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Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

smh.com.au

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Re: Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

#131

Post by Retric »

throwawaymaths wrote: post #129
Retric wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice.” So yea that sounds like Uber/Lyft. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxi I regularly see people say they’ll call a cab and then use Uber/Lyft. Ride sharing generally means carpooling/picking up hitchhikers etc. Where the driver i…

> Uber’s initial intention was carpooling where someone would put in their intended destination and could pick people up for money. Historically incorrect. Uber started out as a black car service (with California tpc licenses). Lyft started as a pivot of the carpooling app zimride named after the founder. > Their initial subsidized prices convinced many people to advocate for an exception which was often granted That…

> Lyft started

Ahh ok.

Re: Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

#132

Post by FireBeyond »

stevage wrote: post #99
dahdum wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you take many taxis before Uber/Lyft? It was an adversarial relationship - your taxi driver would try their very best (they practice every day!) to rip you off any which way they can. Their lobby stopped any competition or reform, and they exploited the most vulnerable. I have no sympathy at all for the taxi cartels - only their victims.

I did take taxis in Melbourne and Sydney before and after the arrival of Uber. I never had any issues with any taxi drivers, except one racist arsehole in Townsville.

Hah. Australian ex-pat living in Seattle. Took my girlfriend and her daughter to Australia to catch up with my family, etc. We did Sydney, Cairns and Melbourne. Hell, even with Uber... multiple pretty openly racist drivers in Cairns (I am extremely left wing, but my partner and friends like to tease that I could pass for a 'good old boy', so too many people feel comfortable just erupting in tirades and assuming I'll be in agreement).

Actually, in CNS, the most common problem was cancelations with Uber. Of maybe a dozen or more Uber trips I took in 4 days there, only one or two didn't have any cancelations. Usually it required one or even more cancelations before a driver would actually "commit".

Re: Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

#133

Post by a_random_canuck »

tensor wrote: post #74
tianqi wrote: post #71

This is like compensating purse snatchers because the promotion of mobile payments reduces their income. Sydney's taxi is a shame to this wonderful city. I still remember when I first just arrived in Sydney, I took a taxi from the airport to Waterloo and was charged $95, which made me fearful of Sydney prices. It took me time to realise that I had just run into a scam and that the ride should have cost just $20+. Now…

Toronto is notorious for this too. Either the credit card machine is broken and you must pay too much cash, or the credit card machine steals your card number, or you are refused a ride because it’s not far enough. Even travelling through Europe I’ve been refused a ride because it was too short, and got overcharged by 2-3x once. I’d use Uber at this point even if it’s more expensive than a taxi.

I’ve taken many taxis in Montreal and London and other European cities, and in Taiwan, and have never had anything like this happen to me.

Instead I get Uber drivers who refuse to come to my pickup spot and drive around in circles hoping I’ll cancel the trip first so they can still get paid something.

Re: Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

#134

Post by FireBeyond »

Nursie wrote: post #70
resolutebat wrote: post #36

It's worth noting that Australian taxis are generally terrible . They're expensive and notorious for ripoffs, particularly from the airport: scenic routes, bogus surcharges, "broken" credit card machines (plus 5% surcharge when they do work), drivers refusing destinations (by law they're not allowed to), and to top it all off they're not even safe, with taxi drivers responsible for a long string of sexual assaults. U…

> It's worth noting that Australian taxis are generally terrible. Over here in Western Australia they are generally better than Uber. You know what sets the traditional operators apart from Uber in Perth? They show up That simple. You book a cab, you get a cab, more or less when you want it. You request an Uber and someone might come. They might not. They might accept the ride and then drive in circles for 15 minutes…

Huh, Cairns was so much the same. Watched that happen too. Most of the time we had to resort to enduring a cancelation or two before someone would show up. My parents ended up calling a taxi half the time.

Re: Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

#135

Post by araes »

tsujamin wrote: post #91
tianqi wrote: post #71

This is like compensating purse snatchers because the promotion of mobile payments reduces their income. Sydney's taxi is a shame to this wonderful city. I still remember when I first just arrived in Sydney, I took a taxi from the airport to Waterloo and was charged $95, which made me fearful of Sydney prices. It took me time to realise that I had just run into a scam and that the ride should have cost just $20+. Now…

Sydney taxis are extortionate and often operate illegally around the airport, but also taxi plates in Australia costed $100,000’s (on the market, not sure how much when released by the government) and that investment got trashed by ride-share entry. From that perspective I’ve got some sympathy.

The article said they cost $500,000 (each), which was probably the least believable part of the article. If they actually cost $100,000, that might be close to reasonable.

Somebody can probably do 5-6 rides a day at $50 a ride for a $100,000 tag. That's pretty believable for an average over a year. Even $200,000 might be. I have difficultly believing they're all making money needing 30 rides at ~$50 every day all year long for a $500,000 tag.

> value of his three taxi licence plates – worth about $500,000 each.

Re: Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

#136

Post by FireBeyond »

pjd7 wrote: post #35

Taxi's in NSW/Sydney are much better these days. Uber X are typically shit by comparison. A $95 UberX ride home is about $109 in a taxi for me. Talking to a few friends who also live a similar distant from the CBD/downtown find that Taxi's are the better / more reliable option these days too. The taxi is pretty much always newer, with a professional driver who usually isn't almost falling asleep behind the wheel. The…

> Of the recent UberX's I have caught, the car was typically in need of a suspension replacement or significant servicing and around 6-7 years old or older.

This was a pet hate of mine in Australia. Order an UberXL "Fits your group of 6 riders (or extra luggage) comfortably" and most of the time someone was showing up in a Honda CRV or Passport (which has 5 seats). We had five passengers plus some luggage at times.

And when you cancel because that "XL" option won't meet your needs then the app starts hitting you for repeated cancelations, despite the fact that all of these vehicles don't actually fit the description and capacity described.

Re: Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

#137

Post by earthling8118 »

DeusExMachina wrote: post #121
tianqi wrote: post #71

This is like compensating purse snatchers because the promotion of mobile payments reduces their income. Sydney's taxi is a shame to this wonderful city. I still remember when I first just arrived in Sydney, I took a taxi from the airport to Waterloo and was charged $95, which made me fearful of Sydney prices. It took me time to realise that I had just run into a scam and that the ride should have cost just $20+. Now…

Isn't a scam not an official taxi, though? I don't know the situation in Sydney, but where I usually travel, it's the unlicensed taxis that overcharge and scam people, i.e., not the real taxis. Licensed taxi companies charge standard fares.

That's wishful thinking but not true. I've directly called a legitimate taxi company before and been scammed and had to pay over triple the price. This was after specifically discussing the flat cost that this particular trip had. Due to circumstances I'm not going to discuss here I had no choice but to pay it, but if I'd been in a different situation I would have left.

Re: Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

#138

Post by aeyes »

Ekaros wrote: post #120
aeyes wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> cap prices > Also you do not want to give out so many medallions that owners cannot possibly make a living Do you really think that some government agency can come up with the correct price and license cap using Excel magic? Of course not, most likely this will just lead to corruption and an inferior service. Let the free market find the price. If it's not possible to make a living people won't drive. Where I live…

If you want free market to find the price. Why not force Uber and Lyft to accept pricing from their drivers. Absolutely any pricing and any rules. I think that would be reasonable.

Uber shows how much they will pay, the driver doesn't have to accept the trip. If drivers don't accept Uber will have to adjust the price.

Re: Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

#139

Post by snapcaster »

rchaud wrote: post #109
jncfhnb wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because they’re threatening

Threatening? Most taxicabs have cameras inside, and I've never heard of a driver getting violent with a passenger over an inability to pay (different from a refusal to pay), considering their picture and cab ID are prominently displayed inside the cab.

This and the sibling comment both show a pretty big lack of sympathy or empathy. Maybe you've never been in a situation where the line is blurry between dangerous/not-dangerous but maybe just assume everyone besides you isn't a moron and it's not as easy as you're saying

Re: Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

#140

Post by gomox »

nonethewiser wrote: post #29
Retric wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can call themselves a hotdog stand, that doesn’t mean the courts agree.

How are they a taxi company? Certainly not thought of that way by your average person. Its taxis vs ride sharing.

We hereby witness the effectiveness of Uber's PR machine tasked with creating that category with the specific goal of evading taxicab regulations.
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