Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 70 posts

Re: London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

#31

Post by furioussloth »

zitterbewegung wrote: post #2

So bending over backwards and making companies not follow the law is "stifling technology companies". As others have pointed out Uber could play by the rules if they wanted to.

Can they thought ? The whole gig economy model depends on not treating service providers as employees. The reason for ban does not specifically say what regulations were not followed. It mentions uber did not report crimes . Well I don't get that argument as the victim reports the crime to police and not to uber. Secondly , there is no proof or suspicion of greyball ever Been used in London. It was like they just put that in there to make Uber look bad instead of giving actual reason to ban it . All the uber drivers in London are certified private hire drivers so I don't see exactly what regulations they are talking about . Maybe they want more background checks in that case uber should obey those requests.

Re: London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

#32

Post by furioussloth »

disordinary wrote: post #30
furioussloth wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no proof of that being used in London. Also all the drivers in London are certified drivers.

It was given as a reason in the press release so there is obviously suspicion of it at least. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/new...

If so then they should mentioned incidences which lead to this suspicion. Both mayor and uber has failed to make it clear what the reason of contention is between them. The rules which uber is not following should have been listed instead of arbitrary statements like Uber failed to report crimes by their drivers . This can happen only if victim decides to report to uber instead of police which sounds very unlikely scenario to me.

Re: London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

#33

Post by bsder »

jonknee wrote: post #24
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #8

This same argument was made when Austin required fingerprinting for drivers and Uber and Lyft left. What happened? Their was a flourishing of new ride share companies, including a local nonprofit, RideAustin. Yes, at first, these apps were nowhere near the level of Uber/Lyft, but they quickly improved, especially RideAustin. The prices were slightly higher, but it seemed those prices reflected the actual cost of the…

You forgot the end of that story. They let Uber and Lyft back in[1] and the apps that had sprouted up instantly got crushed[2]. [1] https://www.curbed.com/2017/6/14/15803138/austin-uber-lyft-t... [2] https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2017/06/06/uber-lyft...

Yeah, Uber and Lyft spent VC money to lobby the state government to override what the Austin voters decided.

So much for the will of the consumer, eh?

But, hey, that's what "DISRUPTION!" looks like nowadays, right?

Re: London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

#34

Post by furioussloth »

RobPfeifer wrote: post #11
oulu2006 wrote: post #5

This article is stupid, Uber was not caught unawares and has been in repeated violation of several requirements for operating in London. This isn't the end of some libertarian utopian dream of innovation, but rather uber's continued blatant disregard of local laws.

It's not really stupid if you realize it's very likely an Uber PR piece masquerading as an article :). In that sense, it makes quite a bit of sense!

Yes .. this piece of article does not resound with my biases and beliefs . So the author must be paid shill. /s

Re: London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

#35

Post by pyronik »

bsder wrote: post #33
jonknee wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You forgot the end of that story. They let Uber and Lyft back in[1] and the apps that had sprouted up instantly got crushed[2]. [1] https://www.curbed.com/2017/6/14/15803138/austin-uber-lyft-t... [2] https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2017/06/06/uber-lyft...

Yeah, Uber and Lyft spent VC money to lobby the state government to override what the Austin voters decided. So much for the will of the consumer, eh? But, hey, that's what "DISRUPTION!" looks like nowadays, right?

Who's being forced to use uber/lyft? Ironic that you believe state intervention into markets as being the "will of the consumer".

Re: London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

#36

Post by kurthr »

jonknee wrote: post #24
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #8

This same argument was made when Austin required fingerprinting for drivers and Uber and Lyft left. What happened? Their was a flourishing of new ride share companies, including a local nonprofit, RideAustin. Yes, at first, these apps were nowhere near the level of Uber/Lyft, but they quickly improved, especially RideAustin. The prices were slightly higher, but it seemed those prices reflected the actual cost of the…

You forgot the end of that story. They let Uber and Lyft back in[1] and the apps that had sprouted up instantly got crushed[2]. [1] https://www.curbed.com/2017/6/14/15803138/austin-uber-lyft-t... [2] https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2017/06/06/uber-lyft...

I just read those two articles (from June) and don't get the idea that either was crushed. The drivers just saw the number of rides and disperse to more services, and the $350 promotions etc. RideAustin still seems to have almost 50% of the business, with Fasten, Uber, and Lyft splitting the rest?

This (crappy Buzzfeed) article from July seems confirms what locals say... they're all still there: https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolineodonovan/uber-lyft-austin-t...?

Re: London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

#37

Post by jakebasile »

pyronik wrote: post #35
bsder wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, Uber and Lyft spent VC money to lobby the state government to override what the Austin voters decided. So much for the will of the consumer, eh? But, hey, that's what "DISRUPTION!" looks like nowadays, right?

Who's being forced to use uber/lyft? Ironic that you believe state intervention into markets as being the "will of the consumer".

The Austin fingerprint law was a voter initiative passed by Austin citizens. The state of Texas overturned it by vote of elected representatives from across the state. I think the latter is much more a "state intervention".

Re: London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

#38

Post by jonknee »

bsder wrote: post #33
jonknee wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You forgot the end of that story. They let Uber and Lyft back in[1] and the apps that had sprouted up instantly got crushed[2]. [1] https://www.curbed.com/2017/6/14/15803138/austin-uber-lyft-t... [2] https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2017/06/06/uber-lyft...

Yeah, Uber and Lyft spent VC money to lobby the state government to override what the Austin voters decided. So much for the will of the consumer, eh? But, hey, that's what "DISRUPTION!" looks like nowadays, right?

> So much for the will of the consumer, eh?

I think demand is a better proxy for the will of consumers than any law or legislation. If the citizens of Austin refuse to use Uber or Lyft they will disappear without any legislation.

Re: London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

#39

Post by chrismealy »

cosban wrote: post #4

I find it interesting that the article fails to mention the reason behind the bans. Perhaps they expect us to already know that it's due to problems with driver background checks. (correct me if I'm wrong) Then again, if the argument is that in a pure libertarian system consumers would drive out bad actors like this, I'm not sure that this line of thinking would hold. The convenience of a cheap ride would seem to be…

A fun game to play with any Tyler Cowen article is to ask, "How is he playing dumb this time?" You'll always win.

Re: London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

#40

Post by gregsq »

limaoscarjuliet wrote: post #27

100 quid heathrow to the City vs 30 uber. Good or bad, time to pay triple again.

Well, thirty from notting hill to heathrow by mini cab for me. If you mean the actual city that would maybe 55. Not sure if you mean the city, say Liverpool Street, or west end something. In any case that extra cash went straight to the driver I'd guess. Black cabs cost more, but for completeness, I'm guessing you didn't need to pay that much.
Post reply on HN