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>regular taxi system as that's even more corrupt and despicable. The idea that the taxis are corrupt and despicable is 100% Uber/Lyft propaganda. The idea tha

>regular taxi system as that's even more corrupt and despicable. The idea that the taxis are corrupt and despicable is 100% Uber/Lyft propaganda. The idea that a bunch of immigrants driving 12 hours a day to support a meager income for their families are a cabal of special interests is ridiculous. Uber and Lyft are better than taxis because of the on demand nature and they are cheaper because of better utilization. But there is no need to make taxi drivers out to be evil.

cmahler7 10y ago
they're cheaper because they can subsidize their fares via VC money
- deleted 10y ago
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- deleted 10y ago
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- ogezi 10y ago
  > they're cheaper because they can subsidize their fares via VC money That's not the (only) reason why they're cheaper. They're cheaper because they offer drivers less downtime, therefore the drivers can end up earning more money since they're driving more of the time and earning fares. They're also cheaper because services like uber pool and lyft line allow riders to spilt the fare among themselves. I also think that Uber and Lyft will be cheaper than taxis for many more years to come. They're just more efficient as business models than taxis'.
  - memmcgee 10y ago
    Except they're still losing billions of dollars every year.
- specialist 10y ago
  The drivers also subsidize the cheap(er) fares.
  - mee_too 10y ago
    How many Uber drivers have you spoken to? Kalanick's moral compass may or may not be aligned, but the service his company offers is awesome.
threatofrain 10y ago
The taxi system seems more negative to immigrants as it cuts off the number of opportunities for making a living in a low skill market. It's not that the taxi drivers are "negative", it's the system they inhabit and defend. If it supports any immigrants, it's because they already got into the limited-slot system, while the vast bulk of immigrants are outside. And on the consumer side, consumers are afraid of being cheated, they deal with more payment uncertainty, and the prices are inflated.
wlesieutre 10y ago
I don't think anyone's claiming all taxi drivers are corrupt any more than they're saying that about Uber. Complaints I've heard are all about the medallion structure, pressure from taxi groups to block new car services, and comparatively inconsistent/crappy service. And the taxi drivers can't get out of a crappy taxi company and start their own because of the expensive taxi medallions, so they're stuck with it as much as we are.
sillysaurus3 10y ago
I've never seen anyone argue that taxi drivers are evil. The argument is that taxi companies are yet another example of companies that have co-opted the legal system to further their business. For example, you're not allowed to operate a taxi service. Nor are you allowed to give someone a ride for money.
lkbm 10y ago
I don't hate taxi drivers. I hate taxi companies. Same with Uber. You can ignore that distinction, but you're just going to be arguing against a straw man, which might feel satisfying, but will get you nowhere.
valuearb 10y ago
The immigrants driving 12 hours a day are paying hella rents to the taxi companies for that privilege. There is a reason NYC taxi medallions were being traded for over $1M, because the taxi companies lobbied to limit the supply of taxis and were making massive profits leasing those medallions to drivers.
- odonnellryan 10y ago
  There are other reasons why you'd want to limit the number of drivers. It is not good for NYC to have too many taxis, or too many Uber or Lyft drivers. There should be enough, but there is a point where there are too many people driving through the streets of NYC looking to pick up riders.
  - gk1 10y ago
    Firstly, what's "not good" about having too many taxis or Uber/Lyft drivers? I don't think people in the outer boroughs would complain. Secondly, even if there's a good reason why that's bad, it's a problem that would sort itself out. The supply (drivers) will decrease until it meets demand (riders).
    - odonnellryan 10y ago
      The limits of Taxis is historical and stemmed from unsafe behavior: not because Taxi companies want to sell medallions for a lot of money. Maybe that's a good reason now, but it's unfair to say it's the only reason. > The supply (drivers) will decrease until it meets demand (riders). Maybe? Economics is rarely perfect like this. See the government subsidies of many industries, farming for example. Maybe in the middle of the ebb-and-flow lifecycle you'll have something that works really great: but at the extremes you'll have something that hurts a lot of people for a good amount of time. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2241306 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2241306
      - LoSboccacc 10y ago
        as in Italy, making medallions transferable lifetime license was the original screwup. in general if a state want's to limit concession to a scarce resource (whether riders, coal, fishes) it's best to make them time limited and non transferable, with the current owner having a preferred option for renewal and a bid for reassignment.
koolba 10y ago
The problem with taxis isn't corruption (at the driver level). It's that the service is uniformly terrible. There's no incentive to improve as you'll likely never see the same driver twice. The drivers don't care because it's not worth to them to care. Add to that the issue that every taxi ride I've taken in recent memory involved the driver spending the entire ride complaining about the low fare (which is 2x the UberX fare). The first time it was an interesting conversation but by the 10th it's just annoying and one more reason to dread taking a yellow cab.
- porpoisemonkey 10y ago
  > Add to that the issue that every taxi ride I've taken in recent memory involved the driver spending the entire ride complaining about the low fare To be fair most of the conversations I've had with Lyft drivers quickly turned to fair price and their own financial issues too. (I've never ridden Uber so I don't have any data points to compare.) Maybe they're just trying to develop a context for any tip you might give? > the driver spending the entire ride complaining about the low fare (which is 2x the UberX fare). My understanding is that UberX fares seen by riders are ridiculously low (significantly below the cost of the ride) and are actually subsidized by Uber so I'm not sure if that's a great price comparison point. https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/uber-true-cost-uh-oh https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/uber-true-cost-uh...
pfranz 10y ago
> The idea that the taxis are corrupt and despicable is 100% Uber/Lyft propaganda. I just can't see how that could be said with any seriousness unless you've never used a taxi. I'm not saying Uber/Lyft are without their own faults. I've never really had /that/ much experience with taxis, but on my few interactions encountered in the US: * (after arriving at the destination) Sorry, my credit card machine is broken. I can drive you to an ATM if you'd like? This is a common taxi scam and many places have laws to protect against it. After arguing they pull out the old slide machine. * When traveling only the minimum fare distance, "These trips really aren't allowed." * Use their website to schedule a few days before my flight--nobody shows. Call their dispatch phone number, "Oh, the website never really works. Someone will be there in 40 minutes." A taxi shows up over an hour later.
gregshap 10y ago
100% Uber/Lyft propaganda? There's a difference between saying taxi drivers are evil, and saying that the taxi system is a corrupt special interest. The 'system' is not just drivers, in most large US Cities it's a few concentrated medallion owners, strongly motivated to lobby against diluting their share of the taxi market. Dilution could come from regulatory changes, or just allowing more medallions. What is a 'special interest' anyway? Medallion owners represented a concentrated minority of the population with strong motivation to push for policies that are neutral or harmful to the majority. But since the harm is spread among the many, and the benefit is concentrated in the few, the few are more organized and willing to expend time and money to achieve their goal. And yup now ride sharing apps are a new special interest. That's just the political economy. There's also the fact that in many cities the cab titans were operating like corrupt slumlords, while local law enforcement long seemed willfully ignorant. https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/08/03/fallen-taxi-king-transfers-ownership-medallions-his-wife-amid-federal-probe/GM3lZWAnhZUIQGXQkhQFsO/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/08/03/fallen-taxi-kin...
odonnellryan 10y ago
Taxi's have regulations and laws they have to follow. It isn't a perfect system, but you know there are certain precautions Taxi drivers are taking. You have a different kind of safety with Uber. There are always tradeoffs.
- valuearb 10y ago
  Taxi regulations seem to benefit taxi companies, not taxi customers.
- lamdsj 10y ago
  I've had a taxi driver literally fall asleep at every red light he stopped at while driving through town. Never had anything that dangerous with lyft or uber. Also, I don't miss the days of walking an hour through the city on a Friday night because every passing cab was taken. I remember how bad things were before 2010
- strunz 10y ago
  User reviews, controlled routes, and reporting seem like much better incentives to keep customers happy than a bunch of drivers who can leave the meter off, drive you all around racking up the fee, and giving you no recourse if you are unsatisfied or taken advantage of.
loso 10y ago
No this not Uber propaganda. The NYC taxi union did horrible crap while I lived in NYC. For example, before the rise of Uber Yellow cabs would do their best not to service Uptown and places like it. So instead we had a replacement service which were known as "gypsy cabs". Basically town cars that weren't supposed to pick up people on the street, only by appointment, but they did anyway. This happened so much that Bloomberg said screw it and was basically turned a blind eye to what they were doing and let them operate. The NYC Taxi Union got pissed and complained. But while complaining they still basically said in so many words that they still weren't going to service the area. They just didn't want anyone else to. I had a cab driver pick up my ex girlfriend and her coworkers and pull something shady along the lines of this. They were being dropped in mid town. She was being dropped off uptown. When he dropped her coworkers off, he drove a few more blocks and stopped the cab and told her she had to get out. He wasn't going to drive all the way to Uptown. So yeah I was glad when Uber gave them competition. Now when I go to NYC I have no problems out of the cab drivers like I used to.
- cmonfeat 10y ago
  I don't know how long ago you experienced this, but 311 also helped curb bad behaviour by yellow cab drivers, from what I understand. If you report an issue to them, the TLC will typically try the driver via their own tribunal and fine them if found guilty.
bhuga 10y ago
> The idea that the taxis are corrupt and despicable is 100% Uber/Lyft propaganda. Here's links to stories of investigations into taxi bureaus and dispatchers for bribery and other schemes in 3 states: http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2011/06/federal_investigators_are_look.html http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2011/06/federal_investig... http://astoriapost.com/taxi-dispatchers-arrested-for-allegedly-taking-bribes http://astoriapost.com/taxi-dispatchers-arrested-for-alleged... https://nypost.com/2014/03/19/16-jfk-taxi-dispatchers-busted-for-taking-bribes-from-queue-jumpers/ https://nypost.com/2014/03/19/16-jfk-taxi-dispatchers-busted... Perhaps there's a city where Taxis are a good, clean business, but there are enough bad ones to support the generalization. > The idea that a bunch of immigrants driving 12 hours a day to support a meager income for their families are a cabal of special interests is ridiculous. There's a distinction between the drivers and the taxi regulatory agencies and dispatchers in the above stories. In this case, Uber/Lyft are replacing the agencies and dispatchers that are the bad actors, not the drivers. Your point about not making drivers out to be evil is well taken, but I don't think that's what anyone refers when they talk about "the evil taxi industry."
mee_too 10y ago
F*ck the taxis! Immigrants are NOT angels and are more likely to engage in illegal activity.
- sctb 10y ago
  Please don't violate the guidelines like this. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
gnopgnip 10y ago
Uber and Lyft are cheaper because the drivers are paid substantially less and they do not properly account for the depreciation and other costs of driving. It is much cheaper for a taxi company to maintain a fleet of vehicles, and depreciation and maintenance are much more expensive than the only thing most drivers care about, gas.
santaclaus 10y ago
> But there is no need to make taxi drivers out to be evil. Maybe not 'evil', but I'm curious about these amazing experiences people have with cabs (US-centric here). In NYC, cab drivers would refuse to drive to areas they deemed undesirable. I'm not even talking someone taking non-Manhattan rides, I would occasionally have cab drivers refuse to take me to Harlem from lower Manhattan. Cabs refusing to pick up non-white passengers is a common thing. Hell, even basic things like trying to get a dispatched cab to pick one up for an airport could be a disaster (during my time in Portland, I think I tried getting a Radio Cab to the airport three times, they never showed up). > Uber and Lyft are better than taxis because of the on demand nature and they are cheaper because of better utilization. Hell, I would pay more for an Uber of Lyft just because of the reliability of the service.
morgante 10y ago
> The idea that the taxis are corrupt and despicable is 100% Uber/Lyft propaganda. Have you ever actually used a taxi? It's incredibly common for taxi drivers to refuse to pick you up because you don't look desirable, or aren't going to the right place, or want to use a credit card, or any other reason (all of which are totally illegal). They flout the rules regularly, it's by no means propaganda.
LoSboccacc 10y ago
have you been to Italy? maybe your situation is better, but here is a cesspool.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
vermontdevil 10y ago
Speak for yourself. Many deaf and deaf/blind people absolutely detest the taxi industry. They treat us like shit. Over and over. I've been kicked out of cabs more than once when the driver learned I'm deaf and I would give them the address of my destination on paper. Got kicked out because I was signing with my friend in the back. Etc.
- areyousure 10y ago
  Pardon my ignorance of perhaps a common deaf experience, but why would a driver care whether you were deaf? (Naively, it seems like it'd be a benefit.)
  - vermontdevil 10y ago
    Dunno. Never got an answer. Maybe the driver thought we are gangbangers, flying hands too scary, can't read my written address, etc etc. not one ever was able to explain why.

cmahler7 10y ago

they're cheaper because they can subsidize their fares via VC money

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
ogezi 10y ago
> they're cheaper because they can subsidize their fares via VC money That's not the (only) reason why they're cheaper. They're cheaper because they offer drivers less downtime, therefore the drivers can end up earning more money since they're driving more of the time and earning fares. They're also cheaper because services like uber pool and lyft line allow riders to spilt the fare among themselves. I also think that Uber and Lyft will be cheaper than taxis for many more years to come. They're just more efficient as business models than taxis'.
- memmcgee 10y ago
  Except they're still losing billions of dollars every year.
specialist 10y ago
The drivers also subsidize the cheap(er) fares.
- mee_too 10y ago
  How many Uber drivers have you spoken to? Kalanick's moral compass may or may not be aligned, but the service his company offers is awesome.

threatofrain 10y ago

The taxi system seems more negative to immigrants as it cuts off the number of opportunities for making a living in a low skill market. It's not that the taxi drivers are "negative", it's the system they inhabit and defend. If it supports any immigrants, it's because they already got into the limited-slot system, while the vast bulk of immigrants are outside. And on the consumer side, consumers are afraid of being cheated, they deal with more payment uncertainty, and the prices are inflated.

wlesieutre 10y ago

I don't think anyone's claiming all taxi drivers are corrupt any more than they're saying that about Uber. Complaints I've heard are all about the medallion structure, pressure from taxi groups to block new car services, and comparatively inconsistent/crappy service. And the taxi drivers can't get out of a crappy taxi company and start their own because of the expensive taxi medallions, so they're stuck with it as much as we are.

sillysaurus3 10y ago

I've never seen anyone argue that taxi drivers are evil. The argument is that taxi companies are yet another example of companies that have co-opted the legal system to further their business. For example, you're not allowed to operate a taxi service. Nor are you allowed to give someone a ride for money.

lkbm 10y ago

I don't hate taxi drivers. I hate taxi companies. Same with Uber. You can ignore that distinction, but you're just going to be arguing against a straw man, which might feel satisfying, but will get you nowhere.

valuearb 10y ago

The immigrants driving 12 hours a day are paying hella rents to the taxi companies for that privilege. There is a reason NYC taxi medallions were being traded for over $1M, because the taxi companies lobbied to limit the supply of taxis and were making massive profits leasing those medallions to drivers.

odonnellryan 10y ago
There are other reasons why you'd want to limit the number of drivers. It is not good for NYC to have too many taxis, or too many Uber or Lyft drivers. There should be enough, but there is a point where there are too many people driving through the streets of NYC looking to pick up riders.
- gk1 10y ago
  Firstly, what's "not good" about having too many taxis or Uber/Lyft drivers? I don't think people in the outer boroughs would complain. Secondly, even if there's a good reason why that's bad, it's a problem that would sort itself out. The supply (drivers) will decrease until it meets demand (riders).
  - odonnellryan 10y ago
    The limits of Taxis is historical and stemmed from unsafe behavior: not because Taxi companies want to sell medallions for a lot of money. Maybe that's a good reason now, but it's unfair to say it's the only reason. > The supply (drivers) will decrease until it meets demand (riders). Maybe? Economics is rarely perfect like this. See the government subsidies of many industries, farming for example. Maybe in the middle of the ebb-and-flow lifecycle you'll have something that works really great: but at the extremes you'll have something that hurts a lot of people for a good amount of time. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2241306 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2241306
    - LoSboccacc 10y ago
      as in Italy, making medallions transferable lifetime license was the original screwup. in general if a state want's to limit concession to a scarce resource (whether riders, coal, fishes) it's best to make them time limited and non transferable, with the current owner having a preferred option for renewal and a bid for reassignment.

koolba 10y ago

The problem with taxis isn't corruption (at the driver level). It's that the service is uniformly terrible. There's no incentive to improve as you'll likely never see the same driver twice. The drivers don't care because it's not worth to them to care. Add to that the issue that every taxi ride I've taken in recent memory involved the driver spending the entire ride complaining about the low fare (which is 2x the UberX fare). The first time it was an interesting conversation but by the 10th it's just annoying and one more reason to dread taking a yellow cab.

porpoisemonkey 10y ago
> Add to that the issue that every taxi ride I've taken in recent memory involved the driver spending the entire ride complaining about the low fare To be fair most of the conversations I've had with Lyft drivers quickly turned to fair price and their own financial issues too. (I've never ridden Uber so I don't have any data points to compare.) Maybe they're just trying to develop a context for any tip you might give? > the driver spending the entire ride complaining about the low fare (which is 2x the UberX fare). My understanding is that UberX fares seen by riders are ridiculously low (significantly below the cost of the ride) and are actually subsidized by Uber so I'm not sure if that's a great price comparison point. https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/uber-true-cost-uh-oh https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/uber-true-cost-uh...

pfranz 10y ago

> The idea that the taxis are corrupt and despicable is 100% Uber/Lyft propaganda. I just can't see how that could be said with any seriousness unless you've never used a taxi. I'm not saying Uber/Lyft are without their own faults. I've never really had /that/ much experience with taxis, but on my few interactions encountered in the US: * (after arriving at the destination) Sorry, my credit card machine is broken. I can drive you to an ATM if you'd like? This is a common taxi scam and many places have laws to protect against it. After arguing they pull out the old slide machine. * When traveling only the minimum fare distance, "These trips really aren't allowed." * Use their website to schedule a few days before my flight--nobody shows. Call their dispatch phone number, "Oh, the website never really works. Someone will be there in 40 minutes." A taxi shows up over an hour later.

gregshap 10y ago

100% Uber/Lyft propaganda? There's a difference between saying taxi drivers are evil, and saying that the taxi system is a corrupt special interest. The 'system' is not just drivers, in most large US Cities it's a few concentrated medallion owners, strongly motivated to lobby against diluting their share of the taxi market. Dilution could come from regulatory changes, or just allowing more medallions. What is a 'special interest' anyway? Medallion owners represented a concentrated minority of the population with strong motivation to push for policies that are neutral or harmful to the majority. But since the harm is spread among the many, and the benefit is concentrated in the few, the few are more organized and willing to expend time and money to achieve their goal. And yup now ride sharing apps are a new special interest. That's just the political economy. There's also the fact that in many cities the cab titans were operating like corrupt slumlords, while local law enforcement long seemed willfully ignorant. https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/08/03/fallen-taxi-king-transfers-ownership-medallions-his-wife-amid-federal-probe/GM3lZWAnhZUIQGXQkhQFsO/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/08/03/fallen-taxi-kin...

odonnellryan 10y ago

Taxi's have regulations and laws they have to follow. It isn't a perfect system, but you know there are certain precautions Taxi drivers are taking. You have a different kind of safety with Uber. There are always tradeoffs.

valuearb 10y ago
Taxi regulations seem to benefit taxi companies, not taxi customers.
lamdsj 10y ago
I've had a taxi driver literally fall asleep at every red light he stopped at while driving through town. Never had anything that dangerous with lyft or uber. Also, I don't miss the days of walking an hour through the city on a Friday night because every passing cab was taken. I remember how bad things were before 2010
strunz 10y ago
User reviews, controlled routes, and reporting seem like much better incentives to keep customers happy than a bunch of drivers who can leave the meter off, drive you all around racking up the fee, and giving you no recourse if you are unsatisfied or taken advantage of.

loso 10y ago

No this not Uber propaganda. The NYC taxi union did horrible crap while I lived in NYC. For example, before the rise of Uber Yellow cabs would do their best not to service Uptown and places like it. So instead we had a replacement service which were known as "gypsy cabs". Basically town cars that weren't supposed to pick up people on the street, only by appointment, but they did anyway. This happened so much that Bloomberg said screw it and was basically turned a blind eye to what they were doing and let them operate. The NYC Taxi Union got pissed and complained. But while complaining they still basically said in so many words that they still weren't going to service the area. They just didn't want anyone else to. I had a cab driver pick up my ex girlfriend and her coworkers and pull something shady along the lines of this. They were being dropped in mid town. She was being dropped off uptown. When he dropped her coworkers off, he drove a few more blocks and stopped the cab and told her she had to get out. He wasn't going to drive all the way to Uptown. So yeah I was glad when Uber gave them competition. Now when I go to NYC I have no problems out of the cab drivers like I used to.

cmonfeat 10y ago
I don't know how long ago you experienced this, but 311 also helped curb bad behaviour by yellow cab drivers, from what I understand. If you report an issue to them, the TLC will typically try the driver via their own tribunal and fine them if found guilty.

bhuga 10y ago

> The idea that the taxis are corrupt and despicable is 100% Uber/Lyft propaganda. Here's links to stories of investigations into taxi bureaus and dispatchers for bribery and other schemes in 3 states: http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2011/06/federal_investigators_are_look.html http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2011/06/federal_investig... http://astoriapost.com/taxi-dispatchers-arrested-for-allegedly-taking-bribes http://astoriapost.com/taxi-dispatchers-arrested-for-alleged... https://nypost.com/2014/03/19/16-jfk-taxi-dispatchers-busted-for-taking-bribes-from-queue-jumpers/ https://nypost.com/2014/03/19/16-jfk-taxi-dispatchers-busted... Perhaps there's a city where Taxis are a good, clean business, but there are enough bad ones to support the generalization. > The idea that a bunch of immigrants driving 12 hours a day to support a meager income for their families are a cabal of special interests is ridiculous. There's a distinction between the drivers and the taxi regulatory agencies and dispatchers in the above stories. In this case, Uber/Lyft are replacing the agencies and dispatchers that are the bad actors, not the drivers. Your point about not making drivers out to be evil is well taken, but I don't think that's what anyone refers when they talk about "the evil taxi industry."

mee_too 10y ago

F*ck the taxis! Immigrants are NOT angels and are more likely to engage in illegal activity.

sctb 10y ago
Please don't violate the guidelines like this. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

gnopgnip 10y ago

Uber and Lyft are cheaper because the drivers are paid substantially less and they do not properly account for the depreciation and other costs of driving. It is much cheaper for a taxi company to maintain a fleet of vehicles, and depreciation and maintenance are much more expensive than the only thing most drivers care about, gas.

santaclaus 10y ago

> But there is no need to make taxi drivers out to be evil. Maybe not 'evil', but I'm curious about these amazing experiences people have with cabs (US-centric here). In NYC, cab drivers would refuse to drive to areas they deemed undesirable. I'm not even talking someone taking non-Manhattan rides, I would occasionally have cab drivers refuse to take me to Harlem from lower Manhattan. Cabs refusing to pick up non-white passengers is a common thing. Hell, even basic things like trying to get a dispatched cab to pick one up for an airport could be a disaster (during my time in Portland, I think I tried getting a Radio Cab to the airport three times, they never showed up). > Uber and Lyft are better than taxis because of the on demand nature and they are cheaper because of better utilization. Hell, I would pay more for an Uber of Lyft just because of the reliability of the service.

morgante 10y ago

> The idea that the taxis are corrupt and despicable is 100% Uber/Lyft propaganda. Have you ever actually used a taxi? It's incredibly common for taxi drivers to refuse to pick you up because you don't look desirable, or aren't going to the right place, or want to use a credit card, or any other reason (all of which are totally illegal). They flout the rules regularly, it's by no means propaganda.

LoSboccacc 10y ago

have you been to Italy? maybe your situation is better, but here is a cesspool.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

vermontdevil 10y ago

Speak for yourself. Many deaf and deaf/blind people absolutely detest the taxi industry. They treat us like shit. Over and over. I've been kicked out of cabs more than once when the driver learned I'm deaf and I would give them the address of my destination on paper. Got kicked out because I was signing with my friend in the back. Etc.

areyousure 10y ago
Pardon my ignorance of perhaps a common deaf experience, but why would a driver care whether you were deaf? (Naively, it seems like it'd be a benefit.)
- vermontdevil 10y ago
  Dunno. Never got an answer. Maybe the driver thought we are gangbangers, flying hands too scary, can't read my written address, etc etc. not one ever was able to explain why.