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LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft

libretaxi.org

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Re: LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft

#171

Post by TuringNYC »

jasode wrote: post #85
antonioevans wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is a first world problem. Majority of the the world does not have a credit card or real access to a card. Majority of world pays with cash. A statement like this is similar to when I see American abroad and shocked that places don't take Amex for purchases. It's a very first world thing to even own an Amex let alone use it for a small purchases below $50.

>That is a first world problem. But owning a smartphone with a touch screen (instead of tin cans connected by a string) and having the luxury of choosing between Uber vs LibreTaxi (instead of waving your arms on the street to hail a taxi) is also a 1st world problem. If we're discussing percentage of world market, 51%+ do not have combined attributes of (1) smartphone ownership[1] + (2) Uber availability + (3) prefer…

Not all systems in developing countries develop at the same speed. Some systems lag due to regulations, culture, etc. Other systems manage to leap-frog a generation.

I've been in Qatar for business. Coming from the US, it is shocking. Some systems have leapfrogged -- e.g., ease of banking, 2FA, mobile phone plans, messaging, ride-hailing apps, etc.

Other systems lag -- the most egregious example being the lack of a national address system. Correct -- i have no home address. Half the country does not -- people send GPS coordinates and WhatsApp location pindrops for ride-hailing and food delivery.

Re: LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft

#172

Post by joeyspn »

dclowd9901 wrote: post #113
bpierre wrote: post #72

About the trust and reputation issue, I think blockchain technologies could play an important role for decentralized services like this. I would like to see a multipurpose reputation / trust system based on the blockchain, exposing all the needed features as a simple library and / or HTTP API, ready to be implemented by apps and websites. I think we are still in a period where a lot of products are built either in a…

Simply an "identity" block chain would be an amazing advancement for peer to peer services. I'd love to know if the craigslist person I was going to meet was identifiable independently.

Martti Malmi aka "Sirius" was working exactly on this [0] right after he left the Bitcoin space... I have been also interested in decentralised reputation via Ethereum, which you can implement w/o a dedicated blockchain via smart contracts (eg. [1]). IMO distributed rep would fit perfectly in a project like LibreTaxi where you don't have (or don't want to have) a centralised system...

[0] https://github.com/identifi/identifi

[1] https://medium.com/@alexberegszaszi/building-decentralized-r...

Re: LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft

#173

Post by joshlemer »

reubensutton wrote: post #6

My concern with this is the problem of ensuring the safety of the person driving the cab and the real identity of the rider. Lots of drivers will be reluctant because they can be stiffed on the bill. Lots of passengers will be reluctant to use it due to the inherent risk of riding with what is essentially a stranger.

In this respect, isn't it identical to how regular taxis have operated for decades / centuries?

Re: LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft

#174

Post by pouetpouet »

joeyspn wrote: post #107
paglia_s wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure about other EU countries but here in Italy Blablacar and Uber are completely different. For example the price you're allowed to ask is calculated to ensure it's only a cost sharing without any income for the driver.

> without any income for the driver What? It doesn't make sense... Then why would any driver want to provide services via the app? Also, I'm not talking about the specifics of the payment or reward systems, I'm just pointing out that they're both considered to be "on the same level" and in the same "difficult to tax" tech service (carpooling, ride-sharing, etc)... just google "blablacar uber" and see the results...

because if you make a profit you need a professional insurance and or a taxi license. blablacar is a carpool service where the driver is not professional. You use it to recoup fuel costs and tolls.

Other justifications are: having company, decreasing your carbon footprint.

Re: LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft

#175

Post by galdosdi »

reubensutton wrote: post #6

My concern with this is the problem of ensuring the safety of the person driving the cab and the real identity of the rider. Lots of drivers will be reluctant because they can be stiffed on the bill. Lots of passengers will be reluctant to use it due to the inherent risk of riding with what is essentially a stranger.

Shouldn't be an obstacle. This is already exactly how normal, hailable, regulated taxis work (at least in much of the USA, and certainly in NYC -- I can't speak for elsewhere). That's why taxi driver is (at least in the US) a statistically more dangerous occupation than police officer.

From the point of view of a driver, this scheme is less dangerous than the status quo, at least there is potentially a little more paper trail to prove a rider rode.

From the point of view of a rider, there is the advantage in regulated taxis that the driver is licensed and identified, but in countries where it's feasible, I don't see why LibreTaxi couldn't have an option to "request licensed driver only" or something

Re: LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft

#176

Post by enitihas »

parasanti wrote: post #154
spIrr wrote: post #131

I'll post a comment from ProductHunt, which might give a bit more context to where the founder sees this going, and why cash rides make sense under certain circumstances he designed the app for: […] I have gone to the founder's blog and it provides a better understanding of where he sees it going: Uber (and similar apps) will never reach many remote villages, cities and regions around the world (and don't have to), b…

Uber is trying to address the Credit Card issues after it noticed that lots of Singaporeans, maids and foreign labor do not have credit cards but still needs the service. They accept cash now. https://www.techinasia.com/uber-cash-payments-singapore

In India, Uber accepts cash as well as PayTM, and this has helped adoption.

Re: LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft

#177

Post by pouetpouet »

rovek wrote: post #102
joeyspn wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BlaBlaCar [0] operates/ed only with community reviews (for drivers and passengers) and is doing just fine in EU... It is in fact so successful, that govs and press always talk about "services like blablacar and uber" (they're classified as basically the same kind of service) [0] https://www.blablacar.com/

I've literally never heard anyone outside Spotify ads 3 years ago even mention blablacar, let alone in the same breath as Uber.

it's really popular in some European countries. For passengers it's an alternative to trains or bus coaches. It's used for intercity travel, not a taxi replacement. Also it's ride sharing, drivers are not professionals and are not allowed to profit from it. Drivers are only allowed to recoup fuel and toll costs on journey they intended to make anyway.

Re: LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft

#179

Post by omouse »

spectrum1234 wrote: post #178

Sounds great but the advantage the main guys have is the network effect, a large fleet. The fact that this is free suggests no marketing budget and therefore less drivers and passengers, both which depend on each other to grow.

That's not really an advantage. Cab companies are location specific, the network effect is limited by the number of taxi medallions handed out.

It's also a good starting point for local companies to be the Uber or Lyft of their city. For example in Toronto, Hailo doesn't exist and Lyft doesn't operate here either. It would be awesome if a company could just pick up LibreTaxi, pour in some $$$ for marketing and sales and start it up for Toronto.

Re: LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft

#180

Post by lorenzhs »

schlowmo wrote: post #109
pimterry wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? That's pretty surprising - I live in Barcelona, and I use cards 99% of the time, and in the UK it was even easier. Even taxis here have card machines, and every small shop definitely does. The only holdouts are the occasional tiny old wine bar here and there, but even most of them have moved with the times.

Unfortunately I didn't find more actual stats, but there is a report from Deutsche Bundesbank (German Federal Bank) from 2014 which states that in 2014 the share of cash payments in Germany was 79.1% and only 1.3% credit card transactions.[0, page 27] If I remember correctly, there is no other European country with such a low percentage of credit card transactions. [0] https://www.bundesbank.de/Redaktion/EN/Downloads…

The relevant page is 31 (pdf-page 33), containing a figure "Share of payment instruments broken down into various transaction amount categories in 2014, 2011 and 2008". In particular, 96% of transactions below 5€ were in cash, and 90% for transactions between 5 and 20€.

A breakdown by age group is on page 33. Unsurprisingly, young people pay by card more often than older people.

Various other figure breaking down card/cash usage along different lines are on the subsequent pages. Poorer people use cash for a larger percentage of their transactions than richer people.

Page 63 breaks down usage by occasion/purpose of payment (gas/restaurant/retail/...).

Lastly, 97% of Germans have a girocard (debit card), but only 1 in 3 have a credit card.

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