Uber Is Taking Millions of Manhattan Rides Away from Taxis • Hacker News Board

Re: Uber Is Taking Millions of Manhattan Rides Away from Taxis

#171

Post by odonnellryan » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 11:53 AM UTC

jvm wrote: post #152

SilasX wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Normally I'd consider your comment unhelpful and downvote it. But discussions like this are loaded with people who assure us that certain ultra-common behavior "is illegal", as if that somehow settles it, so I'm going to tolerate otherwise content-free reminders that this is not true.

Yup, I feel pretty strongly about the point I was making and, to be honest, I think it did have content despite my sardonic delivery.

I replied above to this. I don't disagree with you, but I think the sentiment is misplaced.

Re: Uber Is Taking Millions of Manhattan Rides Away from Taxis

#172

Post by odonnellryan » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 11:54 AM UTC

srj wrote: post #126

odonnellryan wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is very illegal, and you can report the taxi's that pass you.

I would think this is a one person's word against another's type scenario. I mean I have had cabs nearly run me over and didn't bother reporting because I have no idea how I'd prove it, and it's usually difficult to see the cab number as they drive off.

The number is a problem for sure.

But you should still report it. It is the volume of reports that are considered. Plus, you're calling a facility run by the city, not calling the taxi company.

Re: Uber Is Taking Millions of Manhattan Rides Away from Taxis

#173

Post by odonnellryan » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 11:57 AM UTC

bko wrote: post #60

odonnellryan wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

3 is illegal. You can report the taxi for not picking you up for any reason if their on-duty light is on.

I doubt many people actually go to the effort of reporting these taxis. Just ask minorities in outer boroughs who have been complaining about this for decades.

I understand. I'm not trying to misplace blame, but if they aren't reporting it to officials, how can they expect something to be done?

Stories of not getting picked up and rumors of complaints are not the same as "Taxi number ZX123 did not pick me up, though they were on duty and looked directly at me hailing him".

There is no proof of the incident, but at least there is the official record. It gets logged, it's a statistic, and it's something officials in the city can state: "we've had X number of complaints this year about taxis. This is up twice from last year."

Re: Uber Is Taking Millions of Manhattan Rides Away from Taxis

#174

Post by SilasX » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 11:43 PM UTC

odonnellryan wrote: post #170

SilasX wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Normally I'd consider your comment unhelpful and downvote it. But discussions like this are loaded with people who assure us that certain ultra-common behavior "is illegal", as if that somehow settles it, so I'm going to tolerate otherwise content-free reminders that this is not true.

Well, you should still report them. I see what you're saying. There are two fallacies at play: 1) same logic that people use to reason out of voting (it doesn't matter if I do x because it hasn't mattered before). 2) the logic that because it's illegal means it isn't permitted (which is, as you stated, not always true). I'm not sure if it truly matters if people report taxis. What I am sure about is it will never mat…

I think I (and those who agreed with me) failed to convey the subtext of our objection, which is:

We don't care about illegality per se. We care about "not making the bad thing happen". If illegality accomplishes that, great! But if it doesn't, then it is non-responsive to our concerns to remind us that it does. It's like if you're going to friends talking about problems you encounter, and all they ever tell you is, "Well that's not supposed to happen".

The process of enforcing the illegality puts a lot of burden on the customer, and your response recognizes that it requires people going far out of their way.

In practice, a system that requires most individuals to make heroic sacrifices is the same as a system that just doesn't work.