"The reason Uber could be expensive is because you're not just paying for the car — you're paying for the other dude in the car," Kalanick said. "When there's no other dude in the car, the cost of taking an Uber anywhere becomes cheaper than owning a vehicle. So the magic there is, you basically bring the cost below the cost of ownership for everybody, and then car ownership goes away."
Uber isn’t the problem; taxi regulations are
91–100 of 120 posts
Re: Uber isn’t the problem; taxi regulations are
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd rather pay cheaper fares, but thanks for deciding for me.
Who's stopping you? London has thousands of mini-cabs. Just google London minicab, and phone one of the numbers. Have you actually ever been to London?
Googling is not an option when I'm on the street and I need a cab (I don't have mobile Internet access, nor can I justify the cost), which is most of the times when I actually take one.
Re: Uber isn’t the problem; taxi regulations are
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd rather pay cheaper fares, but thanks for deciding for me.
The problem with cabs is the information asymmetry. You dot know before you're getting in how good their knowledge is, this means that knowledgeable drivers can't charge more and you get a 'market of lemons'. This is a classic form of market failure, and is a strong case for regulation.
You dot know before you're getting in how good their knowledge is
Why not? Grant a certification with the test, allow cab owners/companies to put a mark on the car/site/etc, sue people using the mark without authorization. Cabs around here already have big ads on their doors, I don't see why couldn't they have a logo advertising their knowledge.
Re: Uber isn’t the problem; taxi regulations are
#94I spent a week in Paris.
I felt cheated _every time_ I took a regular cab. The meter could be set to various modes (L1- Day in City, L2- Evening in City / Suburb, L3 - Late nights, etc.) and I was never sure if it was on the correct mode. Also, the drivers were rude and acted as if they were doing me a favor.
Uber although slightly more expensive, was dramatically better. The drivers were polite, helpful and I never got scammed on the charge. Moreover, I didn't have to deal with foreign currency coins and notes.
Re: Uber isn’t the problem; taxi regulations are
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is a thing called: customer protection. This applies for all sorts of products and services. One of those services is taxi as part of transportation. Part of this is, that drivers are educated, trust worthy and the vehicles are in good shape as well as having a minimum insurance in protection of the customer. Also if you have 2 or more companies competing over who has the best service, that is good. But all of…
> But Uber (and some others) try to undermine any kind of regulation and so cutting costs to enable cheaper service. I can only speak for Cambridge, MA (which this article also mentions), but Uber has consistently provided a VASTLY superior experience compared to traditional Cambridge cab companies. Cambridge cabs are ludicrously overpriced; are frequently poorly maintained and old; have drivers who speak poor Englis…
> > But Uber (and some others) try to undermine any kind of regulation and so cutting costs to enable cheaper service.
> I can only speak for Cambridge, MA (which this article also mentions), but Uber has consistently provided a VASTLY superior experience compared to traditional Cambridge cab companies. Cambridge cabs are ludicrously overpriced; are frequently poorly maintained and old; have drivers who speak poor English, talk on the phone during the whole trip, and don't know where they are going; don't accept credit cards; have overpriced fixed cost routes to popular destinations (thanks government); sometimes won't even take a fare unless they judge it's worth their while; and are hard to find.
You have read:
> > That regulation also can go wrong, is a different story. Then, of course, it has to be fixed.
Here in Germany, about 60% of the taxi market is having a Mercedes E-Class model. Taxi cars are required to have a yearly inspection regarding road safety. Drivers need the have a permit, to allow passenger transportation. You can easily loose this permit on any kind of wrong behavior in terms of not following road safety rules. The taxi driver is required to execute any driving request within city limits (coverage). They are allows to reject you only under very strict requirements like if they could argue on personal safety. You, as a passenger, can blame anybody in terms of customer satisfaction. But, of course, if you don't blame, don't expect things to change by itself. Basically, the same applies to most countries I have been, like almost all over (western) Europe, Japan. Of course, quality differs from city to city. In Milano, IT, I have been driven by taxi driver over red light. But that is how Italian drivers drive in some parts of Italy. It is their mentality. In Spain the taxis are a bit messier then in German. But that also applies for rentals in Spain. They also have their scratches and dents. The experience in London - also mentioned in that article - superior, like in most parts of England.
That said, if your regulations are shitty, don't blame the government, because YOU elected the government. So get active to change things.
Re: Uber isn’t the problem; taxi regulations are
#96>>Most notoriously, attaining “The Knowledge” required for a taxi license involves memorizing hundreds of routes, business locations, and places of interest throughout the city. Charming, but expensive — and quite unnecessary in the age of smartphones. Says a person who has never been to London and doesn't understand the enormous benefit of intimate knowledge of all the streets of London and how to navigate them quic…
Agreed, that isn't just London, in NYC it is the same way. There are seasonal changes in traffic that can completely alter the route you should take to different parts of the city that seem illogical. Navigation systems don't currently take that into account.
Why don't they? Google normally seems pretty good about recognizing changes in traffic patterns and selecting alternate routes.
Re: Uber isn’t the problem; taxi regulations are
#97>>Most notoriously, attaining “The Knowledge” required for a taxi license involves memorizing hundreds of routes, business locations, and places of interest throughout the city. Charming, but expensive — and quite unnecessary in the age of smartphones. Says a person who has never been to London and doesn't understand the enormous benefit of intimate knowledge of all the streets of London and how to navigate them quic…
Last time I was in London, I mentioned the name of a grotty backpackers hostel, not even remembering what road it was on, and the driver immediately started off towards it. Compare this to having to mess about on Google Maps for five minutes to figure out where we're going and potentially end up on the wrong side of the city anyway, which has happened to me in other cities. There's definitely something in having your…
I got into a black taxi once, and read off the text that my wife had sent telling me where to meet her. She didn't know the name of the restaurant and got the name of the street wrong.
The taxi driver just said, "Do you mean [restaurant name] on [name of correct street]?" And sure enough, he was right.
Re: Uber isn’t the problem; taxi regulations are
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is a thing called: customer protection. This applies for all sorts of products and services. One of those services is taxi as part of transportation. Part of this is, that drivers are educated, trust worthy and the vehicles are in good shape as well as having a minimum insurance in protection of the customer. Also if you have 2 or more companies competing over who has the best service, that is good. But all of…
There are already two powerful forces protecting consumers, reputation and tort law. A taxi service with poor service will not be in business for long, because its reputation will crumble, and if the service is truly negligent (for example, by driving vehicles that are in dangerously poor shape), the customer who is harmed can sue, not to mention traffic laws that already punish any driver who endangers other drivers…
> There are already two powerful forces protecting consumers, reputation and tort law. A taxi service with poor service will not be in business for long, because its reputation will crumble, and if the service is truly negligent (for example, by driving vehicles that are in dangerously poor shape), the customer who is harmed can sue, not to mention traffic laws that already punish any driver who endangers other drivers on the road.
If it is cheap enough, people will still use it without thinking about their risks.
> You say that foreigners don't know anything, but I think most travelers would disagree. When I travel to a foreign country, I am still fully capable of researching the best hotels and restaurants, despite not speaking the native tongue. Taxi service isn't any different.
I travel a lot for business and for leisure. Just returned from a 5 weeks trip in Bhutan and the Himalayas. When arriving at my destination, I will take the taxi that is available there. So, I require and rely on, that I have an immediate possibility to check, if a minimum service quality is guaranteed. The guarantee is given by a trustee and the trustee should be government. I don't research hotels in advance. Because the hotel quality assurance is called stars. I know, in this country I have to book a 4 star hotel and in Germany I can go with a 2 star or better 3 star. So, there is an international system and also quality assurance system. There is no such thing for taxi, because local government is basically providing that kind of service.
> > In France, the proposed remedy was simple: a mandated delay of 15 minutes between ordering a ride from Uber and the passenger pick-up.
> I find it inconceivable that this sort of regulation is meant to protect consumers. Clearly its only purpose is to protect the profits of traditional taxis.
France is always very special, especially Paris. I have experienced several shutdown on public trains or taxis as of blocked roads, just because they are on strike again.
Re: Uber isn’t the problem; taxi regulations are
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed, that isn't just London, in NYC it is the same way. There are seasonal changes in traffic that can completely alter the route you should take to different parts of the city that seem illogical. Navigation systems don't currently take that into account.
Why don't they? Google normally seems pretty good about recognizing changes in traffic patterns and selecting alternate routes.
Not really, I live about an hour outside of the city and carpool in everyday. I can tell you first hand that Google is always late in recognizing traffic pattern changes. It's actually become a bit of a joke amongst our car pool because we get the alert once we're already stuck in traffic.
Re: Uber isn’t the problem; taxi regulations are
#100>>Most notoriously, attaining “The Knowledge” required for a taxi license involves memorizing hundreds of routes, business locations, and places of interest throughout the city. Charming, but expensive — and quite unnecessary in the age of smartphones. Says a person who has never been to London and doesn't understand the enormous benefit of intimate knowledge of all the streets of London and how to navigate them quic…
This would simply translate to the choice between a) using Uber with the driver relying on a navigator unit and possibly driving slow and/or unoptimal routes but with a cheaper price vs. b) traditional taxis that cost more but really know the city. (Or try to get an Uber driver with good ratings for local knowledge, if Uber supports that sort of rankings.) In a city that has mostly bad taxis, I'd choose Uber. I Londo…
If knowing the city gives someone an advantage there probably is a traffic organization problem