Taxis vs Uber

sturg33

sturg33

I
I'm nearly certain the government will side with the taxis, at least in the short term. Because governments always favor special interests over free markets... But this cracked me up

A Taxi driver protesting Uber is like a dude who makes onion flavored ice cream demanding that chocolate and vanilla be outlawed.

Today, taxi drivers in Cambridge are at City Hall, of all places, to protest ride sharing services Uber and Lyft.

It is a profoundly strange world we live in when people honestly think that a legitimate and moral role for government is to protect employees of a failing business model because something far superior to it has been invented.

They are essentially saying that they wish for government to use force and our hard earned tax dollars to stop fast growing companies that the public wants...because the public likes them so much that it harms their inferior business.

Who on earth do they think they are? Most likely, like all of us, they have been told by so many politicians, so many times, that only politicians can save us, that they really believe it.

It's a great lesson in politics. This type of battle is fought and won by special interests every day at great the cost to the citizens: the only difference with Uber is that it is more obvious, clear and relatable.

One thing even worse than those who seek illegitimate roles for government, is the politicians who actually carry out those special interest requests. It is the height of cronyism and corruption and it is so rampant in our system that we barely even notice, content to think that this is how things are rather than focusing on how things should be. This is not how things should be.

The legitimate role of government is protection of life and property of citizens, not protection of dinosaur taxi jobs, big bank bonuses, oil companies or defense contractors.

We should ridicule and fight the special interests and we should fire the politicians they buy.
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I'm not anti-uber. I think they have every right to compete in the market.

I would rather use a taxi driver myself. Lots of issues with Uber though. I wouldn't personally ever use them. There's a certain level of security you get from a taxi driver. Plus they know all kinds of crazy ways of getting there.
 
I use uber and lyft exclusively, and haven't used a taxi in years since i've downloaded these apps. I see no benefits of a taxi vs. uber. Uber has cleaner cars, more polite/nice drivers, better drivers, and the service is great: you press a button, they come.
 
also, yes: cheaper. when i still lived in jersey, getting home from the city in a cab would cost a minimum of $50 just because the drivers had to go over the bridge. i lived ten minutes from philly, so it was a quick trip every time. it was like half that with uber.
 
yeezus said:
also, yes: cheaper. when i still lived in jersey, getting home from the city in a cab would cost a minimum of $50 just because the drivers had to go over the bridge. i lived ten minutes from philly, so it was a quick trip every time. it was like half that with uber.
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It's like 1/25th of that to ride the Patco :FrediConfident:
 
zitothebrave said:
I've also heard tons of Uber horror stories. And Uber's responses to them are essentially to go **** yourself.
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Tons? I've probably had 200 rides and only had a couple of bad experiences... Most of the time it was just getting double charged or the driver cancelled. I would email Uber and get my money back literally within minutes.

The last cab I took broke down on the highway on my way to the airport. Luckily, an Uber cam to get me in time to catch my flight. The best part? The cab driver still tried to charge me for the ride.
 
zitothebrave said:
I've also heard tons of Uber horror stories. And Uber's responses to them are essentially to go **** yourself.
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I've emailed their customer service before after some errors/routes that were wayyy longer than necessary and they've been nothing but friendly and quick in their action in reimbursing me.
 
zitothebrave said:
It's like 1/25th of that to ride the Patco :FrediConfident:
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Well, a couple of things:

An uber can fit 4 people (5 if they're willing to be daring). A $25 ride between 5 people is $5. Many times, I'd take Patco over to Philly. But at the end of the night, one of my least favorite things is being hot or cold down in the train station with a ton of loud drunk people with no where to sit waiting a half hour for a train. In this situation, instead of patco, I'd call an uber. the extra $2 chipped in by each person is worth the time/headache, and then you have your driver take you to wawa before dropping you at home.

So yes, it was rare I'd take Uber both ways. But at the end of the night, when you're wasted and just wanna eat and go home and go to bed, Uber was extremely clutch.
 
Uber and lyft are the only way to go if that is an option

Taxis and their drivers are awful and overpriced
 
Well the point of this thread is to discuss how the government will likely limit, restrict, or down right shut down a legitimate free market competitor simply bc of special interests... These cab drivers need to adopt or die
 
sturg33 said:
Well the point of this thread is to discuss how the government will likely limit, restrict, or down right shut down a legitimate free market competitor simply bc of special interests... These cab drivers need to adopt or die
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They don't. Again we'll see what happens long term but a cab driver has an intimate knowledge of the streets in a way that an average joe may not.
 
sturg33 said:
Well the point of this thread is to discuss how the government will likely limit, restrict, or down right shut down a legitimate free market competitor simply bc of special interests... These cab drivers need to adopt or die
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This **** doesn't worry you:

Uber said Tuesday that it is investigating its top New York executive for tracking a BuzzFeed News reporter without her permission in violation of what the transit giant says has long been its privacy policy. The company also published its privacy policy for the first time on Tuesday, though it said the policy had always been in effect.

Uber took both actions in the wake of a BuzzFeed News story that revealed that the reporter’s ride had been tracked without her permission and that another Uber executive had suggested the company might smear journalists who wrote critically of Uber. The executive who suggested digging into the private lives of journalists, Emil Michael, said his comments were “wrong” and that he regrets them.

Tracking customers is easy using an internal company tool called “God View,” two former Uber employees told BuzzFeed News. They said God View, which shows the location of Uber vehicles and customers who have requested a car, was widely available to corporate employees. Drivers, who operate as contractors, do not have access to God View.

Early this November, one of the reporters of this story, Johana Bhuiyan, arrived to Uber’s New York headquarters in Long Island City for an interview with Josh Mohrer, the general manager of Uber New York. Stepping out of her vehicle — an Uber car — she found Mohrer waiting for her. “There you are,” he said, holding his iPhone and gesturing at it. “I was tracking you.”

Mohrer never asked for permission to track her.

Two months earlier, to make a point about questions Bhuiyan had asked about ride-share competitor Lyft, Mohrer had emailed her logs of some of her Uber trips. He had not asked for permission to access her data.

You guys are all concerned with the government tracking you but not these kind of companies?
 
Krgrecw said:
This **** doesn't worry you:

Uber said Tuesday that it is investigating its top New York executive for tracking a BuzzFeed News reporter without her permission in violation of what the transit giant says has long been its privacy policy. The company also published its privacy policy for the first time on Tuesday, though it said the policy had always been in effect.
Uber took both actions in the wake of a BuzzFeed News story that revealed that the reporter’s ride had been tracked without her permission and that another Uber executive had suggested the company might smear journalists who wrote critically of Uber. The executive who suggested digging into the private lives of journalists, Emil Michael, said his comments were “wrong” and that he regrets them.
Tracking customers is easy using an internal company tool called “God View,” two former Uber employees told BuzzFeed News. They said God View, which shows the location of Uber vehicles and customers who have requested a car, was widely available to corporate employees. Drivers, who operate as contractors, do not have access to God View.
Early this November, one of the reporters of this story, Johana Bhuiyan, arrived to Uber’s New York headquarters in Long Island City for an interview with Josh Mohrer, the general manager of Uber New York. Stepping out of her vehicle — an Uber car — she found Mohrer waiting for her. “There you are,” he said, holding his iPhone and gesturing at it. “I was tracking you.”
Mohrer never asked for permission to track her.
Two months earlier, to make a point about questions Bhuiyan had asked about ride-share competitor Lyft, Mohrer had emailed her logs of some of her Uber trips. He had not asked for permission to access her data.

You guys are all concerned with the government tracking you but not these kind of companies?
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Sure - I don't agree with that. But that has nothing to do with their right to exist. It's no different than Facebook or google giving all your info to the government or private companies.

And since when do you care about privacy?
 
Uber over taxi for sure. The only issue I've had is a very strong smelling air freshener by one of the drivers. Convenience alone pushes me to use uber; much less how much quicker it is for them to pick me up. Plus, I typically don't have to listen to some muslim dude tall loudly on his cell phone the entire time like a taxi.
 
zitothebrave said:
They don't. Again we'll see what happens long term but a cab driver has an intimate knowledge of the streets in a way that an average joe may not.
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That's..great. But Google Maps typically tells you the quickest route. So I'm not sure how much this matters anymore. There's a reason taxis are pissed about Uber, and it's because Uber is much better.
 
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