4 ms·

Well, about (2). Taxi got a bit cheaper. Also for peak times people use them to dodge surge pricing. It's equalizing.

by quickben 10y ago

xapata 10y ago
Where have taxis gotten cheaper? Nowhere I've visited over the last few years.
- quickben 10y ago
  Toronto. I haven't taken a taxi forever, but I believe they start at $3.25 (city council orders) as opposed to Uber at $2.5.
  - Retric 10y ago
    The math does not seem to work out for them. (1.7b / 0.8b + 1.7b) = 68% of their costs. 3.25 * 0.68 = 2.21$, but Uber charges more than that and would like some profit. aka Uber has higher costs than cab companies making them a long term dead end. Sure, they are probably subsidizing other markets more, but even then that are gong to run out of money long before the self driving car thing takes off.
    - quickben 10y ago
      You are assuming perfectly rational market. It isn't. Many people here would dodge Uber if they expect surge pricing (And something along these lines was said today on one of the popular for young people radios stations, here). Also, there are plenty of taxi just waiting around everywhere downtown. Many (older?) people, would never get Uber to go to the airport, which is a very good profit opportunity. So, I don't see Uber having a 100% monopoly in any future, as various people have various needs and opinions and it's not a race to the bottom on price in this segment. They will both coexist, but for people taking the cab in the first place, $0.75 is not even on the list of thoughts in downtown Toronto. You get out of a Johny Cash event, $200 a person ticket, it's snowy, and you'll wait few minutes for uber when the Taxis are parked up front? As you move outwards from the core, more people drive Uber, and one was even my ex coworker, so he told lots of stories. So, to conclude, you can't assume race to the bottom on price alone. Or IPhones, rolexes, Alienware PCs, etc would have been long gone.
      - jimmywanger 10y ago
        > Many people here would dodge Uber if they expect surge pricing Notice that they've stopped displaying the surge price multiple on their hail screen. Previously I would have hesitated at 1.4x surge, but now "fares are slightly higher due to increased demand" just makes me shrug my shoulders.
        quickben 10y ago
        Yeah, but slightly can be high. They had a bit of anti advertising here after 8.9x surge: http://globalnews.ca/news/2430713/alberta-man-furious-over-1000-uber-charge-on-new-years-eve/ http://globalnews.ca/news/2430713/alberta-man-furious-over-1... Ended up all over the news. Not sure if Uber caps surge in Canada now.
        jimmywanger 10y ago
        > Yeah, but slightly can be high. You misunderstand me. That's the verbiage they display now. "fares are slightly higher due to increased demand", rather than the actual surge multiplier. If the surge multiplier is higher than that, it'll say something to the effect "fares are a lot higher due to high demand". It doesn't tell you the exact multiplier anymore, which makes me at least a bit more price insensitive.
        quickben 10y ago
        Ah I see. Well, that's better I guess for Uber. People are more incentivized to use the service.
- rescbr 10y ago
  At least in São Paulo the taxis took a lesson from Uber and improved their service, created a premium service that isn't more expensive, taxi hauling apps introduced reduced fares, that the drivers can choose whether to accept or not. Outside peak hours (and on the intl airport which isn't São Paulo proper) I still find Uber more convenient/cheaper, but otherwise they have a tough competition with taxi services.
duaneb 10y ago
There aren't any taxis anymore in SF.
- dllthomas 10y ago
  There weren't any taxis before in SF. "It's faster than the fucking taxis... of which there are five."
- sundaeofshock 10y ago
  I'm surprised to hear there are no taxis in SF. However, in the city of San Francisco there are plenty of taxis. I take them all the time and they are still easy to hail from the street. There are plenty of times when I want a professional driver who knows The City, instead of some random person from the East Bay.

Well, about (2). Taxi got a bit cheaper. Also for peak times people use them to dodge surge pricing. It's equalizing.

xapata 10y ago

Where have taxis gotten cheaper? Nowhere I've visited over the last few years.

quickben 10y ago
Toronto. I haven't taken a taxi forever, but I believe they start at $3.25 (city council orders) as opposed to Uber at $2.5.
- Retric 10y ago
  The math does not seem to work out for them. (1.7b / 0.8b + 1.7b) = 68% of their costs. 3.25 * 0.68 = 2.21$, but Uber charges more than that and would like some profit. aka Uber has higher costs than cab companies making them a long term dead end. Sure, they are probably subsidizing other markets more, but even then that are gong to run out of money long before the self driving car thing takes off.
  - quickben 10y ago
    You are assuming perfectly rational market. It isn't. Many people here would dodge Uber if they expect surge pricing (And something along these lines was said today on one of the popular for young people radios stations, here). Also, there are plenty of taxi just waiting around everywhere downtown. Many (older?) people, would never get Uber to go to the airport, which is a very good profit opportunity. So, I don't see Uber having a 100% monopoly in any future, as various people have various needs and opinions and it's not a race to the bottom on price in this segment. They will both coexist, but for people taking the cab in the first place, $0.75 is not even on the list of thoughts in downtown Toronto. You get out of a Johny Cash event, $200 a person ticket, it's snowy, and you'll wait few minutes for uber when the Taxis are parked up front? As you move outwards from the core, more people drive Uber, and one was even my ex coworker, so he told lots of stories. So, to conclude, you can't assume race to the bottom on price alone. Or IPhones, rolexes, Alienware PCs, etc would have been long gone.
    - jimmywanger 10y ago
      > Many people here would dodge Uber if they expect surge pricing Notice that they've stopped displaying the surge price multiple on their hail screen. Previously I would have hesitated at 1.4x surge, but now "fares are slightly higher due to increased demand" just makes me shrug my shoulders.
      - quickben 10y ago
        Yeah, but slightly can be high. They had a bit of anti advertising here after 8.9x surge: http://globalnews.ca/news/2430713/alberta-man-furious-over-1000-uber-charge-on-new-years-eve/ http://globalnews.ca/news/2430713/alberta-man-furious-over-1... Ended up all over the news. Not sure if Uber caps surge in Canada now.
        jimmywanger 10y ago
        > Yeah, but slightly can be high. You misunderstand me. That's the verbiage they display now. "fares are slightly higher due to increased demand", rather than the actual surge multiplier. If the surge multiplier is higher than that, it'll say something to the effect "fares are a lot higher due to high demand". It doesn't tell you the exact multiplier anymore, which makes me at least a bit more price insensitive.
        quickben 10y ago
        Ah I see. Well, that's better I guess for Uber. People are more incentivized to use the service.
rescbr 10y ago
At least in São Paulo the taxis took a lesson from Uber and improved their service, created a premium service that isn't more expensive, taxi hauling apps introduced reduced fares, that the drivers can choose whether to accept or not. Outside peak hours (and on the intl airport which isn't São Paulo proper) I still find Uber more convenient/cheaper, but otherwise they have a tough competition with taxi services.

duaneb 10y ago

There aren't any taxis anymore in SF.

dllthomas 10y ago
There weren't any taxis before in SF. "It's faster than the fucking taxis... of which there are five."
sundaeofshock 10y ago
I'm surprised to hear there are no taxis in SF. However, in the city of San Francisco there are plenty of taxis. I take them all the time and they are still easy to hail from the street. There are plenty of times when I want a professional driver who knows The City, instead of some random person from the East Bay.