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There are Uber-like services in Europe that somehow still manage to comply with the law, while bringing the same benefits to the end user. You don't have to rid

There are Uber-like services in Europe that somehow still manage to comply with the law, while bringing the same benefits to the end user. You don't have to ride roughshod over regulations and worker protections to be innovative and thriving.

imrehg 9y ago
I'd be curious to know any examples that really bring the same benefits (usability and features mostly, less about the price), I was looking for them, and couldn't find any (e.g. in London at the moment). Otherwise it's just hand waving argument...
- jerven 9y ago
  I use both Uber and TaxiPhone app in Geneva Switzerland. The taxi phone app is better because it is more honest, no fake cars in the TaxiPhone app driving "in the middle of lake geneva (along the pedestrian ferry routes)" while the Uber app has dubious arrival times and while payment is straightforward nothing about the app is really better. While the taxiphone app is branded Geneva it also works in other cities. Basically, it is a locally branded app but the infra is in 42 cities/regions and works in the "foreign" ones. Uber is a bit cheaper during the night, but not always during the day and certainly not during rush hours in the city center. Address search could be a bit better but otherwise it is as good as the uber one. At least it doesn't have this annoying inbuilt Dev recruitment tool, that stupidity almost ruined the day of a blind developer I know. When booking a ride ahead of time e.g. to the airport with family the taxiphone website is best. You can arrange child seats etc.. and they will have them and arrive on time.
- alkonaut 9y ago
  Stockholm has dozens of taxi companies and strict regulations (special training required etc, safety and insurance regulations, etc). All the major companies, perhaps the top 10 - have apps with pre-paying and hailing or pre-booking in the app. I haven't called a taxi by phone or hailed one on the street for years. I can't find when the first company launched their app, but I'm pretty sure I hadn't heard the name Uber when they did (which doesn't mean Uber weren't first - just that I hadn't heard of them because they didn't exist in Sweden then). There are obviously no taxi medallions or similar, so anyone is free to start a taxi service and the cost for doing so is low. Usually you'd join one of the bigger players to be connected to a booking central and app service but you can just get a license and start driving. So the bottom line is - in ANY city where there isn't a US-style medallion bureaucracy surrounding taxis I just don't see the point of Uber. Uber is Taxi. If there are 100 taxi companies with apps, then with Uber they are 101. US cities (and others worldwide) should just buy back all medallions at the last transfer price and then allow free competition.
bogomipz 9y ago
>"There are Uber-like services in Europe that somehow still manage to comply with the law, while bringing the same benefits to the end user" Could you say what those are? I agree you don't need to ride roughshod on regulations to be innovative.
- ueroc 9y ago
  http://tech.eu/features/2501/european-transportation-startups-taxi-carsharing-ridesharing/ http://tech.eu/features/2501/european-transportation-startup... Of course many taxi companies will have their own apps.

imrehg 9y ago

I'd be curious to know any examples that really bring the same benefits (usability and features mostly, less about the price), I was looking for them, and couldn't find any (e.g. in London at the moment). Otherwise it's just hand waving argument...

jerven 9y ago
I use both Uber and TaxiPhone app in Geneva Switzerland. The taxi phone app is better because it is more honest, no fake cars in the TaxiPhone app driving "in the middle of lake geneva (along the pedestrian ferry routes)" while the Uber app has dubious arrival times and while payment is straightforward nothing about the app is really better. While the taxiphone app is branded Geneva it also works in other cities. Basically, it is a locally branded app but the infra is in 42 cities/regions and works in the "foreign" ones. Uber is a bit cheaper during the night, but not always during the day and certainly not during rush hours in the city center. Address search could be a bit better but otherwise it is as good as the uber one. At least it doesn't have this annoying inbuilt Dev recruitment tool, that stupidity almost ruined the day of a blind developer I know. When booking a ride ahead of time e.g. to the airport with family the taxiphone website is best. You can arrange child seats etc.. and they will have them and arrive on time.
alkonaut 9y ago
Stockholm has dozens of taxi companies and strict regulations (special training required etc, safety and insurance regulations, etc). All the major companies, perhaps the top 10 - have apps with pre-paying and hailing or pre-booking in the app. I haven't called a taxi by phone or hailed one on the street for years. I can't find when the first company launched their app, but I'm pretty sure I hadn't heard the name Uber when they did (which doesn't mean Uber weren't first - just that I hadn't heard of them because they didn't exist in Sweden then). There are obviously no taxi medallions or similar, so anyone is free to start a taxi service and the cost for doing so is low. Usually you'd join one of the bigger players to be connected to a booking central and app service but you can just get a license and start driving. So the bottom line is - in ANY city where there isn't a US-style medallion bureaucracy surrounding taxis I just don't see the point of Uber. Uber is Taxi. If there are 100 taxi companies with apps, then with Uber they are 101. US cities (and others worldwide) should just buy back all medallions at the last transfer price and then allow free competition.

bogomipz 9y ago

>"There are Uber-like services in Europe that somehow still manage to comply with the law, while bringing the same benefits to the end user" Could you say what those are? I agree you don't need to ride roughshod on regulations to be innovative.

ueroc 9y ago
http://tech.eu/features/2501/european-transportation-startups-taxi-carsharing-ridesharing/ http://tech.eu/features/2501/european-transportation-startup... Of course many taxi companies will have their own apps.