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Taxi company that isn't a taxi company. Hotel company that isn't a hotel company. And now, car rental company that isn't a car rental company. And, as always

Taxi company that isn't a taxi company. Hotel company that isn't a hotel company. And now, car rental company that isn't a car rental company. And, as always, all the regulations are somehow bad. The PR person compares this to lead paint certification, but I'd argue that the bulk rented apartments need that too. Instead they're fighting sales tax on the rentals. Besides this, cars are far more dangerous to others when maintenance gets lax.

tlb 9y ago
Few would claim that all regulations are bad. But regulations often age badly. Regulators and the companies they regulate are both motivated to freeze the state of the industry over time. So when new technologies like smartphones allow doing something better, the regulations often prohibit it (as they did with taxis.) Established players don't want change because change costs money, and regulators aren't motivated to make changes either. What we see is that unregulated industries (say, dog-walking on demand) can quickly adopt the new technology, while regulated ones like car rental have trouble. Car rental should be much better with smartphones. I should be able to get a car brought to the airport in front of baggage claim. The fact that I have to schlep my luggage on shuttle buses to a rental area is an artifact of a business model that no longer makes sense. But if we wait for the incumbents to do it, it could take any amount of time.
- ghaff 9y ago
  >The fact that I have to schlep my luggage on shuttle buses to a rental area is an artifact of a business model that no longer makes sense. Well, it's also an artifact of the reality that the rental volume at major airports is such that the activity needs to be moved well away from baggage claim. Honestly, I don't find car rentals to be that big a deal. I have priority cards for a couple of companies so I basically take the bus/train, grab a car, and checkout at the gate. Admittedly, I don't usually have much luggage.
- gamblor956 9y ago
  I should be able to get a car brought to the airport in front of baggage claim. You can. It's called concierge rental car service or valet rental car service at those airports that offer it, and it tends to be extremely pricey. It's not offered for the masses because it would make the already horrific congestion at Arrivals even worse, which is the primary reason that the rental car area is usually a bit away from the airport itself.
gwern 9y ago
The maintenance argument doesn't make sense to me. Yeah, it sure would be bad if all these cars which are already driving around constantly and represent the overwhelming majority of all vehicles & mileage weren't professionally maintained by a big corporation, there oughta be a law against that!
- dsfyu404ed 9y ago
  The maintenance argument is barely noticeable in statistics. If it were a noteworthy factor you'd likely see insurance companies offering discounts for passing some sort of inspection in states without an annual safety inspection. You really have to start making bold claims about the validity of the data before mechanical failure is a meaningful portion of what causes car crashes.

tlb 9y ago

Few would claim that all regulations are bad. But regulations often age badly. Regulators and the companies they regulate are both motivated to freeze the state of the industry over time. So when new technologies like smartphones allow doing something better, the regulations often prohibit it (as they did with taxis.) Established players don't want change because change costs money, and regulators aren't motivated to make changes either. What we see is that unregulated industries (say, dog-walking on demand) can quickly adopt the new technology, while regulated ones like car rental have trouble. Car rental should be much better with smartphones. I should be able to get a car brought to the airport in front of baggage claim. The fact that I have to schlep my luggage on shuttle buses to a rental area is an artifact of a business model that no longer makes sense. But if we wait for the incumbents to do it, it could take any amount of time.

ghaff 9y ago
>The fact that I have to schlep my luggage on shuttle buses to a rental area is an artifact of a business model that no longer makes sense. Well, it's also an artifact of the reality that the rental volume at major airports is such that the activity needs to be moved well away from baggage claim. Honestly, I don't find car rentals to be that big a deal. I have priority cards for a couple of companies so I basically take the bus/train, grab a car, and checkout at the gate. Admittedly, I don't usually have much luggage.
gamblor956 9y ago
I should be able to get a car brought to the airport in front of baggage claim. You can. It's called concierge rental car service or valet rental car service at those airports that offer it, and it tends to be extremely pricey. It's not offered for the masses because it would make the already horrific congestion at Arrivals even worse, which is the primary reason that the rental car area is usually a bit away from the airport itself.

gwern 9y ago

The maintenance argument doesn't make sense to me. Yeah, it sure would be bad if all these cars which are already driving around constantly and represent the overwhelming majority of all vehicles & mileage weren't professionally maintained by a big corporation, there oughta be a law against that!

dsfyu404ed 9y ago
The maintenance argument is barely noticeable in statistics. If it were a noteworthy factor you'd likely see insurance companies offering discounts for passing some sort of inspection in states without an annual safety inspection. You really have to start making bold claims about the validity of the data before mechanical failure is a meaningful portion of what causes car crashes.