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The success of Didi in China has been interesting. They have largely co-opted the taxi pools in Beijing/Shanghai/Shenzhen by allowing you to bid/pay the driver

by kurthr 9y ago

The success of Didi in China has been interesting. They have largely co-opted the taxi pools in Beijing/Shanghai/Shenzhen by allowing you to bid/pay the driver to pick up riders. It has changed dramatically in only a few years. Although locals tell me it is illegal you can wait over an hour and a hundred green-lit taxis before one will stop to pick-up someone without an app that is willing to bid a few yuan. Train stations and airports have cues where you can still get a ride, but don't count on hailing a car in the evening even in a busy downtown district. As a result they control all of the taxi business and all of the ride-shares. I must say not having to transact in cash is nice.

Tiktaalik 9y ago
This highlights why many governments dislike ride hailing services. As riding hailing becomes dominant (with their rise only being enabled by being able to skirt regulations) it creates a transportation system where one needs a mobile phone to participate. This excludes low income persons and persons with low technical literacy. The way that ride hailing slices away only part of the population and ignores the rest is highly undesirable for governments which are required to provide transportation solutions for all persons.
- jazzkingrt 9y ago
  In my city low income people are technologically literate enough to have smartphones. The poor are excluded from traditional taxis as well, whereas at least ride-hailing can pool people together to lower prices. In the future we might see larger van formats operating like buses with ad-hoc routing. I personally favor subsidized public transit options, and don't think ride hailing apps discourage that any more than taxis. If anything, ride hailing apps help transition people away from car ownership and into mixed use transit.
- ohhnoodont 9y ago
  In the extreme situation that these services somehow killed traditional public transit, we'd figure it out. This is not a hard problem to solve. Imagine an iPad inside a bus stop.

by kurthr 9y ago

Tiktaalik 9y ago

This highlights why many governments dislike ride hailing services. As riding hailing becomes dominant (with their rise only being enabled by being able to skirt regulations) it creates a transportation system where one needs a mobile phone to participate. This excludes low income persons and persons with low technical literacy. The way that ride hailing slices away only part of the population and ignores the rest is highly undesirable for governments which are required to provide transportation solutions for all persons.

jazzkingrt 9y ago
In my city low income people are technologically literate enough to have smartphones. The poor are excluded from traditional taxis as well, whereas at least ride-hailing can pool people together to lower prices. In the future we might see larger van formats operating like buses with ad-hoc routing. I personally favor subsidized public transit options, and don't think ride hailing apps discourage that any more than taxis. If anything, ride hailing apps help transition people away from car ownership and into mixed use transit.
ohhnoodont 9y ago
In the extreme situation that these services somehow killed traditional public transit, we'd figure it out. This is not a hard problem to solve. Imagine an iPad inside a bus stop.