Will a Worcester Uber take me to Boston?

June 26, 2017 9:23 AM

Will a Worcester Uber be willing to take me to Boston on a Wednesday around 11:00PM? Looks like about a 1 hour / 44 mile ride. I've never tried a lengthy ride outside of the local "service area" like this before. I guess it's up to the individual driver? But what can I expect? Thanks for any tips.
posted by Perplexity to Travel & Transportation (11 answers total)

I don't know about Uber but there's a 9:35 Commuter Rail train out of Worcester that will get you into South Station at 10:35. From there the silver line will take you to the airport, if that's where you're heading. There is also an 11:20 train and a 12:20 train.
posted by bondcliff at 9:56 AM on June 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

Just do the commuter rail.
posted by redlines at 11:14 AM on June 26, 2017

Nthing the commuter rail, however, I was once stranded in Attleboro when the commuter rail decided to shit the bed, and an Uber driver drove me from Attleboro to Hull. So, it's possible if you absolutely need to.
posted by cakelite at 11:31 AM on June 26, 2017

Nthing Commuter Rail, then Uber within Boston if you're going to an address there.

If you're going to the airport and don't want to Commuter Rail + Silver Line, then consider taking one of the shared airport vans (Knight's Limo and the Worcester Airport Limo both run to Logan for about the same price).
posted by TwoStride at 12:30 PM on June 26, 2017

I was in an Uber in Boston last week and the driver told me they had recently picked up someone in Worcester and taken them to Logan. So yes, you can do it.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 12:41 PM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

There was a story a couple of weeks ago about a football player whose flight got cancelled, so he hired an Uber to take him from Chicago to Buffalo (~5 hours). So long distance Ubers are a thing. Just make sure you're clear when you make your request so the driver can decide whether or not to accept.

But yeah, rail sounds easier. And probably cheaper.
posted by kevinbelt at 1:30 PM on June 26, 2017

Yes you can, but the commuter rail will be faster and significantly cheaper unless there's some reason that's not an option. I took the commuter rail from Fitchburg even when I had a car unless I planned to be out after midnight.

Plus I like trains. I wish the commuter rail would extend to Gardner and Amherst and it might convince me to move back to MA.
posted by WhitenoisE at 5:47 PM on June 26, 2017

Maybe I'm a jerk, but I would not tell the driver before hand where you want to go. You want to be a "cab" driver you have to take your fares wherever they damn please. This is the law in almost every city/county I've ever been in. I dunno if Boston to Worcester is a reasonable enough drive to fall under that but if you drive people around for money you don't really get to be choosy. 44 miles is not very far.

Call a car, get physically inside, then tell them your destination. Works every time. I prefer trains though.

(Where I live in San Francisco the trains stop at midnight and it used to be seriously impossible to get any driver to go to the west side of town, much less the short drive across the bridge to Oakland, so I wore out my patience for the beg/bribe a long time ago).
posted by bradbane at 7:35 PM on June 26, 2017

If you're willing to spend a lot ($200, I'd guess), you'll find that UberBlack drivers are happy to do a long trip like this.
posted by actionstations at 10:41 PM on June 26, 2017

At least in California, the primary difference between ride-share-app-xyz and a cab is that a cab driver has a territory they need to return to before they pick up another fare. Whereas an uber/etc driver can pick someone up wherever they please.

So they probably won't really mind.
posted by misterdaniel at 11:44 PM on June 26, 2017

Response by poster: For what it's worth, the first Uber I called was happy to do the trip, although we had to stop for gas before heading out of the city. He said that most if not all drivers would have been willing to do the trip. He was surprised and pleased by a $20 tip at the end of the ride.
posted by Perplexity at 10:18 AM on July 14, 2017