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This isn't so much about competition. It is about unfair competition. One side has rules and regulations they need to abide by. Many are simply there to make th

This isn't so much about competition. It is about unfair competition. One side has rules and regulations they need to abide by. Many are simply there to make things fair (like meters). Some are safety (not mentioned, but requiring a different class of drivers license). Some are things that obviously should be changed (car models, for example, or the medallion system). Some things are probably a mixture of safety and ridiculousness (special car colors help folks know it isn't just some person acting like a cab, but ridiculous in the manner that there are other ways to do such things). Not everyone gains by having lower fares if you need to get to work during a busy hour, as mentioned in the article. Surge pricing and weird pricing schemes makes it difficult to plan when money is tight. And they do mention that Uber drivers aren't exactly better off. "not as good of a living" is one thing. Poverty and homelessness is quite another, and seems to be happening on both sides of this. Want competition? Fine. Make sure folks are playing by the same rules and regulations.

ric2b 9y ago
> Not everyone gains by having lower fares if you need to get to work during a busy hour, as mentioned in the article. Surge pricing and weird pricing schemes makes it difficult to plan when money is tight. Surge pricing makes sense. It encourages people to choose different hours to travel and drivers to drive more during those times, which in the long run can lead to a much better experience for most users as it ensures that more people can use the service. Yes, it may hurt some people that would prefer a constant price, but overall it seems like a net benefit to me.
- Broken_Hippo 9y ago
  That's all fine and good if you have a choice in when you travel. Car broken down and you need to get to work? Good luck having a choice. Doctor's appointment? Need to go to court? You are just stuck having to pay. You can plan on having more cabs during busy hours and fewer during less busy hours. Buses often have more busses on the routes during busy times of day. Not everywhere has these choices, though. Outside of larger cities, Uber or Lyft might be the closest you have to public transportation. If you want choice in such things, it takes more than surge pricing. Cooperation between workplaces and so on to stagger start/end times, for example.
  - ric2b 9y ago
    > That's all fine and good if you have a choice in when you travel. Car broken down and you need to get to work? Good luck having a choice. Doctor's appointment? Need to go to court? You are just stuck having to pay. But this is exactly the problem that surge pricing solves, other people that can choose when to travel will already be traveling at other times, which means you'll have a car available instead of having 0 because everyone else is trying to travel at the same time. Making the price constant doesn't guarantee that you'll be able to travel when you need, only that if you can get a car, you'll pay a certain price. If you want both that seems like something that is solved by both surge pricing and insurance. > You can plan on having more cabs during busy hours and fewer during less busy hours. Buses often have more busses on the routes during busy times of day. That means higher infrastructure costs (need more cars, more maintenance, more/bigger roads) which will lead to higher prices. > If you want choice in such things, it takes more than surge pricing. Cooperation between workplaces and so on to stagger start/end times, for example. Yes, but surge pricing can nudge that cooperation into existence. Maybe not by itself, but in conjunction with surge pricing in other areas as well. Our societies have to deal with extra costs because of the man-made rush-hour: "Everyone" showers at the same time, turns on their toasters at the same time, occupies the roads/buses at the same time, etc. Turn those costs into real dollars instead of subsidizing them with higher prices on the low hours and watch businesses start to fix it by themselves.

ric2b 9y ago

> Not everyone gains by having lower fares if you need to get to work during a busy hour, as mentioned in the article. Surge pricing and weird pricing schemes makes it difficult to plan when money is tight. Surge pricing makes sense. It encourages people to choose different hours to travel and drivers to drive more during those times, which in the long run can lead to a much better experience for most users as it ensures that more people can use the service. Yes, it may hurt some people that would prefer a constant price, but overall it seems like a net benefit to me.

Broken_Hippo 9y ago
That's all fine and good if you have a choice in when you travel. Car broken down and you need to get to work? Good luck having a choice. Doctor's appointment? Need to go to court? You are just stuck having to pay. You can plan on having more cabs during busy hours and fewer during less busy hours. Buses often have more busses on the routes during busy times of day. Not everywhere has these choices, though. Outside of larger cities, Uber or Lyft might be the closest you have to public transportation. If you want choice in such things, it takes more than surge pricing. Cooperation between workplaces and so on to stagger start/end times, for example.
- ric2b 9y ago
  > That's all fine and good if you have a choice in when you travel. Car broken down and you need to get to work? Good luck having a choice. Doctor's appointment? Need to go to court? You are just stuck having to pay. But this is exactly the problem that surge pricing solves, other people that can choose when to travel will already be traveling at other times, which means you'll have a car available instead of having 0 because everyone else is trying to travel at the same time. Making the price constant doesn't guarantee that you'll be able to travel when you need, only that if you can get a car, you'll pay a certain price. If you want both that seems like something that is solved by both surge pricing and insurance. > You can plan on having more cabs during busy hours and fewer during less busy hours. Buses often have more busses on the routes during busy times of day. That means higher infrastructure costs (need more cars, more maintenance, more/bigger roads) which will lead to higher prices. > If you want choice in such things, it takes more than surge pricing. Cooperation between workplaces and so on to stagger start/end times, for example. Yes, but surge pricing can nudge that cooperation into existence. Maybe not by itself, but in conjunction with surge pricing in other areas as well. Our societies have to deal with extra costs because of the man-made rush-hour: "Everyone" showers at the same time, turns on their toasters at the same time, occupies the roads/buses at the same time, etc. Turn those costs into real dollars instead of subsidizing them with higher prices on the low hours and watch businesses start to fix it by themselves.