Uber/Lyft v. Taxis/Cities

**BmillsSkier** · 03-04-2014, 02:24 PM

http://m.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisc...es.html?r=full

Anyone else seeing their taxi goons and cities crack down on Uber?

Personally I love the ease of use of Uber and in a day when you can't afford risking DUI, a premium is placed on using these types of services - and around here at least taxis aren't cutting it.

Sure there are legit liability issues to look into but come on, we need to develop a better mousetrap. Why take a shitty taxi that costs 4x the price to go the same distance an Uber goes in a nice car that I can hail+pay with my iPhone?

Curious with your experience.

**Art Shirk** · 03-04-2014, 02:27 PM

Seattle is crackin down.

Uber saved my marriage.

**BmillsSkier** · 03-04-2014, 02:31 PM

You'd think Seattle and all the techies would love Uber.

Hugh Conway · 03-04-2014, 02:32 PM

-there needs to be reform of taxi regulation
-uber/lyft/airbnb/whateverotherfuckstick are lying sacks of shit with their "sharing economy" bullshit, they are regulatory evaders pure and simple

**Dhelihiker** · 03-04-2014, 02:48 PM

Carjacking is a way better option. You pick you car and location and no boring small talk. You leave the car at your destination and someone else takes it from there.

**Tippster** · 03-04-2014, 02:54 PM

I use uber ~2x/day on average for work. I love them and have been a regular customer since the black limo only days. That said Hugh has a point:

Originally Posted by Hugh Conway

uber/lyft/airbnb/whateverotherfuckstick are... regulatory evaders pure and simple

The UberX thing really drives that home (pun intended.) All you need is a black 4 door car and you can drive for them. Worked great for me in Detroit during the Auto Show tho - all the cabs were busy not being anywhere near where I needed to be picked up.

**mobygrape** · 03-04-2014, 07:43 PM

well, that sucks. I use uber all the time when I'm in seattle super convenient.

Taxi lobby taking it to the city council? And they're rolling over rather than letting the market decide who has the best service?

**frorider** · 03-05-2014, 09:11 AM

What Hugh said.
http://pando.com/2012/10/24/travis-shrugged/

**AdironRider** · 03-05-2014, 09:55 AM

Originally Posted by mobygrape

well, that sucks. I use uber all the time when I'm in seattle super convenient.

Taxi lobby taking it to the city council? And they're rolling over rather than letting the market decide who has the best service?

The point is this is not currently a free market situation, and Ubers whole business model is predicated on that fact.

**nickwm21** · 03-05-2014, 10:00 AM

I save decent money using Uber to get in and out of LAX. I have used Lyft, but Uber is generally cheaper and there are more cars...

**Spats** · 03-05-2014, 06:49 PM

Originally Posted by Hugh Conway

-uber/lyft/airbnb/whateverotherfuckstick are lying sacks of shit with their "sharing economy" bullshit, they are regulatory evaders pure and simple

That's true, but I don't think "regulatory evader" is pejorative. The regulations are fucked, because:

1. They ensure that taxi medallions are artificially scarce, taking money from the pockets of actual drivers and redistributing it to the companies who can afford to accumulate and rent out medallions
2. They ensure there are never enough taxis to actually get you anywhere, pushing people to drive drunk and thereby increasing police revenue

Uber and Lyft have issues, but they're far less fucked than any current system of licensed taxis. If it's easy for any Silicon Valley entrepreneur to come up with a simple system that works so much better than the existing one, then the existing system deserves no tears for its demise.

Hugh Conway · 03-05-2014, 07:59 PM

the scarcity is the perversion of regulations, not inherent. the other difference is much better marketing from the uber douchebags (techie people love being fooled into "new systems); online requests/tracking systems for cabs are a commodity and easily implemented (and have been).

**BmillsSkier** · 03-05-2014, 08:03 PM

Originally Posted by Spats

That's true, but

Uber and Lyft have issues, but they're far less fucked than any current system of licensed taxis. If it's easy for any Silicon Valley entrepreneur to come up with a simple system that works so much better than the existing one, then the existing system deserves no tears for its demise.

Yuuuuup.

**iceman** · 03-05-2014, 08:04 PM

Medallions are hardly everywhere though. I think there's only about a half-dozen cities in the US that have them. And some level of regulation of drivers is certainly in the public interest. In Dallas, I just read, drivers can have no more than 5 moving violations in 36 months, which seems generous. But uber drivers are under no such restriction as long as they still have their license. Seems to me that if a guy can't keep it under 5 violations/36 mo. period he probably shouldn't be driving people around but maybe that's just me.

**Tippster** · 03-05-2014, 09:25 PM

Oddly enough before Uber moved in the DC Taxi Commission was considering moving to a medallion system, much to the consternation of one of my regular cabbies.

We used to exclusively use one of the large cab companies in DC - Diamond Cab - because they gave us corporate account vouchers so we wouldn't need to carry cash. Problem was you'd call them and the dispatcher would send his buddy from 1/2 way across town rather than the closest cab, meaning we were often waiting 20 minutes while every other cab in the fucking city, including other Diamond cabs, would drive by.

When Uber started it was awesome - you could set up your account on the corporate card and never have to carry cash OR vouchers, plus there was always a car to pick you up within 5 minutes. Shit, even the black sedan service was only a couple bucks more than the voucher system which always added $2 for the call.

Now Diamond and other cab companies have their own App-based accounts and just about all cabs now take credit cards anyway, so the Uber advantage is basically nil. I stick with it tho because it still beats having to whip out a card and deal with the stupid check-out dance. It's also great when you're in other Uber cities like Boston and you can just go with one app.

**jm2e** · 03-05-2014, 09:36 PM

I've never heard of this phenomenon.
Fascinating stuff.

**WTF is dat** · 03-06-2014, 06:10 PM

Uber X is great and cheap.

Fuck Taxi Cabs. I'm not trying to spend 60 bucks to get my drunk ass home from the club when UberX will take me home for 9 dollars

**Sirshredalot** · 03-06-2014, 07:36 PM

Originally Posted by Tippster

Oddly enough before Uber moved in the DC Taxi Commission was considering moving to a medallion system, much to the consternation of one of my regular cabbies.

We used to exclusively use one of the large cab companies in DC - Diamond Cab - because they gave us corporate account vouchers so we wouldn't need to carry cash. Problem was you'd call them and the dispatcher would send his buddy from 1/2 way across town rather than the closest cab, meaning we were often waiting 20 minutes while every other cab in the fucking city, including other Diamond cabs, would drive by.

When Uber started it was awesome - you could set up your account on the corporate card and never have to carry cash OR vouchers, plus there was always a car to pick you up within 5 minutes. Shit, even the black sedan service was only a couple bucks more than the voucher system which always added $2 for the call.

Now Diamond and other cab companies have their own App-based accounts and just about all cabs now take credit cards anyway, so the Uber advantage is basically nil. I stick with it tho because it still beats having to whip out a card and deal with the stupid check-out dance. It's also great when you're in other Uber cities like Boston and you can just go with one app.

I used to call dispatch (I tried Diamond, among others) and ask for a cab to get dispatched to my home in Ward 5. They would either take an hour and a half or no-show. I had multiple no-shows for airport rides. Uber wasn't perfect, but they at least showed up when they said they would.

**Tippster** · 03-06-2014, 09:12 PM

Originally Posted by Sirshredalot

I used to call dispatch (I tried Diamond, among others) and ask for a cab to get dispatched to my home in Ward 5. They would either take an hour and a half or no-show. I had multiple no-shows for airport rides. Uber wasn't perfect, but they at least showed up when they said they would.

Dude. I used to have Taxi drivers refuse to take me home when I lived on Capitol Hill! They'd hear 11th St. NE and immediately try to get me out of the cab. One guy even called the cops, who told him to take my ass home or he'd lose his hack license since once the fare is in the cab, and able to pay, they cannot legally refuse to go to certain neighborhoods. That same cabby shot me murderous glares the whole way home, then wondered out loud how much it cost to live there because it was so much nicer than he thought. Meanwhile he's telling me about how great it is to live in fucking Quantico or some other I95 corridor shithole.

The only problem with Uber in DC is you don't get the cool old local guys who tell you funny stories about how they fucked the neighbor's daughter/pulled other stupid shit at some landmark we're passing along the route. All those guys drive for either Yellow or Diamond.

**BmillsSkier** · 03-07-2014, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by Tippster

The only problem with Uber in DC is you don't get the cool old local guys who tell you funny stories about how they fucked the neighbor's daughter/pulled other stupid shit at some landmark we're passing along the route. All those guys drive for either Yellow or Diamond.

I'm sure that's some funny stuff, but making friends with cabbies is the last thing I'm concerned with when I'm paying them for the pleasure.

Only reason I would chat one up is to establish if he is reliable and had a card.

The Uber guys keep it quiet and eves drop just like they should.

**systemoverblow'd** · 03-07-2014, 11:11 AM

Uber X is about half the price of a normal taxi. I can take Uber from work to home cheaper than I can take the blue line halfway home and grab a cab a few miles home from Wonderland. Plus, our work has a cool perk that if you need to leave work because you aren;t feeling well, juts uber it instead of waiting for your train/bus/etc. and just expense it.

I use Uber all the time. There was word that the city was supposed to be cracking down, but uber just announced advancing further into the North Shore so it sounds like the city isn't winning. I prefer them and use them a ton.

**BS720** · 03-08-2014, 03:32 AM

I'm on the fence on this whole thing. I routinely waited over an hour for a cab, making me late to work, before Uber. I was one of their first customers, and I am considering working for them as a side job.

New Year's Eve, an Uber driver mowed down a mother with a child and a baby in the stroller. The child died. I hope this fuck burns in hell. The cops I spoke to in January said they have a blast harassing the Uber guys. They dodge the city system that puts money back into the city government, and ultimately, their pension.

**BmillsSkier** · 03-08-2014, 09:32 AM

Originally Posted by BS720

I'm on the fence on this whole thing. I routinely waited over an hour for a cab, making me late to work, before Uber. I was one of their first customers, and I am considering working for them as a side job.

New Year's Eve, an Uber driver mowed down a mother with a child and a baby in the stroller. The child died. I hope this fuck burns in hell. The cops I spoke to in January said they have a blast harassing the Uber guys. They dodge the city system that puts money back into the city government, and ultimately, their pension.

Maybe I'm missing how you're on the fence from your post.

You say cabs routinely make you wait over an hour. Making you late.

You're considering working for Uber.

An Uber driver hit and killed a child in a stroller. (Read about this one, isn't it still in court? - awful nonetheless)

And cops harass Uber drivers because they don't funnel money into their pensions.

????

Any instance of a child dying certainly outweighs everything else but I'm sure a cursory Google could show you many more incidents of taxis killing pedestrians/other drivers.

Sounds to me like taxis are unreliable on a reliable basis and city workers are pissed they can't get their hands into some one else's pocket.

Sure, there needs to be some kind of regulatory system for anyone holding themselves out for public service/use though, so maybe that's what you're referring to?

**Tippster** · 03-08-2014, 09:38 AM

Originally Posted by BS720

They dodge the city system that puts money back into the city government, and ultimately, their pension.

That's a pretty questionable argument, but then again I don't think cops are all that well informed.

How much money can a city make off of Hack licenses? That's the only public income they would receive that Uber doesn't possibly pay. Here the main vein is UberTaxi, which is normal taxi guys with hack licenses also being on the Uber network. Pretty sure the UberX guys still need to pay some service fee to be allowed to operate, and you know the limo guys need to pay pretty big $$$ to the municipalities they operate in.