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Author’s vision for Uber: regulated, price-controlled (“can’t charge less than a true cost of the trip”), number of cars not to exceed government mandate, with
by vtail 9y ago
Author’s vision for Uber: regulated, price-controlled (“can’t charge less than a true cost of the trip”), number of cars not to exceed government mandate, with unionized and minimum-wage-guaranteed drivers.
- dpeters 9y agoThat sounds like a good solution that would benefit drivers. Hopefully this can be realized
- andrewfromx 9y agoNo that sounds like a fake society kids think is reality. Capitalism is reality.
- nothrabannosir 9y agoSounds lovely and pithy, and Id love to agree with you. But is it, really? Didn’t Uber replace exactly this system, meaning it was, in fact, reality for decades?
- fullshark 9y agoYeah and the system was awful for consumers
- ExcelSaga 9y agoReality is what we choose to make of it. In the case of the US, reality is crony capitalism running a yearly trillion dollar deficit, billlions wasted on military contracts like Zumwalt, and overspending-underperforming healthcare. Let’s leave the buzzwords and ideology aside.
- heavenlyblue 9y agoI am waiting till someone builds a taxi app that would work exactly as IRC servers worked 20 years ago and Uber dies in it's own monocultural misery. Now that's capitalism.
- pfarnsworth 9y agoThey tried that in Austin. I think they had a year to grow market without Uber or Lyft, and once the ridesharing companies came back, the companies were decimated.
- IAmEveryone 9y agoKids have that insidious tendency to grow up, and to sometimes make their ideas become real.
- s73v3r_ 9y agoWhat part of "VCs subsidize riders" is Capitalism?
- malvosenior 9y agoAll of it? It's not like the VCs aren't expecting a return on investment. They're literally Venture Capitalists. You don't seem to equate investing (which this is) to capitalism, but you're mistaken.
- bertil 9y agoI haven’t been to Paris lately but my friends there describe it that way: Uber drivers there now need some hard-to-get and I believe limited license, so the drivers there are a lot less abundant, prices are higher and wait time longer. I wouldn’t be surprised if city hall economists publish some impact study on drivers’ revenue, or on congestions: both are hot topics there.
- vtail 9y agoI don’t think this is given - e.g., in NYC, Chicago, and SF, most cabs are driven by poor immigrants[1] and most rent (in economic terms) is extracted by medallion owners. [1] Nothing wrong with being an immigrant - I’m one myself, although not poor anymore. I’m just pointing out that pre-Uber system didn’t offer much protection either. Since driving is an easily obtainable skill with no differentiation whatsoever, driving for hire - be it a cab driver, truck driver, or Uber driver - will always be a low-earning job.
- sneak 9y agoThe current solution benefits drivers sufficiently to entice them to do it over a different job. I’m not sure why people feel that the current situation must be changed.
- davidf18 9y agoTry having some compassion for others. In NYC where I live there are a number of elderly on fixed incomes that need to get around by taxi/uber. Nobody forces people to drive uber/taxis or work at McDonalds, etc. But being elderly and infirm and for many being on a fixed income is forced on many. Don't you have any grandparents?
- rayvd 9y agoSounds good for the taxi cartels... not good for the drivers who would now have fewer job options and less control over accepting work on their terms. And of course a huge blow to consumers which is the whole point of Uber's existence anyway.
- s73v3r_ 9y agoDrivers don't have that now. They have extremely little control over what rides they can turn down, and most drivers barely break even. As for consumers, yes, it's generally felt as a blow when they have to start paying the actual costs of things, instead of coasting by on VC subsidized things.
- andrewfromx 9y agoi really like HN comments so much (not joking) this is great. It summarized the entire article perfectly I can already tell. Thanks vtail.
- maxfurman 9y agoIs that more or less regulation than taxis currently have in the US?
- icebraining 9y agoMore, since taxi drivers are considered contractors and have no minimum wage.
- tensor 9y agoThe part where it goes off the rails is limiting the number of cars. This is why taxi's are so expensive, it's not a truly fair market. Also, I strongly disagree with the author's sentiment that more people using uber vs public transit is bad. Shortening people's trip time sometimes as much as 1 1/2 hours to 20 min is a huge benefit. Transit could be better, but it won't be if it doesn't have to compete with a genuinely good experience. Additionally, consider the number of people who have not driven drunk because uber is cheap enough that they are willing to do it. Transit doesn't run as much at night, and people are not willing to either wait the 2h to take night transit if it exists, or pay $50+ a ride for a taxi. We can argue all night about whether or not people should do these things rather than drive drunk, but the cold hard reality is that services like uber have actually reduced the number of drunk drivers by making efficient transport affordable.
- davidf18 9y agoI live in NYC and find a NY Times article written like this embarrassing. Clearly the author does not care for the elderly who, many of whom have trouble walking, and many of whom are on fixed incomes that must use taxis/ubers in order to go from place to place. I suggest the NYT have an elderly person who has trouble walking and who is on a fixed income write about whether they believe these rates should be raised. A complete total lack of empathy for others.
- nicodjimenez 9y agoTotally agree with you. The MTA, now THAT's a transportation monopoly.
- reading-at-work 9y agoThere's hard data to support the drunk driving claim, too. It has been noticeably reduced in areas that allow Uber vs. those that don't.
- s73v3r_ 9y agoSounds pretty good. Charging less than the actual cost of a trip is just anti-competitive, so everyone here should be against that. Unionized and minimum wage guaranteed drivers sounds good to me, as I fail to see any reason why the drivers shouldn't be making at least minimum wage.
- zer00eyz 9y agoWe have this, it is called taxi cabs.
- sunsets_44 9y agoThe author sounds like a caricature out of an Ayn Rand novel. "Traditional taxis already have a sensible limit to minimize congestion"? "Fairness fees"? wew.