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I’ve only been in Tokyo once ten years ago but I remember the regular taxis there being staggeringly expensive. Are app based rides really more expensive than t

by CPLX 7y ago

I’ve only been in Tokyo once ten years ago but I remember the regular taxis there being staggeringly expensive. Are app based rides really more expensive than that?

tfw5012 7y ago
No, they're actually slightly more expensive than a regular taxi. The growth limiter for Uber in Japan is the strict regulation around transportation vehicles, partly due to the government's close ties with the taxi industry, and partly because I think the government wants to disincentivize car use in its bigger cities (this makes a lot of sense, since in Japan's large cities, public transportation is quite good). Because of this, any kind of commercial activity using a motorized vehicle is highly regulated - services like UberX are impossible to launch in Japan. Even for food delivery, delivery drivers all ride bicycles.
- ekianjo 7y ago
  > the government wants to disincentivize car use in its bigger cities No need to do that, most people don't use cars to commute already - It's probably fair to say that car usage is only for the weekend shopping or driving out of the city - that's why car rental is a thing in Japan for a few years now, you don't need a car every single day of the week.
CaptainZapp 7y ago
I think a big part of what makes them expensive is the massive distances you may have to travel in Tokyo. Distances you often don't realise how large they are when using the awesome public transportation offerings. Price per kilometer & wait time seems higher in Zurich, for example.
- smeyer 7y ago
  >Price per kilometer & wait time seems higher in Zurich, for example I think Zurich is just a particularly expensive example. At least in the US, most places seem a lot cheaper (I checked New York, Chicago, and San Francisco). Of the few cities I checked in Europe, London is comparable but Paris, Berlin, and Rome are closer to the US examples. Numbers come from numbeo such as https://www.numbeo.com/taxi-fare/in/Tokyo?displayCurrency=USD https://www.numbeo.com/taxi-fare/in/Tokyo?displayCurrency=US... and https://www.numbeo.com/taxi-fare/in/New-York https://www.numbeo.com/taxi-fare/in/New-York, just swap the city name for the other cities I mentioned.
- vinay427 7y ago
  Zurich is literally the most expensive city for taxi rides according to the latest DB report, linked here: https://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/RPS_EN-PROD/Mapping_the_world%27s_prices_2019/WORLD_PRICES_2019.alias https://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/RPS_EN-PROD/Mapping_the_worl...
- austen 7y ago
  Tokyo taxis are legitimately some of the most expensive in the world per mile/minute. e.g. on my last trip home from SF, my ride to SFO cost about a third of my ride home from Haneda – both being roughly the same time and distance. if you arrive in Narita after the last train has left, have fun paying $250 to get into the city. on the other hand, it's nice that I never feel the need to take a taxi given the great transit system, but it does rule out things like buying bulky items in person and night-time flights.
discordance 7y ago
400y ($3.68 USD) for the first 1km and then 80y ($0.74 USD)/400m after that.
- NovemberWhiskey 7y ago
  Wow; that's really changed since I lived in Tokyo. Back in 2011, it was 710 JPY base fare (but I think for two kilometres?) and exchange rates were also tremendously disadvantageous for anyone USD-denominated. It was basically 9 USD to sit down in a cab.

by CPLX 7y ago

I’ve only been in Tokyo once ten years ago but I remember the regular taxis there being staggeringly expensive. Are app based rides really more expensive than that?

tfw5012 7y ago

No, they're actually slightly more expensive than a regular taxi. The growth limiter for Uber in Japan is the strict regulation around transportation vehicles, partly due to the government's close ties with the taxi industry, and partly because I think the government wants to disincentivize car use in its bigger cities (this makes a lot of sense, since in Japan's large cities, public transportation is quite good). Because of this, any kind of commercial activity using a motorized vehicle is highly regulated - services like UberX are impossible to launch in Japan. Even for food delivery, delivery drivers all ride bicycles.

ekianjo 7y ago
> the government wants to disincentivize car use in its bigger cities No need to do that, most people don't use cars to commute already - It's probably fair to say that car usage is only for the weekend shopping or driving out of the city - that's why car rental is a thing in Japan for a few years now, you don't need a car every single day of the week.

CaptainZapp 7y ago

I think a big part of what makes them expensive is the massive distances you may have to travel in Tokyo. Distances you often don't realise how large they are when using the awesome public transportation offerings. Price per kilometer & wait time seems higher in Zurich, for example.

smeyer 7y ago
>Price per kilometer & wait time seems higher in Zurich, for example I think Zurich is just a particularly expensive example. At least in the US, most places seem a lot cheaper (I checked New York, Chicago, and San Francisco). Of the few cities I checked in Europe, London is comparable but Paris, Berlin, and Rome are closer to the US examples. Numbers come from numbeo such as https://www.numbeo.com/taxi-fare/in/Tokyo?displayCurrency=USD https://www.numbeo.com/taxi-fare/in/Tokyo?displayCurrency=US... and https://www.numbeo.com/taxi-fare/in/New-York https://www.numbeo.com/taxi-fare/in/New-York, just swap the city name for the other cities I mentioned.
vinay427 7y ago
Zurich is literally the most expensive city for taxi rides according to the latest DB report, linked here: https://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/RPS_EN-PROD/Mapping_the_world%27s_prices_2019/WORLD_PRICES_2019.alias https://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/RPS_EN-PROD/Mapping_the_worl...
austen 7y ago
Tokyo taxis are legitimately some of the most expensive in the world per mile/minute. e.g. on my last trip home from SF, my ride to SFO cost about a third of my ride home from Haneda – both being roughly the same time and distance. if you arrive in Narita after the last train has left, have fun paying $250 to get into the city. on the other hand, it's nice that I never feel the need to take a taxi given the great transit system, but it does rule out things like buying bulky items in person and night-time flights.

discordance 7y ago

400y ($3.68 USD) for the first 1km and then 80y ($0.74 USD)/400m after that.

NovemberWhiskey 7y ago
Wow; that's really changed since I lived in Tokyo. Back in 2011, it was 710 JPY base fare (but I think for two kilometres?) and exchange rates were also tremendously disadvantageous for anyone USD-denominated. It was basically 9 USD to sit down in a cab.