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I think the parent was talking about supply side. I think you are totally correct but, I find myself not satisfied with the answer. All legitimate cab companies

I think the parent was talking about supply side. I think you are totally correct but, I find myself not satisfied with the answer. All legitimate cab companies should puf money into hiring a company to build a sinple app to connect them to legal taxis. You pay, you get on the app. Tagline, "as convenient as uber, only legal". It would be a hell of a lot cheaper than funding lawyers and lobbyists like they have been.

ericflo 11y ago
http://flywheel.com/ http://flywheel.com/ it's been around for quite a while and I remember seeing a ton of ads for them
- Kalium 11y ago
  The experience is terrible and cabbies still have all the perverse incentives that make people loathe them.
austenallred 11y ago
That's exactly the point though, it's the entire system that needs replacing. It's awfully hard to turn a ship around when it's as large as the taxi industry (with lobbies to boot). Take one element of it - say the taxi companies said, "OK, you're now getting rated, and if you drop below 5 stars you lose your medallion." Drivers would lose their minds. Imagine them saying, "Also, now your trips are going to cost 50% less" again, would not fly. Or even, "You can use your own car, because that's way more efficient" (would never happen, because taxi drivers rent their cars for $40,000/month). The taxi industry has done a hell of a lot to entrench itself and make itself irreplaceable, no matter how awful it is. In doing so, it has created a system completely resistant to change and innovation. The industry was ripe for someone to come along and replace it with a parallel system that was better and more efficient.
- eru 11y ago
  > Or even, "You can use your own car, because that's way more efficient" (would never happen, because taxi drivers rent their cars for $40,000/month). Where is that figure from?
  - austenallred 11y ago
    Whoops. Meant per year, of course, but http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234289 http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234289

ericflo 11y ago

http://flywheel.com/ http://flywheel.com/ it's been around for quite a while and I remember seeing a ton of ads for them

Kalium 11y ago
The experience is terrible and cabbies still have all the perverse incentives that make people loathe them.

austenallred 11y ago

That's exactly the point though, it's the entire system that needs replacing. It's awfully hard to turn a ship around when it's as large as the taxi industry (with lobbies to boot). Take one element of it - say the taxi companies said, "OK, you're now getting rated, and if you drop below 5 stars you lose your medallion." Drivers would lose their minds. Imagine them saying, "Also, now your trips are going to cost 50% less" again, would not fly. Or even, "You can use your own car, because that's way more efficient" (would never happen, because taxi drivers rent their cars for $40,000/month). The taxi industry has done a hell of a lot to entrench itself and make itself irreplaceable, no matter how awful it is. In doing so, it has created a system completely resistant to change and innovation. The industry was ripe for someone to come along and replace it with a parallel system that was better and more efficient.

eru 11y ago
> Or even, "You can use your own car, because that's way more efficient" (would never happen, because taxi drivers rent their cars for $40,000/month). Where is that figure from?
- austenallred 11y ago
  Whoops. Meant per year, of course, but http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234289 http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234289