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Uber Suspends Its Ride-Sharing Service in Spain Following a Court Ruling

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Re: Uber Suspends Its Ride-Sharing Service in Spain Following a Court Ruling

#41

Post by skwirl »

pinaceae wrote: post #38

Spending a lot of time in Barcelona each year - what exactly is there to disrupt? taxi service is excellent, at all times of day. prices are reasonable, they know where to take you. cars are ok, clean. i get it in the US, with all those shitty cabs and foreign drivers who don't know their areas, but Europe is different. Apps like mytaxi.com are closing the payment/booking gap - backed by some powerful companies like…

That's not the experience I had in Barcelona. My friend wasn't feeling well and we tried to take a cab back to the hotel which was roughly a mile away, which apparently is too short for cab drivers to make much money. The guy at the head of the cab line refused to take us, and the second guy told us we had to take the first cab, and after arguing with the first driver he finally angrily took us, speeding around every corner and screeching his tires starting from every stop. When we got to the hotel and I started to dig out coins to pay, he yelled at us to get out of the cab and sped away without taking the money.

Worst cab experience of my life. I would have loved to have Uber available.

Re: Uber Suspends Its Ride-Sharing Service in Spain Following a Court Ruling

#42

Post by kartikkumar »

bane wrote: post #32
kartikkumar wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Similar to construction workers; if they lose their job they cannot work as anything else. But this isn't true right? It's not that Uber is eliminating taxi jobs, it's that they are competing with the status quo. Surely, if current drivers would lose their jobs, they'd be more than welcome to hop on-board the Uber train (or I guess I should say "Uber car"). Is there a reason that you think that these drivers wouldn…

For that to work, any debts or obligations the driver owes on their medallion would have to "go away".

This is an interest proposition for Uber. I wonder if they have conceived of a strategy to lure drivers of traditional taxis away by essentially helping them wipe the slate clean, or transferring the debt to them, with low interest. I think that they'd make a lot of headway that way and come across more positive as a company supporting and enabling a new, vibrant workforce.

Re: Uber Suspends Its Ride-Sharing Service in Spain Following a Court Ruling

#43

Post by crimsoneer »

pinaceae wrote: post #38

Spending a lot of time in Barcelona each year - what exactly is there to disrupt? taxi service is excellent, at all times of day. prices are reasonable, they know where to take you. cars are ok, clean. i get it in the US, with all those shitty cabs and foreign drivers who don't know their areas, but Europe is different. Apps like mytaxi.com are closing the payment/booking gap - backed by some powerful companies like…

If there wasn't need for Uber, surely people would just hail cabs and not use the app, right?

Re: Uber Suspends Its Ride-Sharing Service in Spain Following a Court Ruling

#44

Post by DrDimension »

pinaceae wrote: post #38

Spending a lot of time in Barcelona each year - what exactly is there to disrupt? taxi service is excellent, at all times of day. prices are reasonable, they know where to take you. cars are ok, clean. i get it in the US, with all those shitty cabs and foreign drivers who don't know their areas, but Europe is different. Apps like mytaxi.com are closing the payment/booking gap - backed by some powerful companies like…

Blaming government incompetence on a lack of public trust in government is... fallacious to put it kindly.

Re: Uber Suspends Its Ride-Sharing Service in Spain Following a Court Ruling

#45

Post by kartikkumar »

citricsquid wrote: post #24
kartikkumar wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Similar to construction workers; if they lose their job they cannot work as anything else. But this isn't true right? It's not that Uber is eliminating taxi jobs, it's that they are competing with the status quo. Surely, if current drivers would lose their jobs, they'd be more than welcome to hop on-board the Uber train (or I guess I should say "Uber car"). Is there a reason that you think that these drivers wouldn…

Uber make grandiose claims about the amount their drivers can earn, these claims have been demonstrated to be false, Uber drives down the cost of using Uber which in turn drives down the amount that drivers earn[1]. Driving for Uber is uneconomical for some drivers in some areas, if the trend continues more and more drivers for Uber are going to find it uneconomical. If the concern the taxi drivers have is that they…

That's interesting, and at the same time perplexing. This seems to be a market that is opening up, with multiple options for drivers. If it's truly the case that a significant number of Uber drivers are struggling to make ends meet when working full-time, sure this should lead to an exodus? This is suggested right at the end of the article:

> There's no way you will stay with Uber if you want to make ends meet. So either Uber will fix things, or drivers will leave."

I don't know what contractual obligations are forced onto drivers so maybe they're tied up for a certain period of time. The following quote from the article though suggests that it shouldn't be the case:

> Uber is not obligated to pay its drivers minimum wage; the drivers aren't employees, they're independent contractors.

Neither do I know if there is a "non-compete" clause of some sort that prevents them from working for Lyft, Sidecar, or even reverting back to traditional taxi services. The article suggests that at present this is not the case:

> "Right now, the TLC is open, so you can work with multiple bases," Diallo tells us. "

All in all, I find the business case for Uber intriguing because I don't fully understand the fuss. Admittedly, this is likely to my lack of understanding of the powerplay behind all of this, but I struggle to understand how drivers have gone from the "no-Uber world" to the "I-rely-on-Uber-and-can't-get-away-and-can't-make-ends-meet-world".

Re: Uber Suspends Its Ride-Sharing Service in Spain Following a Court Ruling

#46

Post by jryle70 »

citricsquid wrote: post #24
kartikkumar wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Similar to construction workers; if they lose their job they cannot work as anything else. But this isn't true right? It's not that Uber is eliminating taxi jobs, it's that they are competing with the status quo. Surely, if current drivers would lose their jobs, they'd be more than welcome to hop on-board the Uber train (or I guess I should say "Uber car"). Is there a reason that you think that these drivers wouldn…

Uber make grandiose claims about the amount their drivers can earn, these claims have been demonstrated to be false, Uber drives down the cost of using Uber which in turn drives down the amount that drivers earn[1]. Driving for Uber is uneconomical for some drivers in some areas, if the trend continues more and more drivers for Uber are going to find it uneconomical. If the concern the taxi drivers have is that they…

The question is, why is it unsustainable for Uber drivers? can someone else disrupt Uber down the road and give the drivers a better option, if it's indeed Uber who drives down the earning potential for individual drivers?

Re: Uber Suspends Its Ride-Sharing Service in Spain Following a Court Ruling

#47

Post by pinaceae »

DrDimension wrote: post #44
pinaceae wrote: post #38

Spending a lot of time in Barcelona each year - what exactly is there to disrupt? taxi service is excellent, at all times of day. prices are reasonable, they know where to take you. cars are ok, clean. i get it in the US, with all those shitty cabs and foreign drivers who don't know their areas, but Europe is different. Apps like mytaxi.com are closing the payment/booking gap - backed by some powerful companies like…

Blaming government incompetence on a lack of public trust in government is... fallacious to put it kindly.

not at all.

you make the government the source of all evil. blame regulation, blame the people working in government, don't pay them well. what happens? public service will suck. no one qualified wants to work there. a self fulfilling prophecy.

the people get the government they are willing to pay for, they deserve.

the whole starving the beast rhetoric of the GOP, etc in the US is what ultimately makes the government dysfunctional - outside of Defense of course, the holy cow. if the DoD would be in charge of healthcare and public infrastructure, maybe then there would be progress in the US.

Re: Uber Suspends Its Ride-Sharing Service in Spain Following a Court Ruling

#48

Post by wdewind »

fennecfoxen wrote: post #40
wdewind wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's not just that. It's a question of why a person deserves more of a break just because they happen to be currently employed as a taxi driver whereas someone else seeks to be newly employed as an Uber driver. I don't think it's that simple. A taxi medallion is an agreement made with the government. If the government then turns around and allows Uber in, what other agreements that they've made will they go back on…

Is that a procedural argument I smell? If you're sincere about this and if that's really the only objection, would you be willing to champion Uber (and its future competitors) if a way could be found to wind down the existing agreement in a manner that is not ostentatiously financially damaging to taxi medallion holders? Because as far as a "social contract" goes, this contract is basically selling out its people to…

> If you're sincere about this and if that's really the only objection, would you be willing to champion Uber (and its future competitors) if a way could be found to wind down the existing agreement in a manner that is not ostentatiously financially damaging to taxi medallion holders?

Yes totally.

> Because as far as a "social contract" goes, this contract is basically selling out its people to private entities -- taxi customers as property of the medallion-holder. Under other circumstances this would be incredibly objectionable: imagine the outcry if a government decided to sell Uber the exclusive right to run taxis and car services in a city.

Yeah, believe me I'm not defending the medallion system (if we didn't have it I probably wouldn't support the creation of it, nor the exclusive rights selling to Uber), but here we are, we have them, and so the state has created a level of expectations that would be damaging to reverse on. Not only for the medallion holders, but also for the general reputation of the government's word, which I think is important.

Re: Uber Suspends Its Ride-Sharing Service in Spain Following a Court Ruling

#49

Post by mparramon »

pinaceae wrote: post #38

Spending a lot of time in Barcelona each year - what exactly is there to disrupt? taxi service is excellent, at all times of day. prices are reasonable, they know where to take you. cars are ok, clean. i get it in the US, with all those shitty cabs and foreign drivers who don't know their areas, but Europe is different. Apps like mytaxi.com are closing the payment/booking gap - backed by some powerful companies like…

For Barcelona salaries, taxis are expensive, and can't compete with public transport. Uber, on the other hand, hits the sweet spot, with fares that are it competitive with metro or bus if you're sharing the ride with friends.

One trip from Gràcia to Barceloneta, 5km:

* Metro: 22 minutes, 1,03€ (with a T-10 card, which is the most expensive integrated transport option)

* Taxi: 15 minutes, 8-9€

* Uber: 15 minutes, 4-5€

Also, Barcelona cab drivers are known for driving you around if you look like a tourist. Uber drivers will never do that, since you rate them after the trip.

Re: Uber Suspends Its Ride-Sharing Service in Spain Following a Court Ruling

#50

Post by vbezhenar »

mobiplayer wrote: post #34
enigami wrote: post #33

I think Uber will find a way out of this situation. I am an Indian and am really feel sad for what happened in New Delhi. But, what happened after that incident is an example of how Uber handles such kind of unfortunate challenges [1]. Now the company is taking every possible step to be a socially responsible company which is committed to the safety of its customers. Whenever a new and disruptive business model is in…

Do you know why Uber wasn't invented in Spain? Because it is illegal. People giving rides for money have existed always and they've been punished because they were breaking the law. Now they're telling us it is "disruptive" to make crime more organized? Hey, we've got this nice app in order to receive your illegal service in an easy, trackable and convenient way. I'm not saying it should be illegal. I'm saying it is…

What's wrong with people giving rides for money? That's ideal model of open market IMO. I have this model applied in my country and 5 kilometers taxi ride would cost around 1-2 euros, depending on time (bus costs 0.4 euro). That's nice for customers, if you ask me. There's other side of the coin, it might not be safe enough to ride with unknown driver at night being in unconscious state. But we have public taxi services with slightly higher prices for that.

I was at Spain in my vacation and transportation costs shocked me, TBH.

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