6 ms·

You were blessed with a healthy cab system then. In San Francisco pre-uber, you could not rely on being able to hail a cab if you were not in the financial dist

by brd529 10y ago

You were blessed with a healthy cab system then. In San Francisco pre-uber, you could not rely on being able to hail a cab if you were not in the financial district. If you called the cab company you would be on hold for 10-30 minutes before you could talk to dispatch, and then maybe the cab would come, but probably not if they found a fare along the way.

jsemrau 10y ago
Sounds like it might still be largely probably an American problem (?), which would explain the overall struggle that Uber is facing? Japan and Europe in general have well working taxi systems. Thus I would challenge if the valuation is really justified...
- hueving 10y ago
  Well Uber and Lyft fit well anywhere there is a shitty cab system. The entire reason I use them is because I don't want to call someone on the phone, get a cab 15 mins later (if lucky), have the cab take me on an inefficient route to boost the fare, and then claim the credit card reader is broken. Most places in the US don't have a taxi system, they have scammers driving around in cars willing to gouge you for a ride.
- rusk 10y ago
  I'm amazed that "Hailo" doesn't get mentioned on here more. To me it predates Uber, but I don't know the exact timelines. The premise is similar - you use it to hail cabs and you have a maps screen that shows where cars are, how long they'll take to get you, taxi drivers number etc. But the business model is crucially different: Instead of trying to eat the whole cake Hailo just acts as a go-between customers and extant independent taxi drivers. It really is a non-zero sum for everybody involved. Customers get to "Uberify" their existing taxi service; Existing qualified experienced cabbies have a new conduit through which to access customers. Hailo themselves take a commision on each fare the driver books. To me this is a far better proposition: A technology that improves the lot of everybody involved. Not just - and I use the term hesitantly - "scabbing" existing drivers. It seems to me that much of Uber's growth and success is not just based on the technology but also on the gaming of employment regulations, bypassing regulations, and a smidgin of exploitation. Many make the case that regulation is a barrier to improving services and only serves to protect vested interests and this may well be the case in places where Uber has flourished and Uber may in fact provide better employment terms in some cases. I don't know, but in many cases the taxi regulations exist to protect the customer .. to which Hailo is simply a welcome augmentation - rather than a replacement.
  - nailer 10y ago
    Supply of taxis in London is artificially limited: the licenses cost an exorbitant amount of money and drivers arerecquired to memorize routes and locations rather than using technology to aid them. As a result, Black Cabs are expensive. The drivers also have a famous tendency for racist rants and their captive audience. Hailo doesn't do anything to make travel more affordable.
    - rusk 10y ago
      > Hailo doesn't do anything to make travel more affordable. That is a fair point. With regards to drivers having to have "the knowledge" I consider that more a feature than a bug. I've gotten a few taxis in the last while with drivers relying solely on GPS - including a couple of Hailo drivers - who ended up taking hopelessly circuitous routes, or even got lost altogether. Agree that the artificial limit of taxis and cost of licence is an issue. You should try getting a taxi in Dublin where there was wholesale deregulation about 15 years ago. You can get a taxi in minutes! Sucked for the drivers at the time though. I believe in London you also have the option of the "minicab" (here they're called "hackey" cabs) - which is what the Uber business model really augments. All it takes is for those guys to catch up with technology and Uber becomes irrelevant once more. I'd be fairly sure they're up-to-date on the dubious labour practices though /s
  - jschwartzi 10y ago
    Does Hailo give you pricing upfront? I've tried cab hailing apps in the past, and they'll always quote a price that pisses the cabbie off as soon as he sees it. For me, Uber's feature set includes knowing what I will be charged beforehand, and not scrambling to find cash because the driver's card reader is broken.
    - rusk 10y ago
      No I don't think so ... it's standard cab pricing. Pay by duration. I don't really have an issue with that. Nor do the drivers probably. At busy times it will cost you more, though not too different at the end of the day from Uber's "surge pricing" though.

by brd529 10y ago

jsemrau 10y ago

Sounds like it might still be largely probably an American problem (?), which would explain the overall struggle that Uber is facing? Japan and Europe in general have well working taxi systems. Thus I would challenge if the valuation is really justified...

hueving 10y ago
Well Uber and Lyft fit well anywhere there is a shitty cab system. The entire reason I use them is because I don't want to call someone on the phone, get a cab 15 mins later (if lucky), have the cab take me on an inefficient route to boost the fare, and then claim the credit card reader is broken. Most places in the US don't have a taxi system, they have scammers driving around in cars willing to gouge you for a ride.
rusk 10y ago
I'm amazed that "Hailo" doesn't get mentioned on here more. To me it predates Uber, but I don't know the exact timelines. The premise is similar - you use it to hail cabs and you have a maps screen that shows where cars are, how long they'll take to get you, taxi drivers number etc. But the business model is crucially different: Instead of trying to eat the whole cake Hailo just acts as a go-between customers and extant independent taxi drivers. It really is a non-zero sum for everybody involved. Customers get to "Uberify" their existing taxi service; Existing qualified experienced cabbies have a new conduit through which to access customers. Hailo themselves take a commision on each fare the driver books. To me this is a far better proposition: A technology that improves the lot of everybody involved. Not just - and I use the term hesitantly - "scabbing" existing drivers. It seems to me that much of Uber's growth and success is not just based on the technology but also on the gaming of employment regulations, bypassing regulations, and a smidgin of exploitation. Many make the case that regulation is a barrier to improving services and only serves to protect vested interests and this may well be the case in places where Uber has flourished and Uber may in fact provide better employment terms in some cases. I don't know, but in many cases the taxi regulations exist to protect the customer .. to which Hailo is simply a welcome augmentation - rather than a replacement.
- nailer 10y ago
  Supply of taxis in London is artificially limited: the licenses cost an exorbitant amount of money and drivers arerecquired to memorize routes and locations rather than using technology to aid them. As a result, Black Cabs are expensive. The drivers also have a famous tendency for racist rants and their captive audience. Hailo doesn't do anything to make travel more affordable.
  - rusk 10y ago
    > Hailo doesn't do anything to make travel more affordable. That is a fair point. With regards to drivers having to have "the knowledge" I consider that more a feature than a bug. I've gotten a few taxis in the last while with drivers relying solely on GPS - including a couple of Hailo drivers - who ended up taking hopelessly circuitous routes, or even got lost altogether. Agree that the artificial limit of taxis and cost of licence is an issue. You should try getting a taxi in Dublin where there was wholesale deregulation about 15 years ago. You can get a taxi in minutes! Sucked for the drivers at the time though. I believe in London you also have the option of the "minicab" (here they're called "hackey" cabs) - which is what the Uber business model really augments. All it takes is for those guys to catch up with technology and Uber becomes irrelevant once more. I'd be fairly sure they're up-to-date on the dubious labour practices though /s
- jschwartzi 10y ago
  Does Hailo give you pricing upfront? I've tried cab hailing apps in the past, and they'll always quote a price that pisses the cabbie off as soon as he sees it. For me, Uber's feature set includes knowing what I will be charged beforehand, and not scrambling to find cash because the driver's card reader is broken.
  - rusk 10y ago
    No I don't think so ... it's standard cab pricing. Pay by duration. I don't really have an issue with that. Nor do the drivers probably. At busy times it will cost you more, though not too different at the end of the day from Uber's "surge pricing" though.