Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Taxi industry lawsuit against Uber transferred from state to US court

universalhub.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 84 posts

Re: Taxi industry lawsuit against Uber transferred from state to US court

#41

Post by tgrass »

dantheman wrote: post #26
joubert wrote: post #6

In New York, cabbies are not allowed to refuse you ride a particular neighborhood either. I never announce where I want to go before I get in (I have some friends in BKLN). One time I did get a driver who bitched about having to take me somewhere. So I made an overt stretch to look at his details posted inside the car, and then pretended to be taking a note of it. He VERY quickly complied. I didn't have to say a word…

It wouldn't be a problem if taxi's weren't limited by the government. Personally I think a taxi should be able to go wherever/whenever they want, even if that includes turning down fares or charging a surcharge to go somewhere they don't want to go. If it's profitable to go from manhattan to brooklyn that need will be served, if it's not profitable then they need to raise the price - why should manhattan riders subsi…

Upvote for the question.

For the sake of argument, a community might want to subsidize another class of people in order to ensure equal opportunity.

Re: Taxi industry lawsuit against Uber transferred from state to US court

#42

Post by driverdan »

readme wrote: post #27

This is just a side note, but on april 2 every cab in my city was suspended from service for safety violations. http://www.wmur.com/news/nh-news/All-Manchester-taxis-suspen... The taxi industry is not a good thing to leave unregulated. If you think uber wouldn't operate just like the rest of them because they're a trendy startup, you're delusional. I acknowledge the call for regulation is over travel destination, but…

Your example is a clear case of regulation failure. The cab companies knew of the inspection but took no action to comply with the regulations.

In smaller cities like Manchester where there are only 19 cabs there is very little market pressure. Competition in large cities will put more pressure on companies. The risk of a significant lawsuit is also significant pressure to maintain vehicles.

Re: Taxi industry lawsuit against Uber transferred from state to US court

#44

Post by joubert »

apaprocki wrote: post #13
joubert wrote: post #6

In New York, cabbies are not allowed to refuse you ride a particular neighborhood either. I never announce where I want to go before I get in (I have some friends in BKLN). One time I did get a driver who bitched about having to take me somewhere. So I made an overt stretch to look at his details posted inside the car, and then pretended to be taking a note of it. He VERY quickly complied. I didn't have to say a word…

Except when they lock the doors and won't let you in. Want to report them? Go ahead.. the TLC requires you to take a day off work and appear in person in court. If you don't, complaint is thrown out. Taxi drivers know that it is too much work for most people.

Do they lock you out after you've said where you're going?

Key: unlike tourists who I often see will peep in through the window meekly and respond to the request of "where are you going", when the car stops, just get in. You talk to the driver once inside. Not while you're on the curb.

Re: Taxi industry lawsuit against Uber transferred from state to US court

#45

Post by jbooth »

newbie12 wrote: post #25
adrr wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Umm i think regulations came because the of the sorry state of taxis. I don't know how many times i've been ripped off in a taxi. I assume people complained and the taxi industry got heavily regulated. Just look outside the US for comparison.

Nope, the medallion systems exist to block new competition. Sure there are some regulations that seem to favor consumers-- such as price controls-- but these are a short-term benefit, and at the cost of reduced innovation. Far better to allow competition, and customer service will improve through market action rather than government rule-making.

Any law or regulation exists because of a variety of interests trying to make it happen for their own reasons.

Certainly, the initial reasoning for medallion systems was quality of service and safety. As time goes by and taxi lobbyists become more powerful, they find ways to subvert this into limiting competition. Maybe some city councillor traded his vote on this issue to get a park built in his district, or for support in a primary.

It's not like some Big Government Socialist sat down, twirled his moustache, and said "I think today I will limit competition in the taxicab industry".

Re: Taxi industry lawsuit against Uber transferred from state to US court

#46

Post by lifeisstillgood »

Can someone explain uber to a UK reader who does not understand what the fuss is?

I can see its some sort of aggregation service for taxi cabs, but I generally like using one particular firm, that I know vets its drivers well. Some (men & women) I know stick to women only driver firms and so forth.

A nice UI is good but I dont get it?

Re: Taxi industry lawsuit against Uber transferred from state to US court

#47

Post by Aloisius »

DanBC wrote: post #35
readme wrote: post #27

This is just a side note, but on april 2 every cab in my city was suspended from service for safety violations. http://www.wmur.com/news/nh-news/All-Manchester-taxis-suspen... The taxi industry is not a good thing to leave unregulated. If you think uber wouldn't operate just like the rest of them because they're a trendy startup, you're delusional. I acknowledge the call for regulation is over travel destination, but…

yes. The lack of commercial insurance is troubling. Who pays if an Uber car is in an accident and a passenger is severely injured?

Aren't all Ubers livery drivers? Shouldn't they already have commercial insurance?

Re: Taxi industry lawsuit against Uber transferred from state to US court

#48

Post by untog »

bernardom wrote: post #16

I love the comments in the article: people from East Boston saying that it's the only way they can get a cab. I took an Uber in Boston today. I never call cabs any other way. It's faster, more convenient, they're more accountable, and when I'm in Cambridge it allows me to get a Boston cab as opposed to the horrible, horrible Cambridge cabbies. The drivers seem to like it too- every Boston cabbie I've taken an Uber wi…

I think this is the core of why everyone disagrees about Uber. In certain cities (Boston, SF) it is a lifesaver. Here in NYC it's a waste of money- yellow cabs really aren't that bad or scarce. There are times of day when it's difficult to get a yellow cab, but that's the exact same time that it's difficult to get an Uber cab- either that or you're paying 2.5x the already expensive price because they switched on surge pricing.

Re: Taxi industry lawsuit against Uber transferred from state to US court

#49

Post by potatolicious »

driverdan wrote: post #42
readme wrote: post #27

This is just a side note, but on april 2 every cab in my city was suspended from service for safety violations. http://www.wmur.com/news/nh-news/All-Manchester-taxis-suspen... The taxi industry is not a good thing to leave unregulated. If you think uber wouldn't operate just like the rest of them because they're a trendy startup, you're delusional. I acknowledge the call for regulation is over travel destination, but…

Your example is a clear case of regulation failure. The cab companies knew of the inspection but took no action to comply with the regulations. In smaller cities like Manchester where there are only 19 cabs there is very little market pressure. Competition in large cities will put more pressure on companies. The risk of a significant lawsuit is also significant pressure to maintain vehicles.

> "Competition in large cities will put more pressure on companies."

Only if competition sticks around. In most major cities the long-term trend seems to be larger cab companies swallowing up smaller cab companies until there are only 1-2 players left, at which point competitive pressure is little to nonexistent.

Re: Taxi industry lawsuit against Uber transferred from state to US court

#50

Post by lifeisstillgood »

readme wrote: post #27

This is just a side note, but on april 2 every cab in my city was suspended from service for safety violations. http://www.wmur.com/news/nh-news/All-Manchester-taxis-suspen... The taxi industry is not a good thing to leave unregulated. If you think uber wouldn't operate just like the rest of them because they're a trendy startup, you're delusional. I acknowledge the call for regulation is over travel destination, but…

OK, that got me. It took a few minutes, and rereading the above link to work out it is not Manchester UK (pop 1/2m) but Manchester NH (pop 100K)

However 19 cabs total for a population of 100,000 is really low. A quick google / yell shows me 109 listed taxi firms in Manchester UK. Thats about what I would expect.

Why are there only 19 actual cars in Manchester NH?

- http://www.taxinumber.com/taxis/manchester/?page=5

Post reply on HN