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Getting in a taxi with a $250K medallion and the city of New York behind it is much different than getting in someone's car... Without someone vetting these dr

Getting in a taxi with a $250K medallion and the city of New York behind it is much different than getting in someone's car... Without someone vetting these drivers and taking a risk and responsibility for people's safety, this seems like a terribly dangerous way for anyone to get around.

galdosdi 10y ago
Medallion has nothing to do with it, any TLC licensed driver can rent a medallion cab. To get a TLC license you pass a BS exam that anyone can pass and a background check, and get an ID. I don't see why LibreTaxi, in areas that have a individual driver licensing scheme, couldn't require that. You just look at the driver's license when you get in, or they post it on the back seat. The license information is recorded in LibreTaxi so everyone knows there's a paper trail if anything happens. This would be identical in safety for everyone to medallion hailable cabs, or am I missing something?
- ansible 10y ago
  Medallion has nothing to do with it, any TLC licensed driver can rent a medallion cab. To get a TLC license you pass a BS exam that anyone can pass and a background check, and get an ID. If I was going to do nefarious things, I wouldn't bother with any of that. I'd instead just carjack a taxi and have at it.
  - galdosdi 10y ago
    Exactly my point
  - Endy 10y ago
    And have the taxi company report it immediately to the cops when you weren't the proper operator of the vehicle on the radio. The cops and the company would then use the vehicle's GPS system to track you down and find you in record time - as I've seen and heard happen in NYC.
- SippinLean 10y ago
  passing an exam, obtaining a license and passing a background check sound like a much more thorough vetting process than the "1-minute hiring" on this app
  - usrusr 10y ago
    As far as I understand it the "1-minute hiring" is not something the people behind libretaxi are actually doing, it's something people running a libretaxi instance would do. Or hopefully they would rather not, at least if they are serious about it and are not just running on a short-lived inspiration to play pretend-Kalanick.
- Endy 10y ago
  Actually, no - every medallion cab in NYC is required to have the driver's name, license number, and picture posted where the passenger can see it. I can, in theory, check any cabbie's license before I set foot in the taxi.
valuearb 10y ago
"Terribly dangerous" == not dangerous at all. Criminals aren't liable to want to leave an electronic trail driving a taxi just to rob someone. It's likely to be nearly as safe as riding Uber or Taxis in general, which is to say extremely safe. What's more likely is the driver will get robbed, but even then that's not going to happen very often.
- daveFNbuck 10y ago
  Part of the pitch is that there isn't much of an electronic trail.

galdosdi 10y ago

Medallion has nothing to do with it, any TLC licensed driver can rent a medallion cab. To get a TLC license you pass a BS exam that anyone can pass and a background check, and get an ID. I don't see why LibreTaxi, in areas that have a individual driver licensing scheme, couldn't require that. You just look at the driver's license when you get in, or they post it on the back seat. The license information is recorded in LibreTaxi so everyone knows there's a paper trail if anything happens. This would be identical in safety for everyone to medallion hailable cabs, or am I missing something?

ansible 10y ago
Medallion has nothing to do with it, any TLC licensed driver can rent a medallion cab. To get a TLC license you pass a BS exam that anyone can pass and a background check, and get an ID. If I was going to do nefarious things, I wouldn't bother with any of that. I'd instead just carjack a taxi and have at it.
- galdosdi 10y ago
  Exactly my point
- Endy 10y ago
  And have the taxi company report it immediately to the cops when you weren't the proper operator of the vehicle on the radio. The cops and the company would then use the vehicle's GPS system to track you down and find you in record time - as I've seen and heard happen in NYC.
SippinLean 10y ago
passing an exam, obtaining a license and passing a background check sound like a much more thorough vetting process than the "1-minute hiring" on this app
- usrusr 10y ago
  As far as I understand it the "1-minute hiring" is not something the people behind libretaxi are actually doing, it's something people running a libretaxi instance would do. Or hopefully they would rather not, at least if they are serious about it and are not just running on a short-lived inspiration to play pretend-Kalanick.
Endy 10y ago
Actually, no - every medallion cab in NYC is required to have the driver's name, license number, and picture posted where the passenger can see it. I can, in theory, check any cabbie's license before I set foot in the taxi.

valuearb 10y ago

"Terribly dangerous" == not dangerous at all. Criminals aren't liable to want to leave an electronic trail driving a taxi just to rob someone. It's likely to be nearly as safe as riding Uber or Taxis in general, which is to say extremely safe. What's more likely is the driver will get robbed, but even then that's not going to happen very often.

daveFNbuck 10y ago
Part of the pitch is that there isn't much of an electronic trail.