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> The negative externalities from all those extra cars on the road are fierce It's better to have an Uber idling at some corner than a traditional taxi driving
by Shorel 7y ago
> The negative externalities from all those extra cars on the road are fierce
It's better to have an Uber idling at some corner than a traditional taxi driving furiously while trying to find a new ride.
That's what the Uber drivers do in the cities I have lived or visited.
Taxi drivers are the most aggressive and dangerous drivers ever. Almost all crashes I have seen involve one or two taxis.
You can't ignore that externality when discussing the only alternative to taxis we have now.
- CydeWeys 7y agoYou're still in a car-centric mindset. What I have in mind are non-car transit alternatives, like walking, biking, e-biking, e-scooters, light rail, heavy rail, etc. Even if the cars are fully electric, they're still dangerous as you point out (until the time they become fully self-driving). So it's best to eliminate as many of them as possible. And a simple tool to do so is to increase taxes on all for-hire vehicle rides, thus targeting taxis and rideshares equally.
- Shorel 7y agoThat sounds ideal. It also requires to rebuild some cities, something that is way too expensive.
- CydeWeys 7y agoAnd yet plenty of cities worldwide predominantly use public transit to get around (including NYC). So it can and is done, thus it's not "too expensive". Once the transit is there, all that remains is to continue deprioritizing cars, which is quite cheap.