6 ms·

I'm in a taxi at the moment driving home from Orly. There are lots of those 'chauffeurs' out there like there are at many airports in the states. I walked by th

by n72 10y ago

I'm in a taxi at the moment driving home from Orly. There are lots of those 'chauffeurs' out there like there are at many airports in the states. I walked by them to the taxi stand about 15 feet from the airport exit and am now in a taxi as comfortable as any uber I've been in in NYC. Two weeks ago I returned to Paris from Amsterdam by train at Gare du Nord (a major train station in Paris) and the experience was almost identical to the one I am currently experiencing. In short, there is no need for uber to save your ass in the circumstances you describe since your ass doesn't need saving in the circumstances you describe.

nikanj 10y ago
Search for "stockholm taxi scam" for a great example of why your ass might indeed need saving
- atomwaffel 10y ago
  True, that's quite scummy, but surely it's an example of under-regulation, not over-regulation. This scam (not sure that's the right word since what they're doing is perfectly legal albeit morally reprehensible) literally cannot happen in places where taxi fares are fixed.
  - nikanj 10y ago
    In my opinion, I'd rather not have to research the taxi legistlation of countries I visit. Uber provides a globally uniform service at an uniform price, and like it or not, taxis do not.
    - atomwaffel 10y ago
      That's fair, I guess. It seems like a relatively minor point in the grand scheme of cultural differences you will have to deal with whenever you travel somewhere else and I find it hard to relate to the desire for standardisation and uniformity that I notice mostly from people in the tech community, but I'm not going to pretend that variations in taxi legislation are a charming cultural quirk worth preserving, so nothing makes my opinion more valid than yours.
  - icebraining 10y ago
    In those places they just take a longer route instead.
briandear 10y ago
Until there's a taxi strike or you get overcharged or you order a prepaid taxi and they never show up. I live in France and taxi drivers as a group are not even in the same league as Uber drivers. I speak French and know my city extremely well and they'll try to take some ridiculous routing until I call them out on it. In Paris especially, I would only hire private car services or Uber, never a taxi. I don't have to beat my head against a wall more than a few times before I realize that taxis are a pain point that needed solving.

by n72 10y ago

nikanj 10y ago

Search for "stockholm taxi scam" for a great example of why your ass might indeed need saving

atomwaffel 10y ago
True, that's quite scummy, but surely it's an example of under-regulation, not over-regulation. This scam (not sure that's the right word since what they're doing is perfectly legal albeit morally reprehensible) literally cannot happen in places where taxi fares are fixed.
- nikanj 10y ago
  In my opinion, I'd rather not have to research the taxi legistlation of countries I visit. Uber provides a globally uniform service at an uniform price, and like it or not, taxis do not.
  - atomwaffel 10y ago
    That's fair, I guess. It seems like a relatively minor point in the grand scheme of cultural differences you will have to deal with whenever you travel somewhere else and I find it hard to relate to the desire for standardisation and uniformity that I notice mostly from people in the tech community, but I'm not going to pretend that variations in taxi legislation are a charming cultural quirk worth preserving, so nothing makes my opinion more valid than yours.
- icebraining 10y ago
  In those places they just take a longer route instead.

briandear 10y ago

Until there's a taxi strike or you get overcharged or you order a prepaid taxi and they never show up. I live in France and taxi drivers as a group are not even in the same league as Uber drivers. I speak French and know my city extremely well and they'll try to take some ridiculous routing until I call them out on it. In Paris especially, I would only hire private car services or Uber, never a taxi. I don't have to beat my head against a wall more than a few times before I realize that taxis are a pain point that needed solving.