4 ms·

> The rules were not broken because they were unfair - that's a meme - you don't get to pass arbitrary judgement of which laws you do and do not respect (in the

> The rules were not broken because they were unfair - that's a meme - you don't get to pass arbitrary judgement of which laws you do and do not respect (in theory). Thank goodness it was only in theory. The taxi industry was and is terrible, the only thing propping it up is regulatory capture. > As a business, if you do not like the legal environment (rules) of a certain location, the logical (and respectable) choice is to not operate in that region/location. As a consumer, I'm glad that the rules were systematically broken in a way that benefitted everyone except the taxi industry.

munk-a 7y ago
> in a way that benefitted everyone I can definitely get aboard the taxi hate train, but do bear in mind that there has been a higher incident of sexual assaults tied to uber drivers over taxi drivers - it's not a free win for everyone, they broke both rules intended for regulatory capture and those intended for public safety.
- malandrew 7y ago
  > higher incident of sexual assaults tied to uber drivers over taxi drivers citation with statistics? I don't know what world you lived in, but there was no lack of local news stories involving crimes by taxi drivers pre-ridesharing and there is a reason why taxi drivers were commonly suspects on crime drama shows like Law&Order.
  - dllthomas 7y ago
    The lack of meaningful comparison in every article on the topic always bugged me. I'd believe Uber was worse. I'd believe Uber was better. I'm reading your article partly because I want to know which.
- mullingitover 7y ago
  I'd love to see the statistics. That aside, the taxi industry collects zero feedback from customers on their drivers, so taxi drivers had no incentive to be polite, keep their vehicles clean, etc. The worst uber driver I've had was about on par with the best cab drivers.
  - hermitdev 7y ago
    Not sure about other jurisdictions, but in Chicago, you can call 311 to report a taxi driver. Just need the cab number. I called a few times when cabs nearly struck me as a pedestrian in a crosswalk with a walk signal. Couple of them, I was close enough that I was able to smack a window. Don't know if anything ever happened from those complaints, you dont get feedback after a complaint.
- JamesBarney 7y ago
  This is counter to my experience. Every one of my female friends prefers Uber to taxi's because they feel much safer. They've all had at least one taxi incident where they were afraid for their well being but haven't had a single one with Uber despite using Uber far more. This makes sense to me because it's far easier to track down the an Uber driver than a taxi driver.
amelius 7y ago
Don't forget that Uber is operating at a huge loss. (And it seems they can't even get rid of the competition that way.) These are good times for the consumer, but of course the situation won't be this way forever.
- BiasRegularizer 7y ago
  Not necessarily true. Uber the company maybe operating at a loss but rides are not operating at a loss AFAIK. Kind of like Amazon in its earlier days, where they reinvested their revenue in growth.
  - amelius 7y ago
    Could be true, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's a clever accounting trick.
    - GhettoMaestro 7y ago
      There are no real magical accounting tricks. At the end of the day (quarter) you will be forced to account for your cashflow. Cashflow always gives the at the moment reality of the company. Before folks reply - Amazon doesn't count. Amazon is an enigma.

munk-a 7y ago

> in a way that benefitted everyone I can definitely get aboard the taxi hate train, but do bear in mind that there has been a higher incident of sexual assaults tied to uber drivers over taxi drivers - it's not a free win for everyone, they broke both rules intended for regulatory capture and those intended for public safety.

malandrew 7y ago
> higher incident of sexual assaults tied to uber drivers over taxi drivers citation with statistics? I don't know what world you lived in, but there was no lack of local news stories involving crimes by taxi drivers pre-ridesharing and there is a reason why taxi drivers were commonly suspects on crime drama shows like Law&Order.
- dllthomas 7y ago
  The lack of meaningful comparison in every article on the topic always bugged me. I'd believe Uber was worse. I'd believe Uber was better. I'm reading your article partly because I want to know which.
mullingitover 7y ago
I'd love to see the statistics. That aside, the taxi industry collects zero feedback from customers on their drivers, so taxi drivers had no incentive to be polite, keep their vehicles clean, etc. The worst uber driver I've had was about on par with the best cab drivers.
- hermitdev 7y ago
  Not sure about other jurisdictions, but in Chicago, you can call 311 to report a taxi driver. Just need the cab number. I called a few times when cabs nearly struck me as a pedestrian in a crosswalk with a walk signal. Couple of them, I was close enough that I was able to smack a window. Don't know if anything ever happened from those complaints, you dont get feedback after a complaint.
JamesBarney 7y ago
This is counter to my experience. Every one of my female friends prefers Uber to taxi's because they feel much safer. They've all had at least one taxi incident where they were afraid for their well being but haven't had a single one with Uber despite using Uber far more. This makes sense to me because it's far easier to track down the an Uber driver than a taxi driver.

amelius 7y ago

Don't forget that Uber is operating at a huge loss. (And it seems they can't even get rid of the competition that way.) These are good times for the consumer, but of course the situation won't be this way forever.

BiasRegularizer 7y ago
Not necessarily true. Uber the company maybe operating at a loss but rides are not operating at a loss AFAIK. Kind of like Amazon in its earlier days, where they reinvested their revenue in growth.
- amelius 7y ago
  Could be true, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's a clever accounting trick.
  - GhettoMaestro 7y ago
    There are no real magical accounting tricks. At the end of the day (quarter) you will be forced to account for your cashflow. Cashflow always gives the at the moment reality of the company. Before folks reply - Amazon doesn't count. Amazon is an enigma.