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The fact that the ability to drive people about in a car became subject to a financial instrument as a barrier to entry is the real story here. There are other

The fact that the ability to drive people about in a car became subject to a financial instrument as a barrier to entry is the real story here. There are other cities in the world which don't have such an absurd system and they seem to be doing just fine. Uber may be outcompeting them, but they haven't taken on mortgage levels of debt.

taneq 7y ago
This. The government artificially restricted supply, driving up demand, and then pulled the rug out from under taxi drivers by refusing to regulate ride hailing in a similar manner. At least there are buybacks happening in some countries now to try and fix the whole mess: https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/government-to-introduce-taxi-plate-buyback-scheme-ng-b88433015z https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/government-to-introduce-taxi-...
- kjeetgill 7y ago
  To temper this slightly, there are ways to artificially restrict supply without involving financial instruments. Just have a regular permitting/lisence system.
  - Scoundreller 7y ago
    > I can only assume taxi companies must have lowered their prices to compete by now, but I'm not sure Doubtful. “Fares“ were strictly regulated by the regulators. With rideshare competition, taxis have become a lot less likely to moan that your ride is too short, or trying to charge extra just because there’s a ton of demand at that time.
- gruez 7y ago
  >then pulled the rug out from under taxi drivers by refusing to regulate ride hailing in a similar manner. Did the government make any express guarantees that for-hire vehicles would be regulated like taxis? If not, I'm not sure how this is any different from any other type of regulatory risk. >At least there are buybacks happening in some countries now to try and fix the whole mess That seems like the wrong solution to me. It's basically a scheme to socialize the losses.
  - p1necone 7y ago
    From my perspective Uber are taxis, and it seems very strange that they weren't regulated as such from the beginning. (Regardless of whether the way local government regulated taxis was good or not)
    - ars 7y ago
      Because they were more like chauffeur services, which existed even before taxis. If those were not regulated, neither should Uber. Taxis are hailed from the street, everyone is isn't. Even before Uber you could call limo firms, that actually just used regular cars, and have them drive you, and those were not regulated either.
      - p1necone 7y ago
        Ah I see. In my country (New Zealand) the primary way of getting a taxi is to ring up the taxi company and get them to send you one.
        skinnymuch 7y ago
        You can also do that and the system is awful across America. Not dependable at all. Customer service and support is usually awful too.
        p1necone 7y ago
        The system seemed relatively alright when I used them before Uber was a thing. Using an app is easier than calling a taxi company though - although the main difference is just that Uber and co are much much cheaper than the taxis used to be. (I can only assume taxi companies must have lowered their prices to compete by now, but I'm not sure).
        taneq 7y ago
        I'll say this for Uber - the quality and price of our local taxi services have improved significantly since they came on the scene.
tomjakubowski 7y ago
That's right, they have cleverly avoiding taking on huge levels of debt by making their drivers do it instead - financed by Uber, of course!
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- icebraining 7y ago
  Comparing million dollar loans as mention in the article with a single car loan is a bit over the top. > financed by Uber, of course! That ended in 2017.
  - _visgean 7y ago
    the article even shows that the taxi driver was taking the car loan as well...
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]

taneq 7y ago

This. The government artificially restricted supply, driving up demand, and then pulled the rug out from under taxi drivers by refusing to regulate ride hailing in a similar manner. At least there are buybacks happening in some countries now to try and fix the whole mess: https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/government-to-introduce-taxi-plate-buyback-scheme-ng-b88433015z https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/government-to-introduce-taxi-...

kjeetgill 7y ago
To temper this slightly, there are ways to artificially restrict supply without involving financial instruments. Just have a regular permitting/lisence system.
- Scoundreller 7y ago
  > I can only assume taxi companies must have lowered their prices to compete by now, but I'm not sure Doubtful. “Fares“ were strictly regulated by the regulators. With rideshare competition, taxis have become a lot less likely to moan that your ride is too short, or trying to charge extra just because there’s a ton of demand at that time.
gruez 7y ago
>then pulled the rug out from under taxi drivers by refusing to regulate ride hailing in a similar manner. Did the government make any express guarantees that for-hire vehicles would be regulated like taxis? If not, I'm not sure how this is any different from any other type of regulatory risk. >At least there are buybacks happening in some countries now to try and fix the whole mess That seems like the wrong solution to me. It's basically a scheme to socialize the losses.
- p1necone 7y ago
  From my perspective Uber are taxis, and it seems very strange that they weren't regulated as such from the beginning. (Regardless of whether the way local government regulated taxis was good or not)
  - ars 7y ago
    Because they were more like chauffeur services, which existed even before taxis. If those were not regulated, neither should Uber. Taxis are hailed from the street, everyone is isn't. Even before Uber you could call limo firms, that actually just used regular cars, and have them drive you, and those were not regulated either.
    - p1necone 7y ago
      Ah I see. In my country (New Zealand) the primary way of getting a taxi is to ring up the taxi company and get them to send you one.
      - skinnymuch 7y ago
        You can also do that and the system is awful across America. Not dependable at all. Customer service and support is usually awful too.
        p1necone 7y ago
        The system seemed relatively alright when I used them before Uber was a thing. Using an app is easier than calling a taxi company though - although the main difference is just that Uber and co are much much cheaper than the taxis used to be. (I can only assume taxi companies must have lowered their prices to compete by now, but I'm not sure).
        taneq 7y ago
        I'll say this for Uber - the quality and price of our local taxi services have improved significantly since they came on the scene.

tomjakubowski 7y ago

That's right, they have cleverly avoiding taking on huge levels of debt by making their drivers do it instead - financed by Uber, of course!

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
icebraining 7y ago
Comparing million dollar loans as mention in the article with a single car loan is a bit over the top. > financed by Uber, of course! That ended in 2017.
- _visgean 7y ago
  the article even shows that the taxi driver was taking the car loan as well...
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]