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Uber has defeated Bill de Blasio’s plan to rein them in

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Re: Uber has defeated Bill de Blasio’s plan to rein them in

#201

Post by MaysonL »

danieltillett wrote: post #183
morgante wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's a viable strategy. If it were, Lyft would be successfully deploying it. Namely, I see 3 primary flaws: 1. A marginally lower price is not by itself enough to achieve market penetration. If it takes 5-10 minutes longer to get a ride on your platform (due to fewer drivers), I'm not going to use it—even if you are 20% cheaper (wiping out Uber's entire margin). 2. You're ignoring the pooling savings…

Namely, I see 3 primary flaws: 1. A marginally lower price is not by itself enough to achieve market penetration. If it takes 5-10 minutes longer to get a ride on your platform (due to fewer drivers), I'm not going to use it—even if you are 20% cheaper (wiping out Uber's entire margin). I think you have assumed that I would not have as many drivers on the road as Uber. I would have as many or more - hence the need to…

Another answer to point 3 would be DOJ intervention. They do occasionally prosecute antitrust cases.

Re: Uber has defeated Bill de Blasio’s plan to rein them in

#202

Post by task_queue »

VexXtreme wrote: post #194
collyw wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say monopolized rather then democratized.

I think you need to reexamine the meaning of the word "monopolized". Having a single state-sanctioned business (and therefore backed by the threat of violence) is somehow less monopolistic than having a free market where the best service provider is rewarded by becoming the most popular and profitable one?

This is a false equivalence. There isn't one and only one State Taxi Company. There are hundreds if not thousands of successful private taxi companies in each state.

There's one Uber and maybe Lyft if you're lucky. In the grey-area taxi market, they might fit the definition of a monopoly. I wouldn't argue that though because I know nothing about that market and reading that sentence back makes me laugh.

Microsoft operated in a relatively free market and was the arguably the best software provider as they were the most popular and profitable one for quite some time. They were also deemed a monopoly.

Re: Uber has defeated Bill de Blasio’s plan to rein them in

#203

Post by sillygeese »

mhaymo wrote: post #193
sillygeese wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A couple years ago, the city allowed independent car services to paint their cars green and take street hails. Does anyone else see the absurdity in that? Compare to: "In 2014, the city allowed people to wear green socks" If you want to transport people for a fee, what rational, moral justification is there for anyone to intervene in that? -To decide what colour your car should be, or where you can pick up customer…

The road is a limited common resource, and it's difficult to directly charge drivers per their usage of it, so the local government uses other forms of regulation.

Roads could be private too, and payments could be collected for (and only for) using them, even without setting up a state-maintained taxi monopoly/cartel.

So I'm not sure what you think is currently handled well.

Re: Uber has defeated Bill de Blasio’s plan to rein them in

#204

Post by yummyfajitas »

mhaymo wrote: post #193
sillygeese wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A couple years ago, the city allowed independent car services to paint their cars green and take street hails. Does anyone else see the absurdity in that? Compare to: "In 2014, the city allowed people to wear green socks" If you want to transport people for a fee, what rational, moral justification is there for anyone to intervene in that? -To decide what colour your car should be, or where you can pick up customer…

The road is a limited common resource, and it's difficult to directly charge drivers per their usage of it, so the local government uses other forms of regulation.

It's not difficult at all. Gas taxes pretty much pay for this. Congestion charges also work nicely in cities.

Re: Uber has defeated Bill de Blasio’s plan to rein them in

#205

Post by DarthMader »

dbcooper wrote: post #62

Caught a taxi tonight in Paris. 5 euro but jacked up to a minimum of 7, driver claimed he couldn't give me change. He spent 5 minutes pretending to have no change, then gave me 2 euros in coins plus a 10 in exchange for a 20. Great. Taxi services have practically begged for Uber etc to destroy them.

When you have French taxi drivers willing to injure, threaten, assault just for working for a competitor, it's no surprise that some of them resort to shenanigans like this.

Re: Uber has defeated Bill de Blasio’s plan to rein them in

#206

Post by imauld »

sillygeese wrote: post #179
jrockway wrote: post #48

I don't really like Uber's business practices but they do fill an essential niche in New York City. A couple years ago, the city allowed independent car services to paint their cars green and take street hails. They previously did this, of course, but it wasn't legal. And of course, not every "black car" became a green cab, so this still happens. It's the standard way to get around the outer boroughs of New York. I w…

> A couple years ago, the city allowed independent car services to paint their cars green and take street hails. Does anyone else see the absurdity in that? Compare to: "In 2014, the city allowed people to wear green socks" If you want to transport people for a fee, what rational, moral justification is there for anyone to intervene in that? -To decide what colour your car should be, or where you can pick up customer…

The major part of that was being able to pick up street hails not he color of the car.

Cabbies themselves have been the biggest reason for all the regulation from the city. Picking up tourists and aimlessly driving around for half an hour to run up the meter, refusing to take people where they want to go and not picking up black people are just some of the shenanigans they pull on a regular basis.

Re: Uber has defeated Bill de Blasio’s plan to rein them in

#207

Post by justuk »

backtoyoujim wrote: post #49

Does anyone on HN "work" for either of Uber or Lyft? There seems to be a lot "uber workers this" and "lyft workers that" without much substance.

I have heard several interviews with drivers. It reminds me of every other VC funded technology company that creates a platform. Those drivers do well as early adopters, but I suspect its downhill (for them) in the long term.

Re: Uber has defeated Bill de Blasio’s plan to rein them in

#208

Post by fwn »

balls187 wrote: post #175
kansface wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't you let the drivers make the decision for themselves.

I think that's fair, so long as they're presented with all the facts. If there is any truth to the comments that claim many drivers quit after determining they make at or near minimum wage, it seems like they got into Uber believing that drivers can make $90,000 a year

Well.. It's also fair in situations without perfect information. Assuming that as a requirement would render any ethical judgement on real life scenarios unusable.

Re: Uber has defeated Bill de Blasio’s plan to rein them in

#209

Post by sillygeese »

imauld wrote: post #206
sillygeese wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A couple years ago, the city allowed independent car services to paint their cars green and take street hails. Does anyone else see the absurdity in that? Compare to: "In 2014, the city allowed people to wear green socks" If you want to transport people for a fee, what rational, moral justification is there for anyone to intervene in that? -To decide what colour your car should be, or where you can pick up customer…

The major part of that was being able to pick up street hails not he color of the car. Cabbies themselves have been the biggest reason for all the regulation from the city. Picking up tourists and aimlessly driving around for half an hour to run up the meter, refusing to take people where they want to go and not picking up black people are just some of the shenanigans they pull on a regular basis.

> Picking up tourists and aimlessly driving around for half an hour to run up the meter, refusing to take people where they want to go and not picking up black people are just some of the shenanigans they pull on a regular basis

Well, if you need a X-hundred-thousand-dollar taxi "medallion" to be allowed to transport people for a fee, that cuts down on your competition quite nicely, and then you're not really motivated to provide a good service.

Uber has shown that there are plenty of people who wouldn't mind transporting people for a fee, but they haven't been able (or motivated to) get permission to do so, which means the licensing system has been highly effective in keeping competition low and prices high, just the way the state-maintained monopoly/cartel wants it.

Can an Uber driver pull nasty shit on people and keep getting gigs? No, but taxi drivers can, and there's a reason for that. Well there you go.

Re: Uber has defeated Bill de Blasio’s plan to rein them in

#210

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

davmre wrote: post #180
vacri wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Maybe I should figure out how to do that. Why wouldn't cash work?

There's basically no reason for me to carry cash in my daily life. Uber of all companies should be working to facilitate that trend, not impede it.

I think collecting tips on their driver's behalf would poke a big hole in Uber's claim that they are contractors.
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