# Why isn't Uber regulated as a taxi service? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 16, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673 "2015-06-16T14:25:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673/141 "2015-06-18T21:34:09Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > As for knowledge of where to go taxi drivers can be just as lost as an Uber driver. Nice thing about Uber though is I can input the destination on my phone and it instantly transmits that info to the driver’s phone and maps a route for him/her. For taxis I frequently have to tell them where to turn the whole way. London Black Cabs they are not. Taxi drivers often get “lost” on purpose, it makes their fees higher. Hard to do that with Uber. You know if Taxi drivers werent always trying to scam people, things like Uber wouldn’t be so popular. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673/142 "2015-06-18T22:07:23Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > London Black Cabs they are not. Yep. All the cabs I’ve ever taken in the UK were phenomenal. Their atlas-like knowledge of the city is just incredible. If US cabs (or at least Chicago cabs) were like this, I’d still be taking cabs. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t have to give the taxi driver nearly turn-by-turn directions. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673/143 "2015-06-18T22:12:11Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yep. All the cabs I’ve ever taken in the UK were phenomenal. Their atlas-like knowledge of the city is just incredible. If US cabs (or at least Chicago cabs) were like this, I’d still be taking cabs. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t have to give the taxi driver nearly turn-by-turn directions. You do understand that it can take as long as five years to pass the required street knowledge and navigation test to get a London cab license? It’s a phenomenally demanding requirement. While I prefer knowledgeable cabbies myself, I think that such a requirement here would absolutely cement the general Yellow Cab model into place. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673/144 "2015-06-18T22:21:02Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > You do understand that it can take as long as five years to pass the required street knowledge and navigation test to get a London cab license? It’s a phenomenally demanding requirement. Yes, I am. But in Chicago, I often have to give directions to some basic landmarks, which is completely mind-boggling to me. This is not directions to some obscure street on the southeast side that nobody’s ever been to. This is some of the most basic geographic knowledge. The other day, I had to tell a driver how to get to the Civic/Lyric Opera, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673/145 "2015-06-18T22:39:58Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Not at all- if you buy low then dump it before the bottom falls out- which they all assume they can do. They are almost always wrong, however. Uber isn’t publicly traded. This is venture capital, so there really isn’t a way to “dump” an investment yet. In fact, Uber’s investor agreements prohibit all secondary sales so the only way to dump your Uber holding is to sell it back to the company. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Yes, I am. But in Chicago, I often have to give directions to some basic landmarks, which is completely mind-boggling to me. This is not directions to some obscure street on the southeast side that nobody’s ever been to. This is some of the most basic geographic knowledge. The other day, I had to tell a driver how to get to the Civic/Lyric Opera, for instance. Conversely, I was shocked to discover that cab drivers in the US did _not_ possess The Knowledge. “You want _me_ to tell _you_ where to go?” ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673/146 "2015-06-18T22:43:24Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yes, I am. But in Chicago, I often have to give directions to some basic landmarks, which is completely mind-boggling to me. This is not directions to some obscure street on the southeast side that nobody’s ever been to. This is some of the most basic geographic knowledge. The other day, I had to tell a driver how to get to the Civic/Lyric Opera, for instance. So what’s the argument here - that Uber-amateurs will somehow be better at navigation and knowing the streets than hackies? (No argument that I’ve had some ignorant idiots behind a yellow wheel, but it’s not the rule. Not in Noo Yawk, anyway, or SF or Boston or… Chicago. Philly, now… Uber uber alles, there, and drag the hackies behind you. 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673/147 "2015-06-18T22:51:29Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > So what’s the argument here - that Uber-amateurs will somehow be better at navigation and knowing the streets than hackies? In my experience, yes. Uber drivers have given me a far higher level of service and have been more pleasant than pretty much any cab I’ve ever taken in Chicago. If that’s what it takes to get taxi cabs to step up their game, so be it. Have you ever used a ride sharing service? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673/148 "2015-06-18T22:59:16Z")
Another very simple example: almost every time I’ve taken a taxi in the last two or three years, the driver is talking on his phone the whole way. I feel somewhat embarrassed to interrupt him to tell him, hey, you want to take this turn over here. This is no exaggeration. With Uber, I haven’t run into this problem. Uber drivers tend not to do this, because they know it will affect their ratings. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673/149 "2015-06-18T23:06:49Z")
I don’t get why pleasant conversations with drivers are supposed to be a positive. Mostly when I’m in any kind of hired ride I just want them to shut the hell up. I don’t want to be friends with my driver, I don’t want to discuss my day, I don’t want to talk about what I do for work, and I don’t want to know anything about my driver either. It’s a commercial transaction. This “pleasant driver” stuff is I suppose to help maintain that the driver is “sharing rides!” and not “an underpaid, underinsured casualty of economic disaster.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673/150 "2015-06-18T23:09:43Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > I don’t get why pleasant conversations with drivers are supposed to be a positive. Mostly when I’m in any kind of hired ride I just want them to shut the hell up. I don’t want to be friends with my driver, I don’t want to discuss my day, I don’t want to talk about what I do for work, and I don’t want to know anything about my driver either. It’s a commercial transaction. This “pleasant driver” stuff is I suppose to help maintain that the driver is “sharing rides!” and not “an underpaid, underinsured casualty of economic disaster.” Well, I said none of the sort. I’m not talking pleasant conversations. I don’t want my driver to just be jabbering on the phone the entire time. It’s annoying when trying to give directions and, hands-free or not, it’s not the safest thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673/151 "2015-06-18T23:11:09Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Have you ever used a ride sharing service? Haven’t had the need. I don’t think it exists within 30 miles of me, and I haven’t needed anything but rail mass transit my last dozen visits to cities. I like cabs and tend to have good luck with them. Philthy excepted. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673/152 "2015-06-18T23:11:56Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Haven’t had the need. I don’t think it exists within 30 miles of me, and I haven’t needed anything but rail mass transit my last dozen visits to cities. That’s all I need to know. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673/153 "2015-06-19T00:02:04Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > You have to realize the scale and scope of Uber’s ambitions here and the reason they’re valued as a $40Bn company is not because they simply want to replace cabs. I don’t believe the “value” of any of these tech startup companies is at all grounded in reality. It’s the “dot-com bubble” all over again, because VC types have the memory of a goldfish. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673/154 "2015-06-19T00:07:12Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Any taxi companies that still exist in 10 years will look just like Uber. Order a cab via app, see the price and pay via app, GPS in the car, see the driver’s picture before pickup. […] At best there will be behind the scenes similarities, licensing, insurance, etc. But the customer facing service is going to be Uber-iffic. I’m not sure the future you’re envisioning is all that different from the one **AB** is. Certainy not as different as the semantic differences suggest. At some point, digital hails will supplement or supplant standing on the sidewalk and sticking your arm out. If the taxi companies are fighting this, I can come up with no other explanation than a knee-jerk resistance to change; it seems to me it will be a net benefit for both drivers and riders. It is a shift caused, or at least hastened, by Uber et al. But that doesn’t make leaving the “rideshare”/e-taxi services unregulated the best course of action > [@Smapti](#): > > And fare caps to prevent the kind of gouging Uber loves to indulge in. I actually agree with **Deeg** on this one. “Surge pricing,” as I understand it, is simply a balancing of supply and demand to a degree and with a precision that has only become practical recently, but any company that doesn’t understand that said supply isn’t limited only to its own cars is going to be taught this lesson fairly quickly. Traditional taxis are subject to strict price regulation, but what they get in exchange is a monopoly on (legal) street pickups; the regulation is to thwart the most obvious abuse of that monopoly. ETA: I don’t think government control of the price of a good or service is better than throwing it to the market (or something in between), but nor do I think it’s automatically worse. > [@DrDeth](#): > > You know if Taxi drivers werent always trying to scam people, things like Uber wouldn’t be so popular. And, um, what stops Uber drivers from scamming people? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673/155 "2015-06-19T00:12:01Z")
Perhaps that the customer knows up front what the cost of the ride will be? ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673/156 "2015-06-19T00:34:52Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Well, I said none of the sort. I’m not talking pleasant conversations. I don’t want my driver to just be jabbering on the phone the entire time. It’s annoying when trying to give directions and, hands-free or not, it’s not the safest thing to do. Sorry, that wasn’t directed at you. Just venting in general, and off topic to boot. My apologies. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673/157 "2015-06-19T00:38:04Z")
> [@](#): > > And, um, what stops Uber drivers from scamming people? they don’t, Uber does it for them via that “surge pricing” you seem to think is just okey-dokey. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673/158 "2015-06-19T00:56:26Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That’s all I need to know. Why is that? I’m not judging the participants. I’m evaluating the model, and I am far from the only one who can see the limitations the idea (ideal) is going to have to come to terms with. Maybe it will. There sure isn’t much to disagree with that “taxi service” is a few decades overdue for improvement. OTOH, a few improvements pioneered by the bright kidz could just solidify Yellow, Metro, et al. for another half-century. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673/159 "2015-06-19T01:02:36Z")
> [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](#): > > And, um, what stops Uber drivers from scamming people? You do get an email receipt that shows a map of your route and the breakdown of the charge. If you are unhappy, you rate the driver poorly and he or she doesn’t last. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673/160 "2015-06-19T01:34:33Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > If you are unhappy, you rate the driver poorly and he or she doesn’t last. Howard Beale lives. :rolleyes: So the big protection scheme in Uber is… online ratings? Idle afterthought: what happens when a majority of drivers have indifferent ratings? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-uber-regulated-as-a-taxi-service/722673.md?page=9)