NYC taxi visualization • Hacker News Board

Re: NYC taxi visualization

#11

Post by viraptor » Mon, Jul 14, 2014, 5:33 PM UTC

amwelles wrote: post #4

I was surprised by the amount of fares that just went a few blocks. Looks like it should have been pretty walkable in a lot of those cases.

Could've been raining that day. Or it may be US/NY specific... I have only been to west coast, but coming from Europe I was really surprised what's considered a "walking distance" in the city centre. 2 blocks away and people were ready to get a cab.

Then again, the cabs were probably 5+ times cheaper than what I was used to in the UK. Maybe I'd use them more if it cost me $5, not £10 to go around 10 blocks away. One is close to spare change, the other I'd have to think about...

Re: NYC taxi visualization

#12

Post by kingnight » Mon, Jul 14, 2014, 5:37 PM UTC

I just followed a taxi that had a 12% tip rate. I thought with the new automated payment systems [1] they were supposedly getting 25% now...

edit: I should have read about the * before I posted, but it's interesting to show then how much are cash/charge transactions by the discrepancy.

[1] http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2012/05/14/how-3-simple-but...

Re: NYC taxi visualization

#13

Post by forinti » Mon, Jul 14, 2014, 5:37 PM UTC

chrisseaton wrote: post #6

amwelles wrote: post #4

I was surprised by the amount of fares that just went a few blocks. Looks like it should have been pretty walkable in a lot of those cases.

Perhaps they're disabled.

Or have small children.

Re: NYC taxi visualization

#14

Post by blatherard » Mon, Jul 14, 2014, 5:37 PM UTC

amwelles wrote: post #4

I was surprised by the amount of fares that just went a few blocks. Looks like it should have been pretty walkable in a lot of those cases.

People will often use cabs to go somewhere when they have something to carry, even if its a short walk. Also, if the weather is bad.

Re: NYC taxi visualization

#15

Post by maxmcd » Mon, Jul 14, 2014, 5:38 PM UTC

kingnight wrote: post #12

I just followed a taxi that had a 12% tip rate. I thought with the new automated payment systems [1] they were supposedly getting 25% now... edit: I should have read about the * before I posted, but it's interesting to show then how much are cash/charge transactions by the discrepancy. [1] http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2012/05/14/how-3-simple-but...

From a brief look at the data it looks like cash tips might be counted as 0%. So that 12% average might be originally closer to 25%, but brought down by the nulled out cash tips.

Re: NYC taxi visualization

#16

Post by sethbannon » Mon, Jul 14, 2014, 5:38 PM UTC

Seems like this data could be used to build an app that suggests where a taxi driver should go at any given time to maximize their chances of getting a fare. Uber & Lyft already do this for their drivers, but I'm not aware of any app that does this for NYC yellow cabs.

Re: NYC taxi visualization

#17

Post by basseq » Mon, Jul 14, 2014, 5:39 PM UTC

maxmcd wrote: post #8

bernardom wrote: post #3

That's super interesting. I wonder why my guy wandered really slowly up Riverside Ave for like 30 minutes instead of going inland to find a fare. Looks like it's really slow between 11am and 3pm, and constant driving otherwise.

The route information between trips is just a guess. So he could have really just stopped for dinner or something.

I was wondering the same thing, but as they just average the location from the last dropoff to the next pickup, it's almost definite that the driver "went to lunch" in the interim. I saw this trend in the two taxis I looked at.

Re: NYC taxi visualization

#18

Post by _delirium » Mon, Jul 14, 2014, 5:42 PM UTC

blaincate wrote: post #10

amwelles wrote: post #4

I was surprised by the amount of fares that just went a few blocks. Looks like it should have been pretty walkable in a lot of those cases.

https://github.com/akuchlous/NYC_CAB_ANALYTICS/blob/gh-pages... data from chriswong : 22% rides are less 1 mile long

It'd be interesting if comparable data could be gotten for different cities. Wonder what the curves would look like for e.g., Boston, SF, London, Athens, Frankfurt.

Re: NYC taxi visualization

#19

Post by rickyc091 » Mon, Jul 14, 2014, 5:45 PM UTC

amwelles wrote: post #4

I was surprised by the amount of fares that just went a few blocks. Looks like it should have been pretty walkable in a lot of those cases.

Just a few observations over time for quick taxi rides aside from weather and transporting a heavy item.

- Often times rides are paid on the time of a company so people will just expense it.

- If someone, say a relator, has a client, they might opt for a taxi.

- Models will take a taxi even if their destination is only a few blocks away due to their high heels.

Re: NYC taxi visualization

#20

Post by scrumper » Mon, Jul 14, 2014, 5:45 PM UTC

What's happening when I see a green blob which then turns red a few seconds later? The cab hasn't moved, but the passenger count and fare tally have both gone up. The cab then moves at a normal pace from that location to the next fare, so I don't think it's missing GPS data.

Edit: just saw another comment saying the points were calculated through a Google API, so maybe it's just gremlins in that.