Well, it did lead to this thread…
Why? Uber isn’t factually a monopoly and further has no statutorily backed monopoly rights. Taxi companies do, in most of the Western world. What planet do you live on?
What does the bolded phrase mean to you? Can you define it? What is a “ridesharing service” such that the phrase is markedly different from “taxi service” or “livery service”?
How long did it take you to get there? You didn’t account for the time walking a mile, yet you listed the total time you waited and broke quite a bit of that down, and I didn’t see you say anything about the walk time, so I assumed it was negligible, hence the bar would be close by.
So, you waited 55 minutes in the woods, at least a mile from any civilization, for a taxi? Are you fucking brain damaged?
I wasn’t trying to use it in a precise way–I’m just referring specifically to Uber, Lyft, and similar services.
One common element that distinguishes these services from traditional taxis is that is that many drivers do not consider it their primary occupation. They do it as a part time job, or perhaps only when surge pricing makes it worth their while. So they have a big pool of drivers that can pick up the slack when there’s high demand. Systems with a fixed driver pool can’t do this.
It’s a bit of a gray area, but I would say the biggest thing that distinguishes ridesharing services is that they have a low-overhead way of becoming a driver. There are no giant capital investments required for a medallion or a specialized car. Payments to the dispatch service are proportional to the customers you serve, and not a fixed fee (requiring that you drive a certain amount just to break even). Anyone that fits into a a fairly broad category can become a driver.
Citation needed.
In the traditional, medallion, model of taxi, yes you need to limit the number of taxis for the health of the business. I think it’s an enormous stretch to think that a high number of taxis during peak demand will significantly affect traffic. Even if it does, it’s a matter of public policy to give people the freedom to act, and manage the inconveniences, not restrict freedom because places become crowded.
it’s only “ridesharing” if the driver and passenger are going to the same destination. if the sole reason the driver is going to a certain place is because he/she is transporting a passenger there, then it’s a taxi service. it doesn’t matter what the sponsoring company tries to say it is, nor whether the driver considers it a full time job or not.
Jesus Christ, quit assuming shit that isn’t there. I waited in the covered entryway of a school because I was told the taxi would be there in “10-20 minutes.” Because I used be a taxi driver, I know dispatch lies to customers, so I doublechecked that that was a real time they could do, and he said it was. When it didn’t show, I called back and was told a taxi was on its way, so I waited awhile longer. When it still didn’t show and flurries turned into a snowstorm, I trudged off in search of civilization.
If they told me it was gonna be an hour, obviously I would have made other plans, but they kept stringing me along. Which may or not have been dispatch’s fault, since drivers lie to dispatch, too. Drivers will give dispatch unrealistic arrival times so the call doesn’t get reassigned, and/or they’ll pick up another fare en route and figure on getting back to the first guy afterwards. Dispatch lies to customers so they don’t call another taxi service or wander off. And customers, when they’re smart (which I was not, my mind being on my brother and the thousands of dollars in car repair he was facing) lie to dispatch and say that they’re going to the airport even when they’re not, because if they think you’re a $40 fare, dispatch and the driver will pick you up and tell lies to some other poor schmuck across town.
Why, it’s almost like the whole service model is fucked up and deeply inefficient. I wonder if there’s any way technology might help with that.
Well, that’s where his brother’s car broke down…it’s not like he planned it…
Nonsense. A friend of mine rideshare/carpools. He gets picked up at home from a driver who detours to pick him up, gets dropped off at work, and then the driver continues on to his workplace. Reverse at night, and my friend covers some of gas.
My brother, for years carpooled a bunch of neighborhood kids to school. Because he went to work afterwards, he’s now officially a taxi service?
Silly argument that completely fails in every way.
If the amount of cabs is increased to the amount actually needed, then it benefits everybody. People will be more productive, as they won’t be standing waiting for ages, and businesses will be able to trade better, as people can get to them when they want to.
Uber and the like benefit everybody except those who are unable to compete with them on price or service. If the regulations prevent them from operating, the regulations need to be changed to accommodate them.
A safer, faster, cleaner, more transparent, more efficient service? BAN IT!!! :smack::smack:
The taxi industry rewrote the laws to its own benefit, and became an unusable system. My first Uber ride was, not coincidentally, a day after my very last taxi ride because the experience was that much better. If Uber stays the same, I will continue to use them. If they, like the traditional taxi industry, start fucking over the customers, then they too will screw themselves out of existence. Someone else will come along and improve on the system from there.
I will shed not a single tear if the traditional taxi industry implodes tomorrow. I’m done with hearing that the taxi will be there in ten minutes for an hour and a half. I’m done with being told the meter is broken.
(n/m, wrong thread)
Like I said, I wasn’t trying to use the word in a precise way. I don’t care what you call these services. The point is that advanced technology allows anyone with a late-model car and a smartphone to drive people around. That’s what makes the service so superior to traditional taxis. If local regulations make it illegal, they should be fought and changed since the new model is so much better.
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It isn’t “ride-sharing”. It is carrying people for a fee. If you don’t care, use the word that describes it accurately.
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Cool, so fight for changing them. Or, jot off a quick email to Uber, asking them (this is not some shoe-string operation - it is a big organization more than capable of taking on taxi organizations) asking them to.
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Big corporations breaking the law “because they don’t like them” isn’t something I’m really in favour of, even if (and this isn’t as decided as people are making it out to be) the results are generally positive. You may be in favour of replacing government regulations with “what companies think is a good idea”. I’m not. Quite a few other people aren’t.
I’m in a city with amazing taxi availability. Even outside the downtown core (there are taxis parked in front of my building now) I don’t think I’ve ever had to wait more than a few minutes to get a cab. I get that other people aren’t, or that the entrenched cab companies are doing a bad job. It sure seems that Uber would find it easy to influence legislation in those places.
Except that those people aren’t trained or licensed to drive people around.
And their vehicles aren’t licensed or inspected.
And the fares they charge aren’t regulated.
And there’s absolutely no guarantee that anyone will be financially liable if and when something goes wrong.
But hey, enjoy your libertarian fantasy while it lasts.
My license allows me to have passengers in the car.
My vehicle is inspected on a yearly basis by the state.
I know! This is so terrible! How DARE they charge less than taxi companies!
I have insurance, if his doesn’t pay, mine will.
I will, thank you.
Still waiting to hear how Uber has made our lives worse.
The taxi I got into last night at the Cincinnati airport had two broken seatbelts in the back seat. Was it inspected recently? I have no idea
There was no meter, the driver told me I owed him $24 after a 15 minute ride. Was that the “regulated” fee? I have no idea.
The driver was driving very aggressively in heavy snow conditions. Was he a “trained” diver? I have no idea.
Did the company have adequate insurance? I have no idea. I have zero faith in the taxi regulators.
The Uberx car I was in this morning, and the short $4 ride, was superior in every respect, and for all I know, completely legal in Northern Kentucky.
Ahh, yes. That specialized training that allows taxi drivers to simultaneously yell at their girlfriends on their cell phones, drive 15 over the speed limit, cut off other drivers, fiddle with the stereo, and still somehow take longer than if an ordinary person had driven.
I’m sorry the cabbie you hailed was shit.
Is there some inherent feature of Uber that prevents people like that from driving their vehicles? No, there is not.