Live data from Hacker News

In Brooklyn, Uber is now bigger than taxis

toddwschneider.com

11–20 of 147 posts

Re: In Brooklyn, Uber is now bigger than taxis

#11
post #4
post #2

Given the state of taxis in Brooklyn, a two year old with a tricycle is probably bigger than taxis.

Beat me to it! Never seen a taxi down here in Sunset Park.

Uber is the way to go; failing that the number of a car service somewhere in your neighborhood.

Re: In Brooklyn, Uber is now bigger than taxis

#12

So, for context, yellow taxis run "anywhere" but in practice, they are somewhat rare anywhere but lower Manhattan and at the airports. Green taxis, a new category, are only permitted to pick up hails outside of lower Manhattan. They're useful for going between outer boroughs but are reluctant or unwilling to take you to lower Manhattan because they can't pick up a hail there. There is also another, long-standing cate…

Oh and of course, "gyspy"/"jitney" cabs/vans, which are quasi-legal $2 bus lines running bus routes in underserved communities.

Re: In Brooklyn, Uber is now bigger than taxis

#13
Having lived in NYC pre-and-post Uber, the difference in Manhattan traffic is astonishing.

Manhattan 2006: http://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-2475317-stock-footage...

Manhattan now(ish): http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.12078243.1469201706!/ht...

If you were to teleport a Manhattanite from 2006 to 2016 I think they'd be shocked to see the large number of non-yellow cabs on NYC streets.

Regardless of how you feel about Uber-the-entity, the mark it's made on NYC streets is undeniable.

Re: In Brooklyn, Uber is now bigger than taxis

#14

Having lived in NYC pre-and-post Uber, the difference in Manhattan traffic is astonishing. Manhattan 2006: http://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-2475317-stock-footage... Manhattan now(ish): http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.12078243.1469201706!/ht... If you were to teleport a Manhattanite from 2006 to 2016 I think they'd be shocked to see the large number of non-yellow cabs on NYC streets. Regardless of how you f…

The last picture strikes logo ideas. Good point Sir.

Re: In Brooklyn, Uber is now bigger than taxis

#15
When I moved to New York a few years ago all it took was a handful of taxi rides to figure out that Uber will eventually put them out of the business. I've had drivers lie about not knowing where to go, intentionally take longer routes, and lie about credit card machines while trying to get rides from New York to Brooklyn, or Brooklyn to Brooklyn. To add insult to injury nearly every single cab is filthy and smells horrible, while costing the same if not more than an Uber ride.

There's just no comparison here.

Re: In Brooklyn, Uber is now bigger than taxis

#16
post #9

Are there really only ~2x the green cabs in Brooklyn? They're everywhere in Astoria/LIC in Queens - maybe because of the airports? Edit: also worth noting that green cab drivers often drive for Uber/Lyft as well. It makes a lot more sense for them since they're typically owner-operators.

Yeah, green cabs are much more common in BK than Queens - higher concentration of nightlife and such. Hit up Williamsburg on a going-out night and see the traffic jams full of green cabs.

Concentration of green cabs scales with gentrification - Brooklyn has gentrified to a greater degree than Queens.

Re: In Brooklyn, Uber is now bigger than taxis

#17

When I moved to New York a few years ago all it took was a handful of taxi rides to figure out that Uber will eventually put them out of the business. I've had drivers lie about not knowing where to go, intentionally take longer routes, and lie about credit card machines while trying to get rides from New York to Brooklyn, or Brooklyn to Brooklyn. To add insult to injury nearly every single cab is filthy and smells h…

Important point: while costing to the customer the same, if not more. The result? Uber operating at huge losses. The result of that? Well, austerity measures. You can already see the signs of Uber starting to clamp down and make their service worse and worse.

Recommended pickup locations -> No longer door to door?

Assigning next rides before the previous one has completed -> No longer "feeling like a baller" while your driver is fielding calls from other customers with you still in the car

Wait times have been getting demonstrably worse all over Manhattan, probably elsewhere too

General quality of car/driver has been in decline since Uber started, in part precisely because of their putting cabs out of business. What's your cab driver going to do when he decides it's not worth driving a cab anymore because of Uber? Duh, work for Uber.

There's no comparison right now, but there will be soon.

I'm never going to use Uber again except for business travel due to their nice tie-in with business accounts. Personal travel? Nope. In NYC I use Juno and elsewhere I'll use Lyft, Hailo, or any number of local alternatives.

Re: In Brooklyn, Uber is now bigger than taxis

#18

When I moved to New York a few years ago all it took was a handful of taxi rides to figure out that Uber will eventually put them out of the business. I've had drivers lie about not knowing where to go, intentionally take longer routes, and lie about credit card machines while trying to get rides from New York to Brooklyn, or Brooklyn to Brooklyn. To add insult to injury nearly every single cab is filthy and smells h…

Important point: while costing to the customer the same, if not more. The result? Uber operating at huge losses. The result of that? Well, austerity measures. You can already see the signs of Uber starting to clamp down and make their service worse and worse. Recommended pickup locations -> No longer door to door? Assigning next rides before the previous one has completed -> No longer "feeling like a baller" while yo…

Not parent commenter but I'll still take that over filthy cabs and sketchy-as-hell drivers.

Re: In Brooklyn, Uber is now bigger than taxis

#19

When I moved to New York a few years ago all it took was a handful of taxi rides to figure out that Uber will eventually put them out of the business. I've had drivers lie about not knowing where to go, intentionally take longer routes, and lie about credit card machines while trying to get rides from New York to Brooklyn, or Brooklyn to Brooklyn. To add insult to injury nearly every single cab is filthy and smells h…

I can tell you that among Black people in Brooklyn, Uber was a god-send. Cabs would outright lie as mentioned above, refuse to take you to certain boroughs, refuse to pick you up from Manhattan, etc.

Agreed that the cab experience is about half as good, but for about the same price.

Really a no-brainer. Everyone here uses AND loves Uber. I and a lot of my friends spend at least $100/mo outside of work commute costs.

source: I'm a black person in Brooklyn.

Re: In Brooklyn, Uber is now bigger than taxis

#20

When I moved to New York a few years ago all it took was a handful of taxi rides to figure out that Uber will eventually put them out of the business. I've had drivers lie about not knowing where to go, intentionally take longer routes, and lie about credit card machines while trying to get rides from New York to Brooklyn, or Brooklyn to Brooklyn. To add insult to injury nearly every single cab is filthy and smells h…

Important point: while costing to the customer the same, if not more. The result? Uber operating at huge losses. The result of that? Well, austerity measures. You can already see the signs of Uber starting to clamp down and make their service worse and worse. Recommended pickup locations -> No longer door to door? Assigning next rides before the previous one has completed -> No longer "feeling like a baller" while yo…

>>> Recommended pickup locations -> No longer door to door? Assigning next rides before the previous one has completed -> No longer "feeling like a baller" while your driver is fielding calls from other customers with you still in the car

Above is applicable only if you use UberPool. It's a great way to save money.

Post reply on HN