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Uber, Lyft crackdown in Seattle may be followed in other cities

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Re: Uber, Lyft crackdown in Seattle may be followed in other cities

#41

Post by djur »

rayiner wrote: post #24
Dirlewanger wrote: post #10

Fuck, I sincerely hope our generation (early-mid 20s) do not react like crusty sheltered curmudgeons in 15-30 years when they occupy these positions of power and are confronted with something they've never seen before. I'm not too hopeful though. One of the few constants in life is that while individually people may change, groups of them rarely do.

I hope "your generation" at some point realizes that the challenges facing Uber don't stem from "opposition to the new." People aren't shocked and confused by the sheer novelty and innovation of being able to call a cab with a phone. They're reacting to companies trampling over settled expectations and compromises. Municipalities created these regulated taxi systems, and used monopoly status as a carrot in return for…

To the vast majority of people outside the venture/startup scene, "disrupt" is a bad word. It means throwing the silverware on the ground and taking a dump in the punch bowl.

The fact that businesses still routinely use that piece of jargon suggests to me that they're completely stuck in the tech bubble.

Re: Uber, Lyft crackdown in Seattle may be followed in other cities

#42

Post by ameister14 »

Limiting the number of drivers Uber or Lyft is allowed to have working in an area is short term thinking, likely promoted in large part by existing taxi and limo companies that want to keep their businesses going.

It's nothing compared to the regulatory push the teamsters will make when automated trucks begin to take on the existing industry. That said, I think it's a good lesson for SV companies and a warning to count on and prepare for government reaction to new technologies effect on regular jobs.

Re: Uber, Lyft crackdown in Seattle may be followed in other cities

#43

Post by null_ptr »

barclay wrote: post #40
droopyEyelids wrote: post #39

In Chicago all taxi drivers must obtain a Chauffeur's License before driving. The Chauffeur's license exam includes background checks, tests for common infectious diseases (tuberculosis), and a basic knowledge test of the city. Uber does background checks, but they don't test for TB and I've had three UberX drivers that didn't know where Lake Michigan was when we were two blocks away from it. Also, licensed taxi driv…

Not to sound like the classic idealist libertarian, but isn't this how uber and lyft will be better? You ride with someone who's clueless or an asshole, rate them 1-star, the ratings compound, and unless they improve quickly they're tossed out of the driver pool. Immediate impact.

The whole point of stricter examinations is to avoid 1-star drivers to begin with.

Re: Uber, Lyft crackdown in Seattle may be followed in other cities

#44

Post by sanctuslibre »

It is surprising that on a news site focused around entrepreneurial capitalism in technology, the majority of the commenters are statist by default. Have you not heard libertarian/free market arguments on this topic or have you found them unconvincing?

Re: Uber, Lyft crackdown in Seattle may be followed in other cities

#45

Post by benched »

rmc wrote: post #21
Dirlewanger wrote: post #10

Fuck, I sincerely hope our generation (early-mid 20s) do not react like crusty sheltered curmudgeons in 15-30 years when they occupy these positions of power and are confronted with something they've never seen before. I'm not too hopeful though. One of the few constants in life is that while individually people may change, groups of them rarely do.

Highly likely. Remember what happened when the 1960s generation of free love and drugs got in power and legalised weed, and promoted sex? Yeah me either

That's like expecting the goth subculture to result in more eyeliner in congress one day.

Re: Uber, Lyft crackdown in Seattle may be followed in other cities

#46

Post by lmg643 »

barclay wrote: post #40
droopyEyelids wrote: post #39

In Chicago all taxi drivers must obtain a Chauffeur's License before driving. The Chauffeur's license exam includes background checks, tests for common infectious diseases (tuberculosis), and a basic knowledge test of the city. Uber does background checks, but they don't test for TB and I've had three UberX drivers that didn't know where Lake Michigan was when we were two blocks away from it. Also, licensed taxi driv…

Not to sound like the classic idealist libertarian, but isn't this how uber and lyft will be better? You ride with someone who's clueless or an asshole, rate them 1-star, the ratings compound, and unless they improve quickly they're tossed out of the driver pool. Immediate impact.

I think the rating is a pretty weak way to address issues like this.

I'm a big fan of Uber, but the insistent ratings are really annoying. For example - I take a ride, the car is fine, the driver is a little annoying, there is traffic and but we get there. Is that a "5" star ride? a 4 star ride? a 3 star ride? To me, 3 stars is average. to Uber, 3 stars is "you're fired." doesn't make sense.

Not to mention - how the heck would I know if he was vaccinated? that's just gross to contemplate. What if we rate him a 5, but then i get hospitalized with some crazy sickness later? and I thought taxis were dirty - i take it back.

Maybe public health officials might know something after all.

Re: Uber, Lyft crackdown in Seattle may be followed in other cities

#47

Post by sanctuslibre »

droopyEyelids wrote: post #39

In Chicago all taxi drivers must obtain a Chauffeur's License before driving. The Chauffeur's license exam includes background checks, tests for common infectious diseases (tuberculosis), and a basic knowledge test of the city. Uber does background checks, but they don't test for TB and I've had three UberX drivers that didn't know where Lake Michigan was when we were two blocks away from it. Also, licensed taxi driv…

Do you understand that if people care about these things, they won't use Uber? Before reading your comment, I didn't know cab companies tested for TB and I never thought to care. If TB were a problem in cabs, I would care, and I would use a cab service that tested its drivers.

Re: Uber, Lyft crackdown in Seattle may be followed in other cities

#48

Post by dubfan »

pmorici wrote: post #33
hnnewguy wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In Baltimore taxis routinely refuse to make pickups in various parts of town either because they are out of the way or because they are perceived to be "bad". And Uber is solving this how? Bad neighbourhoods are bad neighbourhoods. It sounds like one solution to this problem is to mandate that taxis cannot discriminate. That smells like regulation.

I think you are missing the point Taxi companies in Baltimore already have a regulation that they can't discriminate. They ignore it, there appear to be no enforcement consequences for doing so so why would they follow it? Uber has no such regulation yet people who use it report having an easier time getting a cab in parts of town Taxi's discriminate against. There are several things Uber does that make it less of a…

> You know the person you are going to meet must have it together enough to have a functioning credit card, smartphone, and cell service.

That's a poor heuristic. Ted Bundy had it together enough to get into law school.

Re: Uber, Lyft crackdown in Seattle may be followed in other cities

#49

Post by sanctuslibre »

CurtHagenlocher wrote: post #6

I'm genuinely curious: what is it that distinguishes these services from taxis? Why is it okay for one to be regulated but not the other -- or do proponents of these services generally think that taxis shouldn't be regulated either?

If by "proponents of these services" you mean customers, then answer is that you can detect whether or not they care by seeing how they spend their money. Everyone else is irrelevant.

Re: Uber, Lyft crackdown in Seattle may be followed in other cities

#50

Post by dubfan »

sanctuslibre wrote: post #47
droopyEyelids wrote: post #39

In Chicago all taxi drivers must obtain a Chauffeur's License before driving. The Chauffeur's license exam includes background checks, tests for common infectious diseases (tuberculosis), and a basic knowledge test of the city. Uber does background checks, but they don't test for TB and I've had three UberX drivers that didn't know where Lake Michigan was when we were two blocks away from it. Also, licensed taxi driv…

Do you understand that if people care about these things, they won't use Uber? Before reading your comment, I didn't know cab companies tested for TB and I never thought to care. If TB were a problem in cabs, I would care, and I would use a cab service that tested its drivers.

You and I didn't know that because the system works. Nobody gets TB from riding in cabs, so nobody knows it's a problem and nobody realizes unless they look into the regulation. This is the big problem I have with the libertarian free market ideal: it's fundamentally reactive, not proactive.
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