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> Side note, ended up using a taxi in Orlando for the first time in years and it was surprisingly a much easier, cheaper, and faster ride (plus the driver knew

> Side note, ended up using a taxi in Orlando for the first time in years and it was surprisingly a much easier, cheaper, and faster ride (plus the driver knew the area and didn't need nav). Did you hail a taxi through an easy to use smartphone app?

untog 7y ago
What's easier to use than holding your hand up while on the street? Or going to a taxi rank at the airport? Don't get me wrong, these apps have made arranging a ride a lot easier. But they're not a requirement in 100% of cases.
- thaumasiotes 7y ago
  > What's easier to use than holding your hand up while on the street? A smartphone app that essentially guarantees that the car will show up, and having shown up, won't listen to where you want to go and then refuse to take you there. > these apps have made arranging a ride a lot easier. But they're not a requirement in 100% of cases. When they are a requirement in cases as common as "it's raining", they might as well be a requirement in all cases.
- smileysteve 7y ago
  > What's easier to use than holding your hand up while on the street? You won't find a taxi that way in a city like Orlando with the exception of a few hotels.
  - MuffinFlavored 7y ago
    Correct. I use Uber to go to and from the car dealership when I get service. Taxis are nowhere near where I live, or the car dealership.
- cortesoft 7y ago
  Unless you are in Manhattan, very few places in the US are that easy to hail a cab.
grawprog 7y ago
About 99% of times I've taken a taxi I've called a number, spoken briefly with a dispatcher, then waited for my taxi. I'd say about the same ease as an app, maybe easier in the rain. Trying to enter info on a touch screen while water falls from the sky can be a trial.
- cortesoft 7y ago
  That is not nearly as easy as an app... you have to talk to someone, you have to know where you are, and you have no information about how close they are. That is fine if that works for you, but the app is way easier for most people... which is why they have totally taken over most ride hailing business. If people agreed with you that calling a taxi is just as easy as calling an Uber or Lyft, those two would have never taken off.
  - dawnerd 7y ago
    Uber/Lyft took off because they were MUCH cheaper than taxis for a while - plus taxi drivers kind of gave themselves a bad reputation. Seems we've come full circle.
    - MuffinFlavored 7y ago
      > plus taxi drivers kind of gave themselves a bad reputation. I think it is usually "people who can afford to go into a taxi do not like mingling with people who are only worth a taxi driver's salary". I don't think most would say many positive things about a person that is only worth $x/hr on the economic market (where $x/hr is a taxi driver's average wages). Whether it is due to lack of education / opportunity, I do not know.
  - grawprog 7y ago
    I've never used uber or lyft, so I'm not sure how their apps work, but I keep my location turned off on my phone always, so I'm assuming the apps would have no way of knowing where I am without either turning it on or manually entering my location. Typically, I usually know where I am enough to give a cross street. I can't imagine getting an uber to a place where I couldn't describe my location. Every taxi place I've called, gives a wait estimate and generally tells me how far away the closest taxis are. The taxi companies here at least have actually released apps that let you call a taxi, track where they are generally many of the features uber and lyft's apps offer. To be honest, I don't trust taxi drivers much either, but they're regulated, they have cameras and they're accountable to somebody. The same can't really be said for uber/lift.
wingspar 7y ago
One major taxi company there has their own app, with dispatch and taxi tracking. https://www.mearstransportation.com/mears-apps/ https://www.mearstransportation.com/mears-apps/
dawnerd 7y ago
No, I walked up to the taxi booth and was in a car faster than I could have pulled out the lyft app. The theme parks have a horrible ride-share setup and recently Universal moved ride share pickups to their parking garage roof which has made the problem even worse. I literally waited an hour for a ride the night before which is why I decided the next day to just get a taxi.

untog 7y ago

What's easier to use than holding your hand up while on the street? Or going to a taxi rank at the airport? Don't get me wrong, these apps have made arranging a ride a lot easier. But they're not a requirement in 100% of cases.

thaumasiotes 7y ago
> What's easier to use than holding your hand up while on the street? A smartphone app that essentially guarantees that the car will show up, and having shown up, won't listen to where you want to go and then refuse to take you there. > these apps have made arranging a ride a lot easier. But they're not a requirement in 100% of cases. When they are a requirement in cases as common as "it's raining", they might as well be a requirement in all cases.
smileysteve 7y ago
> What's easier to use than holding your hand up while on the street? You won't find a taxi that way in a city like Orlando with the exception of a few hotels.
- MuffinFlavored 7y ago
  Correct. I use Uber to go to and from the car dealership when I get service. Taxis are nowhere near where I live, or the car dealership.
cortesoft 7y ago
Unless you are in Manhattan, very few places in the US are that easy to hail a cab.

grawprog 7y ago

About 99% of times I've taken a taxi I've called a number, spoken briefly with a dispatcher, then waited for my taxi. I'd say about the same ease as an app, maybe easier in the rain. Trying to enter info on a touch screen while water falls from the sky can be a trial.

cortesoft 7y ago
That is not nearly as easy as an app... you have to talk to someone, you have to know where you are, and you have no information about how close they are. That is fine if that works for you, but the app is way easier for most people... which is why they have totally taken over most ride hailing business. If people agreed with you that calling a taxi is just as easy as calling an Uber or Lyft, those two would have never taken off.
- dawnerd 7y ago
  Uber/Lyft took off because they were MUCH cheaper than taxis for a while - plus taxi drivers kind of gave themselves a bad reputation. Seems we've come full circle.
  - MuffinFlavored 7y ago
    > plus taxi drivers kind of gave themselves a bad reputation. I think it is usually "people who can afford to go into a taxi do not like mingling with people who are only worth a taxi driver's salary". I don't think most would say many positive things about a person that is only worth $x/hr on the economic market (where $x/hr is a taxi driver's average wages). Whether it is due to lack of education / opportunity, I do not know.
- grawprog 7y ago
  I've never used uber or lyft, so I'm not sure how their apps work, but I keep my location turned off on my phone always, so I'm assuming the apps would have no way of knowing where I am without either turning it on or manually entering my location. Typically, I usually know where I am enough to give a cross street. I can't imagine getting an uber to a place where I couldn't describe my location. Every taxi place I've called, gives a wait estimate and generally tells me how far away the closest taxis are. The taxi companies here at least have actually released apps that let you call a taxi, track where they are generally many of the features uber and lyft's apps offer. To be honest, I don't trust taxi drivers much either, but they're regulated, they have cameras and they're accountable to somebody. The same can't really be said for uber/lift.

wingspar 7y ago

One major taxi company there has their own app, with dispatch and taxi tracking. https://www.mearstransportation.com/mears-apps/ https://www.mearstransportation.com/mears-apps/

dawnerd 7y ago

No, I walked up to the taxi booth and was in a car faster than I could have pulled out the lyft app. The theme parks have a horrible ride-share setup and recently Universal moved ride share pickups to their parking garage roof which has made the problem even worse. I literally waited an hour for a ride the night before which is why I decided the next day to just get a taxi.