5 ms·

It's cheaper because it socializes the costs - usually Taxi drivers have to make a licence that involves knowledge of the area and likely other aptitude tests,

by nisa 10y ago

It's cheaper because it socializes the costs - usually Taxi drivers have to make a licence that involves knowledge of the area and likely other aptitude tests, as well as maintenance of the cars and insurance. Then there are laws that prevent working below a certain minimum income rate in Europe that also affect Taxi drivers as most of them don't operate on their own. Uber moves all these responsibilities to the owner of the car, now you are your own business man you face the majority of risks and Uber still gets a big chunk of profit. Uber doesn't care about your maintenance costs. Sometimes it works, often this encourages dangerous behavior to still have profits e.g. skipping maintenance, safe working times, vacation... Uber doesn't care that much about this. A lot of people work almost full time without enough compensation to warrant the stress. Besides that European countries - at least the bigger cities - have often excellent public transport that is inexpensive and mostly works. Taxis supplement that and Uber is trying to compete on price there, something that abuses the drivers in the long run. I hope Uber is kept out of Europe or is regulated to protect the drivers and users.

zzleeper 10y ago
TBH, visiting non-uber cities is a complete pain in the ass for me; I would prefer uber even at the same price. The are less likely to rip you off, easier to catch (just press a button), to keep a record on for reimbursements, to pay (by cc), etc.
- cmarschner 10y ago
  >The are less likely to rip you off, easier to catch (just press a button), to keep a record on for reimbursements, to pay (by cc), etc. In Germany all this is provided by regular taxi services.
yummyfajitas 10y ago
How is Uber socializing the costs? Uber is directly providing Uber drivers with knowledge of the area (via maps), and requires maintenance of cars. Assuming I take an Uber, exactly what costs are paid for by someone other than myself, the driver and Uber?
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  > Uber is directly providing Uber drivers with knowledge of the area (via maps) It's not Uber who's providing the knowledge, but Google or whatever (freely available) mapping backend the drivers / Uber App use. > requires maintenance of cars Do they require it, or do they "require" it like proper insurance? > Assuming I take an Uber, exactly what costs are paid for by someone other than myself, the driver and Uber? The risk of uninsured driver getting himself (and you) in an accident in an improperly maintained car. Secondary costs of disruption (the negative kind) of transportation market due to one player outcompeting other by acting illegally and getting away with it. Destruction of provisions for those "worse off" in said market - i.e. it's fine if you're young and live in the middle of the city, but try getting an Uber as a grandma living on the outskirts. Drivers will refuse such unprofitable rides. Weakening of social trust in rule of law as a successful business keeps being successful by ignoring the law and attracts copycat (you could say the authorities are to blame for not reacting swiftly enough, but then again you need a criminal doing crime to show inadequacy of the law).
  - GauntletWizard 10y ago
    Full disclosure: I just accepted a job offer from Uber. Uber pays a significant amount of licensing fees to Google for use of it's data. Further - Why would making use of a freely available mapping backend be 'socializing the cost' in a way that is unfair competition to taxis? Taxis refuse unprofitable rides. Uber hides your destination until the driver picks you up, and keeps track of drivers that cancel. Ever tried to get a taxi in the slums? Wasn't possible before Uber. Ever try to get a taxi as a black man? Was pretty hard. Uber is imperfect, and your questions of how good their insurance is are valid, but everything else you've pointed out is a problem that the Taxis had, generally worse, not one that is new to uber.
  - mnx 10y ago
    > Secondary costs of disruption (the negative kind) of transportation market due to one player outcompeting other by acting illegally and getting away with it. This is circular logic. Your only argument seems to be that uber may not actually require insurance. That may be true, but it's also easy to fix. >try getting an Uber as a grandma living on the outskirts Where I live (Warsaw), they just introduced a "leaving the city" fee, which means the drivers are incentivised to take those trips. And it still probably comes out about as much as a taxi.

by nisa 10y ago

zzleeper 10y ago

TBH, visiting non-uber cities is a complete pain in the ass for me; I would prefer uber even at the same price. The are less likely to rip you off, easier to catch (just press a button), to keep a record on for reimbursements, to pay (by cc), etc.

cmarschner 10y ago
>The are less likely to rip you off, easier to catch (just press a button), to keep a record on for reimbursements, to pay (by cc), etc. In Germany all this is provided by regular taxi services.

yummyfajitas 10y ago

How is Uber socializing the costs? Uber is directly providing Uber drivers with knowledge of the area (via maps), and requires maintenance of cars. Assuming I take an Uber, exactly what costs are paid for by someone other than myself, the driver and Uber?

TeMPOraL 10y ago
> Uber is directly providing Uber drivers with knowledge of the area (via maps) It's not Uber who's providing the knowledge, but Google or whatever (freely available) mapping backend the drivers / Uber App use. > requires maintenance of cars Do they require it, or do they "require" it like proper insurance? > Assuming I take an Uber, exactly what costs are paid for by someone other than myself, the driver and Uber? The risk of uninsured driver getting himself (and you) in an accident in an improperly maintained car. Secondary costs of disruption (the negative kind) of transportation market due to one player outcompeting other by acting illegally and getting away with it. Destruction of provisions for those "worse off" in said market - i.e. it's fine if you're young and live in the middle of the city, but try getting an Uber as a grandma living on the outskirts. Drivers will refuse such unprofitable rides. Weakening of social trust in rule of law as a successful business keeps being successful by ignoring the law and attracts copycat (you could say the authorities are to blame for not reacting swiftly enough, but then again you need a criminal doing crime to show inadequacy of the law).
- GauntletWizard 10y ago
  Full disclosure: I just accepted a job offer from Uber. Uber pays a significant amount of licensing fees to Google for use of it's data. Further - Why would making use of a freely available mapping backend be 'socializing the cost' in a way that is unfair competition to taxis? Taxis refuse unprofitable rides. Uber hides your destination until the driver picks you up, and keeps track of drivers that cancel. Ever tried to get a taxi in the slums? Wasn't possible before Uber. Ever try to get a taxi as a black man? Was pretty hard. Uber is imperfect, and your questions of how good their insurance is are valid, but everything else you've pointed out is a problem that the Taxis had, generally worse, not one that is new to uber.
- mnx 10y ago
  > Secondary costs of disruption (the negative kind) of transportation market due to one player outcompeting other by acting illegally and getting away with it. This is circular logic. Your only argument seems to be that uber may not actually require insurance. That may be true, but it's also easy to fix. >try getting an Uber as a grandma living on the outskirts Where I live (Warsaw), they just introduced a "leaving the city" fee, which means the drivers are incentivised to take those trips. And it still probably comes out about as much as a taxi.