I'm considering joining both uber and lyft --essentially private taxi services -- (despite privacy concerns) as a resource to get home in an event.

Depending upon the event,will they be available or even able to operate - say in the event of an earthquake or wildfire?

Make sure they operate where you might be -- some national, state and local governments have been working to ban services like this to protect consumers or entrenched monopolies.

I've had good luck with Uber in a number of cities. I haven't tried Lyft but I've heard positive feedback about them from people who use them a lot.

You can join on the fly. If you can't create a new account due to lack of connectivity you also won't be able to use the app to get transportation.

Uber is available in my area, but I have not personally used it yet. I have several friends who have and have had good experiences with it.

The local Cab companies are up in arms over the service, as they see their monopoly being challenged by innovation. Honestly, I hope these kinds of services stick around.

As a business model they will probably stick around and expand. However, while they will probably work well in a personal pinch during normal times, for a major wide area disruption (earthquake, major civil disorder, et al) they'll probably be no better that public transportation. At the end of the day it's just a car and driver with the limitations of every other car and driver.

As I understand it, these are privately owned vehicles being used, and not company owned taxis. If everybody else is trying to get out of Dodge, then I would be very surprised if any there were any Lyft or Uber vehicles not already tasked with evacuating the owner's family and possesions.

You'd have better luck keeping copies of the local bus schedules handy. I believe that if it safe to do so, then they are required to run.

But why not do all of the above? taxi/ uber/ bus...

Make sure you have a good rating with Uber before you depend on them.

"Just as Uber passengers rate their drivers, Uber’s drivers rate their passengers. This fact has been public for a while now—the company published a blog post explaining the policy back in April, titled “Feedback Is a Two-Way Street.” But plenty of customers aren’t aware that they are graded, in part because Uber’s app doesn’t show riders their score (which is on a one-to-five-star scale). To find out, you need to ask a driver or contact customer support."

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2014...about_them.html