change. With all the big concerts and events our city is now hosting, we need to keep up with the public transportation and taxi services. If we want to continue growing and become a big city, lets act like a big city and get it done.


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