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SF Yellow Cab to file for bankruptcy

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211–220 of 230 posts

Re: SF Yellow Cab to file for bankruptcy

#211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where I live there is a minimum fare of $75 imposed on Uber cars leaving from the airport. I took an Uber there and had a great, simple experience ($34 fare) but had to take a taxi back when returning from my trip. The cab was falling apart. One of the doors didn't open from the inside. The axles made horrible, periodic thunking sounds (I'd guess the CV joints but am no car expert). The engine light, the wheel stabil…

Life Hack: Put the "pin" in the Uber app, near the airport (where there is no fee). As soon as you get a driver, call and let them know you're at the airport, which terminal/exit you're at. This avoids any fees, and also gets around the "We do not service this area" blockers. I've never had a driver complain about it.

Depends on the airport. Some airports are vicious about enforcing Uber bans (and the drivers quickly figure this out), so drivers will call to confirm your location if the pin is near the airport.

On the other hand, most airports have some sort of public transportation heading in a not-airport direction...

Re: SF Yellow Cab to file for bankruptcy

#212
post #195

There are a lot of comments in this thread about the problems Uber solves. I'd like to pose a different question: which of those problems is not solved by Flywheel? For those who don't know, Flywheel is an app that lets you call a regular taxi cab with an Uber-like dispatch system. You watch the cab arrive with GPS and pay on your phone. It is some small fixed cost over the cost of a cab, no surging obviously. And yo…

I think there's an element of principle to it. I certainly feel that way, and it appears the majority does as well.

App GPS, app payment, star ratings... these are not new things. And yet the taxi industry couldn't be bothered to better itself until a higher quality service came through and gutted their profits.

Consumers suffered some universally abhorrent treatment for years because taxis flat out don't give a fuck. And now, what.. all is expected to be forgiven because they're suddenly in the app store?

They made this bed. They can lie in it.

Re: SF Yellow Cab to file for bankruptcy

#213
post #195

There are a lot of comments in this thread about the problems Uber solves. I'd like to pose a different question: which of those problems is not solved by Flywheel? For those who don't know, Flywheel is an app that lets you call a regular taxi cab with an Uber-like dispatch system. You watch the cab arrive with GPS and pay on your phone. It is some small fixed cost over the cost of a cab, no surging obviously. And yo…

Sounds like it does most of what ride-share services do.

Does Flywheel allow you to rate individual drivers/cars (and prevent being matched to creepy drivers or dirty cars on future rides)? I think that's actually one of the biggest value-adds of Uber/Lyft/Sidecar--direct feedback about drivers which tends to retain good drivers and reject bad ones.

Re: SF Yellow Cab to file for bankruptcy

#214
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes U&L lower cost? Just the lack of driver health insurance and benefits?

I'm not up to date with the state of SF transportation rules and U&L. Are U&L still ignoring rules designed to provide access to those with disabilities? This article is pretty old at this point (2014) and I don't know if the situation has changed for the better. http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/As-Uber-Lyft-Sidecar-grow... Ignoring the people with disabilities, as they are more expensive to service is one (problem…

> Are U&L still ignoring rules designed to provide access to those with disabilities?

In my city one of the options (besides SUV, black car, etc) is for persons with disabilities. The app seems to have some options to switch between requesting a driver with a wheelchair-compatible car and the city's own paratransit service. I've never used it myself, so I can't comment on the implementation.

Re: SF Yellow Cab to file for bankruptcy

#215
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Who cares about knowledge of city streets? Funny story: for a while in SF, the taxi union (?) was running ads that were thinly veiled attacks on Uber/Lyft. One of them showed a smiling taxi driver with the caption "would you rather have a driver who knows the city by heart or by GPS?" I found it particularly hilarious because the answer, for me at least, is GPS with live traffic information. Just another example of…

GPS still doesn't beat a good driver 9 out of 10 times for city driving. Uber drives consistently miss exits, head down clearly mistaken paths created by GPS errors, sit there staring at the GPS rather than the road I uber to work everyday and 90% of the time the uber driver blindly follows GPS through an alley that isn't really meant for traffic, ignoring the much simpler and faster route that whatever GPS uber uses…

In my experience, many veteran taxi drivers simply take (sometimes longer or more congested) routes, just because they are used to them and think they are better. In some cases, I've noticed the difference of a fare as much as 30%. I always have a hard time explaining them that other route is shorter, because they know better (than me or GPS). For this reason, I now first call taxi firms that use GPS on all cars.

Re: SF Yellow Cab to file for bankruptcy

#216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In other words, "Hey, Uber hires known felons and its okay because I can think of a scenario where background checks fail." You say this like it's a bad idea to hire people who were convicted of felonies who've served their time and are now out of jail. > There are some pretty significant gaps in that coverage that shift the burden to drivers, depending on the state. > In fact there is an entire business built arou…

> You say this like it's a bad idea to hire people who were convicted of felonies who've served their time and are now out of jail. Yes, because its a good idea to put them in a position of power right after they are out of jail. Did you not bother to read the link to the drunk girl who stupidly got into a car with one of these guys? One of the main arguments proponents make about these services is driving people who…

> Yes, because its a good idea to put them in a position of power right after they are out of jail. Did you not bother to read the link to the drunk girl who stupidly got into a car with one of these guys?

Wow.

Bro. A couple of things:

Humans who would launch unjustifiable assaults against other humans come in all shapes and sizes. Some of them are convicted felons. Most of them are not. A proper background check [0] discovers with a relatively high degree of certainty whether or not one is likely to assault another (among many other things).

It often takes a very, very long time before one can seal a felony conviction. "The guy who can't find solid work because he did a dramatically stupid thing a decade ago, despite the fact that he's a dramatically different and dramatically better guy now than he was then" is kinda archetypical.

A prior felony conviction, along with the degree of one's success at rehabilitation is just another datapoint to be considered in a proper background check.

> "Hey this one situation is risky, we shouldn't let them do X because there are clear instances of bad things happening because they pick up impaired passengers."

You say that like regular cabbies with clean records aren't not-infrequently accused of theft, assault, and swindling. :/

> Yes, your article agrees I'm correct despite you arguing with me for some bizarre reason(?)

Heh. You said:

> The difference [in regards to insurance coverage] with Uber is the driver gets fucked instead of the Taxi/Uber company. [1]

From what I can tell (and from what I've read in the Uber driver recruitment letters I've been getting in the mail), Uber et. al. are straightforward about the limits of their insurance.

You all-but-explicitly claimed that nontraditional cab companies were making it difficult to understand the limits of their insurance policies. Perhaps their policies in regards to disclosure of this information have changed recently, but everything I've read that was actually published by the companies in question was straightforward and clear.

[0] I know what such a thing is because I was subject to one in a former life.

[1] Amusingly, you said this right after you mentioned that Uber had done the legwork required to find an insurer that was willing to insure commercial drivers making use of their personal vehicle during the time that they're not driving for Uber.

Re: SF Yellow Cab to file for bankruptcy

#217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone raping anyone is horrendous and a tragic atrocity. It should never be allowed to happen! However, we don't live in Minority Report. You do not and cannot know if someone is going to commit a crime, regardless of their past actions. Discarding "innocent until proven guilty" is also an atrocity, that shouldn't be allowed to happen. While difficult to accept, it really is impossible to compare two atrocities and…

> Anyone raping anyone is horrendous and a tragic atrocity. It should never be allowed to happen! Yet it can be somewhat prevented with background checks.

It happens with regular cab companies too:

http://www.khou.com/story/news/2014/07/18/11680790/

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/exclusive-broo...

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2015/07/former_yellow_ca...

AFAIK, Uber does do a background check for drivers in the US.

Re: SF Yellow Cab to file for bankruptcy

#218
post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but they lie about how much they like it. I mean, nobody likes a downer, and they need to get rated well so they can keep their ratings high enough to keep driving. You think you'd rate them perfectly if they complained about driving for Uber the whole ride? Plenty of articles online and forums online show how unhappy the drivers really are. don't trust what they tell you when you're paying them and their tip an…

If someone is just trying not to be a downer, they'll say something mildly positive (or very positive with a weak tone) and move on to another topic. If they're continuously gushing about it and extend discussion of that topic far beyond what you attempted, they're probably serious.

Note that I didn't even attempt anything. They're the ones who started it.

Re: SF Yellow Cab to file for bankruptcy

#219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never, not once in 15 years, have I had a cab claim their meters are down. I've suspected a padded fare a couple of times but the difference was so small, that as a native I didn't notice. Credit card readers being down used to be a common refrain, but seems to have gone away in the face of Square. What I have had, not commonly but often enough that it no longer surprises me, is extremely racists statements about whe…

With Uber and Lyft, you can put your destination address into the app well before the driver arrives, so he can see exactly where you're going.

But when I do that suddenly I don't get rides....

Re: SF Yellow Cab to file for bankruptcy

#220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You say this like it's a bad idea to hire people who were convicted of felonies who've served their time and are now out of jail. Yes, because its a good idea to put them in a position of power right after they are out of jail. Did you not bother to read the link to the drunk girl who stupidly got into a car with one of these guys? One of the main arguments proponents make about these services is driving people who…

> Yes, because its a good idea to put them in a position of power right after they are out of jail. Did you not bother to read the link to the drunk girl who stupidly got into a car with one of these guys? Wow. Bro. A couple of things: Humans who would launch unjustifiable assaults against other humans come in all shapes and sizes. Some of them are convicted felons. Most of them are not. A proper background check [0]…

> A proper background check [0] discovers with a relatively high degree of certainty whether or not one is likely to assault another (among many other things).

...yet you don't want Uber to do proper background checks. Okay.

That makes no sense and you basically admit I'm correct then go on and on about something else.

> From what I can tell (and from what I've read in the Uber driver recruitment letters I've been getting in the mail), Uber et. al. are straightforward about the limits of their insurance.

Once again, you aren't countering my argument in any way shape or form. You are saying "Well, yes the burden is shifted to drivers and that is okay."

> You all-but-explicitly claimed that nontraditional cab companies were making it difficult to understand the limits of their insurance policies

You clearly don't understand what I've written at all and I'm going to stop here because its pretty clear you are attacking strawmen and patting yourself on the back for it for some bizarre reason.

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