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Chicago taxi industry sliding towards collapse

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Re: Chicago taxi industry sliding towards collapse

#21

Post by alkonaut »

ThrustVectoring wrote: post #15
alkonaut wrote: post #5

How are they making so much less money than Uber? Simply by paying drivers more? Because if they don't have things like booking, pre-paying via apps etc then of course they are losing business - but in that case why don't they? I don't use Uber over taxis simply because I can get the exact same service from a taxi, but the drivers are better off in terms of pay and schedule (as far as I know).

Taxi medallions were being sold for $300k three years ago. Taxis likely didn't buy with cash, but rather financed them, leading to significantly higher operational expenses.

Yeah but don't those medallion prices tank now, so anyone who got one recently doesn't have that overhead? Obviously those who bought into the pyramid ponzi scheme at the wrong point will go under. The use of medallions where it still exists needs to die - but what better time than when prices reach bottom?

Re: Chicago taxi industry sliding towards collapse

#22

Post by alkonaut »

kasey_junk wrote: post #14
alkonaut wrote: post #5

How are they making so much less money than Uber? Simply by paying drivers more? Because if they don't have things like booking, pre-paying via apps etc then of course they are losing business - but in that case why don't they? I don't use Uber over taxis simply because I can get the exact same service from a taxi, but the drivers are better off in terms of pay and schedule (as far as I know).

They have much higher legislative hurdles to overcome?

Would they need to pass red tape to have their customers hail with an app rather than call a dispatcher? Sounds like the medallion system isn't the only thing wrong here.

Re: Chicago taxi industry sliding towards collapse

#23

Post by dev360 »

degenerate wrote: post #7

Good, it's about time we let some crappy things die. Bailing out the banks and GM got me furious many years ago. Imagine if the government stepped in and saved Altavisa / Pets.com, and all the other dot-com boom companies? What good would that have done? Nothing. Let 'em burn and innovation will rise from the ashes.

I've never been furious about Taxis before I heard of the medallion system in Chicago and New York.. Sounds like something the mob would cook up together with crooked politicians as an alternative source of revenue.

Re: Chicago taxi industry sliding towards collapse

#24

Post by verall »

joejerryronnie wrote: post #16

It appears the basic reason for a taxi medallion system is to regulate the industry and control supply to prevent a flood of random drivers being unleashed on an unsuspecting populous. Uber/Lyft business model: Unleash a flood of random drivers on an unsuspecting populous. Not that I agree with the taxi medallion system as it's ultimately been used to grant political favors and prop up unnatural monopolies but it is…

> VC subsidized fares

Although the conveniences granted by rideshare apps are a big deal, I think this is a huge component. At this point, in a busy(er) city, ridesharing is still very competitive, and prices are subsidized-low.

Living in Austin, right before the city vote to require fingerprinting drivers, which Uber was heavily lobbying against, I could get an uberpool basically anywhere within the city for between $1 and $3.

I'm just hoping that once companies start to raise prices more VCs come swooping in, kind of like still happens with growing websites. As a consumer, the cost of switching is very low.

Re: Chicago taxi industry sliding towards collapse

#25

Post by nserrino »

I probably won't ever take a taxi again, but have some sympathy for the cab drivers who put their life savings in medallions. The city effectively promised them the exclusive right to give taxi rides, but didn't do anything about a non-medallion entity doing that same thing. They put hundreds of thousands of dollars into something meaningless.

Re: Chicago taxi industry sliding towards collapse

#26

Post by bitJericho »

tstactplsignore wrote: post #9
basseq wrote: post #3

I'm left wondering... so what? The "personal transportation" market has massively changed. Whether it's for the better or worse simply doesn't matter . Veteran Chicago cabbie John Aikins,67, who is facing foreclosure on two medallions for which he owes more than $330,0000, said he has little hope that the industry can be saved. "It feels like the city is just watching us collapse," Aikins said. "Right now, there are…

>Whether it's for the better or worse simply doesn't matter Yikes- I have only a little sympathy for the taxi industry, but it is very scary that you do not believe we should be concerned with whether market forces improve society or not. I think it is extremely important to the vast majority of people that any enormous change in transportation occurs for the benefit of society - the ideology that capitalism is an en…

We'll see what you think of the cab industry when uber raises their prices by 3 times in order to become profitable, after the cabbies all gone.

Re: Chicago taxi industry sliding towards collapse

#27

Post by kylehotchkiss »

"including changing rules so taxi drivers aren’t required to replace their vehicles as often"

So.. to save this industry let's make it less enticing? I'm not saying Ubers and Lyfts are always nice, new cars; but they usually aren't models from before 2010 either. Call us posh, but if you can get a ride in a nicer car for the same price, that would be a thing to consider when picking a mode of transport?

Re: Chicago taxi industry sliding towards collapse

#28

Post by bitJericho »

TY wrote: post #6

Anectodal evidence from my trip to Chicago last week. The same trip cost me twice as much when I took a taxi vs Lyft. So guess what I'm going to take the next time...

In a taxi your ride was insured if the driver got in an accident. Your cabbie is certified, and less likely to be crazy. Also half your lyft/uber ride is paid by a VC.

Re: Chicago taxi industry sliding towards collapse

#29

Post by brightball »

TY wrote: post #6

Anectodal evidence from my trip to Chicago last week. The same trip cost me twice as much when I took a taxi vs Lyft. So guess what I'm going to take the next time...

Last time I was in Chicago my hotel got me a taxi to the airport. I remember it being absurdly expensive...but on top of it that driver decided it was a good time to tell me about all of his sexual exploits and drug use in his down time.

I don't often leave negative reviews...but that ride warranted a negative review.

Re: Chicago taxi industry sliding towards collapse

#30

Post by brianwawok »

degenerate wrote: post #7

Good, it's about time we let some crappy things die. Bailing out the banks and GM got me furious many years ago. Imagine if the government stepped in and saved Altavisa / Pets.com, and all the other dot-com boom companies? What good would that have done? Nothing. Let 'em burn and innovation will rise from the ashes.

+ 10000, the taxi system in chicago was _SO_BAD_

Can remember one case where I got a 5am ride to the airport. I suspect the guy was driving a friends cab, as his face did not match the registration. He blew through all stop signs we came across. There were no working seatbelts in the cab. I was literally afraid for my life.

Oh and of course his credit card machine was broke, and he had no change, so I have to pay with 20s and get no change back.

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