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A lot of people say the same thing you do -- their diverse anecdotes agree that regular cabs are obviously (better, worse) than uber/lyft/etc. The trouble is,

A lot of people say the same thing you do -- their diverse anecdotes agree that regular cabs are obviously (better, worse) than uber/lyft/etc. The trouble is, they don't agree which way it goes. I think the resolution to this conondrum is, it varies based on city/region. Some areas had traditional taxis that are worse than ridesharing, and some better.

xapata 10y ago
Name a region where taxis provide better service than "rideshare".
- CaptainZapp 10y ago
  How about Singapore? Clean, cheap usually friendly drivers with lots of local insight and you're guaranteed not to be cheated.
- fragmede 10y ago
  It might be hard to believe, but there are urban places, outside the US, where public transportation works (so Uber and taxis are still luxury items, so taxis themselves are nice and clean), where taxis are plentiful (so no problems finding one, even at 3am) and either electronic cash works (ie; not credit cards that drivers accept), or credit card readers are required (and effectively enforced so there are no problem paying with credit card), or cash is still king (if your job is paying you in cash, paying cabs with cash is not a burden). On top of that, Google maps/GPS/whatever is unfortunately terrible in many places, so an Uber driver being directed by an app may never get you where you're going, greatly hurting adoption.
  - xapata 10y ago
    Makes sense. However, I travel frequently, but have yet to encounter this situation. In the US the taxi monopoly results in poor customer service and/or difficulty getting a ride. In the various countries I've visited outside, the wealthy countries have had slightly better Ubers than taxis. In the poor countries, I'm incredibly happy to find Uber has arrived as I no longer fear for my life or worry that I'm being cheated. And no, I'm not exaggerating. These are places where the tourism office says to avoid taking public transport for fear of robbery/murder. Thus my belief that Uber is wonderful.
    - piva00 10y ago
      Come to Stockholm, the situation is 90% close what your parent comment said. And taxis are allowed to be Ubers too, we have Teslas S, Mercedes-Benz E and S classes and normal VW Passat taxis, all of them probably working also for Uber.
- xiaoma 10y ago
  Taiwan. I'd definitely take standard taxis in Taiwan over Ubers. In fact, I've made that choice at least a hundred times. Especially in Taipei, they hit a price and convenience point where taking an Uber is essentially doing a task on my phone in exchange for having to wait longer to get a ride. To be clear, it usually takes about 15 to 90 seconds of waiting to get a cab. Outside of Taipei, any convenience store (which are basically all over the place) will call a cab for you and again, it's still a pretty short wait unless you're in a remote area in the mountains or something.
- galdosdi 10y ago
  NYC. Ask anyone who's recently tried both yellow cabs and uber a bunch of times. Yellow cabbies tend to be more experienced, and it shows in their driving. Xapata, you must really be a heck of a globetrotter to be able to so confidently ask a question like that!
  - xapata 10y ago
    Enough of one I suppose. Obviously there's some areas I haven't made it out to in a while. And it's not like I systematically study drivers. Confidently? More curious than confident. It's best not to assume tone in text.
    - galdosdi 10y ago
      I can't agree more strongly about the trouble assuming tone in text. I apologize for assuming

xapata 10y ago

Name a region where taxis provide better service than "rideshare".

CaptainZapp 10y ago
How about Singapore? Clean, cheap usually friendly drivers with lots of local insight and you're guaranteed not to be cheated.
fragmede 10y ago
It might be hard to believe, but there are urban places, outside the US, where public transportation works (so Uber and taxis are still luxury items, so taxis themselves are nice and clean), where taxis are plentiful (so no problems finding one, even at 3am) and either electronic cash works (ie; not credit cards that drivers accept), or credit card readers are required (and effectively enforced so there are no problem paying with credit card), or cash is still king (if your job is paying you in cash, paying cabs with cash is not a burden). On top of that, Google maps/GPS/whatever is unfortunately terrible in many places, so an Uber driver being directed by an app may never get you where you're going, greatly hurting adoption.
- xapata 10y ago
  Makes sense. However, I travel frequently, but have yet to encounter this situation. In the US the taxi monopoly results in poor customer service and/or difficulty getting a ride. In the various countries I've visited outside, the wealthy countries have had slightly better Ubers than taxis. In the poor countries, I'm incredibly happy to find Uber has arrived as I no longer fear for my life or worry that I'm being cheated. And no, I'm not exaggerating. These are places where the tourism office says to avoid taking public transport for fear of robbery/murder. Thus my belief that Uber is wonderful.
  - piva00 10y ago
    Come to Stockholm, the situation is 90% close what your parent comment said. And taxis are allowed to be Ubers too, we have Teslas S, Mercedes-Benz E and S classes and normal VW Passat taxis, all of them probably working also for Uber.
xiaoma 10y ago
Taiwan. I'd definitely take standard taxis in Taiwan over Ubers. In fact, I've made that choice at least a hundred times. Especially in Taipei, they hit a price and convenience point where taking an Uber is essentially doing a task on my phone in exchange for having to wait longer to get a ride. To be clear, it usually takes about 15 to 90 seconds of waiting to get a cab. Outside of Taipei, any convenience store (which are basically all over the place) will call a cab for you and again, it's still a pretty short wait unless you're in a remote area in the mountains or something.
galdosdi 10y ago
NYC. Ask anyone who's recently tried both yellow cabs and uber a bunch of times. Yellow cabbies tend to be more experienced, and it shows in their driving. Xapata, you must really be a heck of a globetrotter to be able to so confidently ask a question like that!
- xapata 10y ago
  Enough of one I suppose. Obviously there's some areas I haven't made it out to in a while. And it's not like I systematically study drivers. Confidently? More curious than confident. It's best not to assume tone in text.
  - galdosdi 10y ago
    I can't agree more strongly about the trouble assuming tone in text. I apologize for assuming