Thoughts on Uber?

[Mai72]

Uber Riots in Paris:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/26/europe/france-paris-uberpop-protests/

This is getting ugly. I have a friend who is working for Uber in NJ, and he got harassed by a Taxi driver last night. The guy told him to go home or else he was going to be in trouble. Many taxi drivers in my area are upset that they have competition.

IMO, competition is a good thing. The taxis in my area are in poor condition and dirty. They also have a bad reputation of cheating people, and they can be expensive. On the other side of the coin I can sympathize with the taxi drivers. They are required to purchase a taxi license which can cost in the thousands every year. They have to follow strict state policy. How is Uber able to skirt this law? Their drivers don't need to purchase a taxi insurance. In a way it's very unfair. Then you have the fact that this is their livelihood. For most Uber drivers they are just working to make a few dollars.

It will be interesting to see where all this is headed.

 

[Ns1]

On one hand I can sympathize with the taxi drivers - they have fixed costs they need to recoup that uber drivers don't.

On the other hand, it cost me $90 to get home from the airport via taxi and uber would have been less than half of that, so fuck taxi's.


Also: so many uber drivers have left that quality has gone down a lot. My neighbor drives for uberx with his old beat up 2002 car.

 

[Jeff7]

...

It will be interesting to see where all this is headed.

Self-driving cars are what the taxi drivers should really be worried about.

 

[lxskllr]

Maybe taxi companies should improve their service, and differentiate themselves from Uber. Snacks and drinks provided at cost would be something I'd consider.

Edit:
oh, and perhaps they should lobby the government to get burdensome taxes and regulation reduced. That's like complaining your local bar charges too much, when it's the mafia shakedown causing the high prices.

 

[Mai72]

Self-driving cars are what the taxi drivers should really be worried about.

Yep. I read last week that Uber's ultimate goal is to have driverless taxis in the next 5 years. The driverless car thing is going to be really interesting. When this becomes reality we can probably expect huge riots within the trucking industry. It's going to upend the delivery system. It's going to be a serious threat to cab drivers, delivery guys, etc.. Maybe even UPS, USPS and Fedex.

How much? Who knows.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Edit:
oh, and perhaps they should lobby the government to get burdensome taxes and regulation reduced. That's like complaining your local bar charges too much, when it's the mafia shakedown causing the high prices.

This.

 

[rh71]

On one hand I can sympathize with the taxi drivers - they have fixed costs they need to recoup that uber drivers don't.

On the other hand, it cost me $90 to get home from the airport via taxi and uber would have been less than half of that, so fuck taxi's.

It's like anything with overhead really - a web guy who does websites on the side will be super cheap compared to a web dev shop. A handyman who can do an entire bathroom will be cheaper than a licensed contractor.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Yep. I read last week that Uber's ultimate goal is to have driverless taxis in the next 5 years. The driverless car thing is going to be really interesting. When this becomes reality we can probably expect huge riots within the trucking industry. It's going to upend the delivery system. It's going to be a serious threat to cab drivers, delivery guys, etc.. Maybe even UPS, USPS and Fedex.

How much? Who knows.

You know who else driverless driving will impact?

Police.

80% of police forces spend the majority of their day writing traffic tickets. What will bubba do when he can't raise revenue with a twinkie in 1 hand and a radar gun in the other????

 

[3chordcharlie]

UberX is a great idea.

Take a normal taxi business model, and just cut out proper insurance, licensing, safety, professional standards, and accountability.

Taxi companies do need to embrace mobile to improve dispatch, but UberX is not the answer.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

UberX is a great idea.

Take a normal taxi business model, and just cut out proper insurance, licensing, safety, professional standards, and accountability.

Taxi companies do need to embrace mobile to improve dispatch, but UberX is not the answer.

Professional standard?

Accountability?

Safety?

What taxi's are you driving in? Please give me their numbers!

 

[sandorski]

Imagine if an App/Technology came out that threatened a whole type of Job that you had spent years and large sums of $ to secure for yourself.

Like an App that made IT obsolete, by relying on the passive knowledge of the general public, easily accessed as needed and for much less Cost than a person could live off. I think a lot of people here would be pissed off and rightly so.

That said, such situations are not just possible for many Careers/Businesses these days, they are clearly somewhat inevitable. The Internet will continue to disrupt traditional ways of doing things and it's difficult to imagine what the world might look like in the next 10 years never mind a century from now because of it.

I think Karl Marx got at least one thing right. That is, that the Industrial Age Capitalism that existed in his lifetime was destined to failure and that some other form of Economic System was going to replace it out of necessity. Not exactly as how he envisioned it, Workers owning the means of Production, but not totally unlike it either. For Uber is in many ways very similar to that, except there's still a central Capitalistic infrastructure behind it called Uber. All the actual Production(Transportation in this instance) is in the hands of the General Public(Workers), however.

As for the current situation with French Cabbies, 2 things strike me as most interesting:

1) How does a regulatory body(Government) prevent such a service? I mean, people are simply contacting each other regarding a ride. I suppose it would be technically possible to Censor communications to prevent it or hire Agents to hire Uber rides then Fine/Arrest drivers, but that is so onerous and heavy handed that it seems politically suicidal(justifiably so, IMO).

2) Uber is essentially, at this time, a Global Monopoly. In time competing services are bound to appear, Uber could even be replaced in a few years. Regardless, there are likely 10s, perhaps even 100s of thousands of people providing a service that Uber is replacing and threatening to put out of Work.

One could argue that this is far more Efficient and it is, however, Efficiency isn't going to put food on the table of those losing their Jobs. I kind of suspect that some kind of compromise will come from this. That Uber and certain Taxi Companies will work together, at least in some jurisdictions, where Uber essentially turns into a Dispatch service. Time will tell.
----

Regarding future Economics. I really think something like the Star Trek economic system is what lies in our future. That is, kind of like European Socialism on steroids. Already the idea of Minimum Income is gaining traction with some Nations seriously considering it. That is something like Welfare, although usually up to twice as generous, except it's just given out with no strings attached. Whether that is sustainable or not is hard to say, I suspect that would depend on the willingness of the members of a society to improve their lot in life. If upward mobility is an attainable goal, people will be more likely to put effort into striving for more, for eg. Take away hope for improvement and they will just take the Minimum Income and live off that.

Many will be opposed to such measures on Ideological grounds, but I think that's based off misunderstanding even their own Reality. "Self Reliance" is no longer a possibility and hasn't been for a very longtime, at least as an Economic System. There are bound to be a few outliers, but anyone not living on a working farm isn't even close to Self Reliant. Most(in the Developed World) are certainly well off and not Wanting, but that's not the same as Self Reliant. As Uber and other examples show, One's well off position is always at risk in these times of Economic Change.

 

[Mai72]

UberX is a great idea.

Take a normal taxi business model, and just cut out proper insurance, licensing, safety, professional standards, and accountability.

Taxi companies do need to embrace mobile to improve dispatch, but UberX is not the answer.

Maybe Uber is the answer.

Without Uber we wouldn't even be having this conversation. IMO, this is the problem. The taxi drivers want it to be the same without any serious competition. In my area the taxis are in horrible condition. They are dirty, filthy and the cab drivers are in the habit of ripping off summer tourist.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Professional standard?

Accountability?

Safety?

What taxi's are you driving in? Please give me their numbers!

Predictable response.

Every taxi I have ever been in has been insured and has an actual business standing behind it. Not to say every driver is a treat, or every cab is perfectly clean, but neither is every bus, train or airplane.

 

[Charmonium]

There's one taxi company where I live that has prices comparable to Uber so it can be done. I think the issue in major metro areas is the cost of the license. In NYC for example, I think a hack license cost several hundred grand - it might be more now since my information is dated. There's no way you can compete with a Uber or Lyft with that kind of overhead. It's like having an underwater mortgage. You're working basically just to pay off the loan you had to take out to get the license.

 

[Mai72]

Regarding future Economics. I really think something like the Star Trek economic system is what lies in our future. That is, kind of like European Socialism on steroids. Already the idea of Minimum Income is gaining traction with some Nations seriously considering it. That is something like Welfare, although usually up to twice as generous, except it's just given out with no strings attached. Whether that is sustainable or not is hard to say, I suspect that would depend on the willingness of the members of a society to improve their lot in life. If upward mobility is an attainable goal, people will be more likely to put effort into striving for more, for eg. Take away hope for improvement and they will just take the Minimum Income and live off that.

That scenario might play out in Europe, but I seriously doubt we would see such a system in our lifetime in America. Most people would be against such a thing, just because this country was founded on the fact that anyone has a chance to make it in America. This is what still seperates us from every other nation. Yes, times have changed and it has become more difficult to achieve the American dream. But, it's still alive. If you're willing to put in the hours and work hard, you can still make it in America. Upward mobility is still alive in America. IMO, you just need to be smart about it.

 

[BUTCH1]

People using uber might be saving $$ but does the diver list the vehicle as being used for that purpose?, if an accident happens and the Ins. Co. finds out you were ferrying people around for profit they will not pay out any $$ based on the fact you were not truthful when you bought the insurance. That being said I've ridden in some colossal shit-boxes using a standard taxi, how they got past any kind of inspection is unimaginable.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Imagine if an App/Technology came out that threatened a whole type of Job that you had spent years and large sums of $ to secure for yourself.
<snip>

Boo fucking hoo. Learn to adapt. Adapt or die. If something is taking over, learn to master it or move on to another trade.

Cable companies are having the rug swept underneath them right now with the likes of streaming taking over 1/3 of all internet bandwidth and eliminating the need for cable, and telephones (land line). Big giants like Comcast could fall over like a leaning tower and crash because they aren't doing a single thing while it's obvious cord cutters are rampant. It's their decision not to adapt. Whereas DirectTV is trying to go with the consumer demands and change for it. Smart move.

 

[Mai72]

Boo fucking hoo. Learn to adapt. Adapt or die. If something is taking over, learn to master it or move on to another trade.

Cable companies are having the rug swept underneath them right now with the likes of streaming taking over 1/3 of all internet bandwidth and eliminating the need for cable, and telephones (land line). Big giants like Comcast could fall over like a leaning tower and crash because they aren't doing a single thing while it's obvious cord cutters are rampant. It's their decision not to adapt. Whereas DirectTV is trying to go with the consumer demands and change for it. Smart move.

I'd love to see the same thing with our public school system.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Predictable response.

Every taxi I have ever been in has been insured and has an actual business standing behind it. Not to say every driver is a treat, or every cab is perfectly clean, but neither is every bus, train or airplane.

Just about every taxi I have ever been in has attempted to rip me off in some way or form.

Again, I ask of you - Simply get out of the taxi after your fare (to collect bags from the back/trunk), and ask the driver "What is the total?". See if it matches the fare price in the cab. You will be surprised.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Predictable response.

Every taxi I have ever been in has been insured and has an actual business standing behind it. Not to say every driver is a treat, or every cab is perfectly clean, but neither is every bus, train or airplane.

No train, nor airplane, nor bus that I have ever been in has had the foul stenches, mold growing, falling apart vehicle, and unprofessional scum that manages to get the OK to operate such vehicle that I've ever had the displeasure of seeing in MOST of my taxi rides. Nor have any of those (airplane/bus/train) attempted to rip me off.

Do not do something as stupid as to compare a cab ride with those other means of transportation. It's an insult.

 

[Blanky]

I'm sympathetic to their business getting hosed particularly since they were often forced to go through various legal hoops and bullshit. I have been ripped off by some cabbies before even on tiny things like a toll and that just irritates me.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Predictable response.

Every taxi I have ever been in has been insured and has an actual business standing behind it. Not to say every driver is a treat, or every cab is perfectly clean, but neither is every bus, train or airplane.

Aren't all drivers on public roads required to be insured? What protections does taxi insurance provide?

 

[Blanky]

No train, nor airplane, nor bus that I have ever been in has had the foul stenches, mold growing, falling apart vehicle, and unprofessional scum that manages to get the OK to operate such vehicle that I've ever had the displeasure of seeing in MOST of my taxi rides. Nor have any of those (airplane/bus/train) attempted to rip me off.

I've spent many hours in taxies in my life and I have to agree most of them are somewhere on the scale of acceptable to disgusting. Once in a blue moon one seems genuinely clean and smells good. Often not the case, and often their cars seem on the verge of breaking down.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I've spent many hours in taxies in my life and I have to agree most of them are somewhere on the scale of acceptable to disgusting. Once in a blue moon one seems genuinely clean and smells good. Often not the case, and often their cars seem on the verge of breaking down.

Plus, unlike a train/bus/airplane, they EXPECT to be tipped after having the displeasure of riding in their shit-mobiles.

 

[mmntech]

The driverless car thing is going to be really interesting. When this becomes reality we can probably expect huge riots within the trucking industry.

Trucking is the largest employer in most states, so driverless trucks are going to make things very interesting indeed. The industry has already been clawing back pay and pushing drivers log more hours. Turnaround rates are very high as a result. I'm sure the logistics companies are eager to cut out the middle men. Robot trucks can drive around the clock, only needing brief stops for fuel. Speeds up deliveries while significantly cutting operating expenses.