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The answer to bad regulations is not necessarily no regulations. The taxi medallion system was broken and in need of an overhaul. Replacing a broken system wi

The answer to bad regulations is not necessarily no regulations. The taxi medallion system was broken and in need of an overhaul. Replacing a broken system with a ridesharing Wild West is not optimal. I agree that there needs to be a lot more investment in mass transit but in the meantime governments shouldn't be turning a blind eye to regulating ridesharing.

manigandham 7y ago
What's wild west about it? What needs to be regulated exactly vs having people drive their own cars?
- thelock85 7y ago
  I’m no fan of unnecessary regulation, but you cannot compare externalities of driving your own car for your own purposes vs. ride share, accept in cases where people are ride share driving in the same capacity/frequency as personal driving. My opinion is that people who drive their own cars don’t do so at the same clip as people driving for money. In the former, people do so out of convenience or routine. In the latter, people do so as long as needed to meet financial obligations. Maybe I’m wrong and people are out here driving hours and hours for wages they don’t need to survive or support others.
  - derangedHorse 7y ago
    That still doesn’t answer the question of why it’s different in way that we should care
  - manigandham 7y ago
    It's the same amount of driving. The Uber drivers are giving rides to people who need to get somewhere, and who would otherwise be using their own cars or taxis. If anything there are less total cars on the road since the same Uber driver can service many passengers (or same amount of cars delivering more people with less parking).
- koolba 7y ago
  Car safety, accepting multiple payment options, refusing pick ups or drop offs to particular neighborhoods, scam pricing... There’s plenty of reasons to have some regulation. What was missing previously wasn’t regulation, it was competition.
  - manigandham 7y ago
    And yet, those are all things where unregulated Uber is far better than regulated taxis ever were. Why is that?
    - memmcgee 7y ago
      What? How are you arriving at that conclusion?
      - russell_h 7y ago
        Is this a serious question? Did you ever ride in a taxi in the US?
      - manigandham 7y ago
        Car safety = Uber knows the drivers, has real-time tracking for your entire trip, and lets you call for help quickly and silently. Taxis have none of this, and there are lots of bandit/underground cabs where you have no idea if it's legit. Payment options/scams = Uber lets you pay however you want through the app/apple pay without any need for cash, with an upfront price. Most taxis only accept cash, have unclear pricing that you only know at the end, can easily pad the meter in various ways, and may extort you if you really need a ride. Refusing pickups = Uber drivers don't know the destination until you get in the car, and get kicked off the network if they cancel too many rides or abuse riders. Taxis are notorious for ignoring people based on looks, destination, convenience and usually won't deal with any trip they deem is not worth their time. The difference in service and safety is magnitudes better with ridesharing vs taxis, that's why they're so popular.
      - bandrami 7y ago
        "Sorry, I don't go east of the river" "Sorry, the meter is broken" "Sorry, the card reader is broken, cash only" "No, don't worry, this is really the fastest way" Also your Uber driver doesn't know your race when he accepts your ride or not. Which is probably why I find it a lot easier to get an Uber than a taxi.

manigandham 7y ago

What's wild west about it? What needs to be regulated exactly vs having people drive their own cars?

thelock85 7y ago
I’m no fan of unnecessary regulation, but you cannot compare externalities of driving your own car for your own purposes vs. ride share, accept in cases where people are ride share driving in the same capacity/frequency as personal driving. My opinion is that people who drive their own cars don’t do so at the same clip as people driving for money. In the former, people do so out of convenience or routine. In the latter, people do so as long as needed to meet financial obligations. Maybe I’m wrong and people are out here driving hours and hours for wages they don’t need to survive or support others.
- derangedHorse 7y ago
  That still doesn’t answer the question of why it’s different in way that we should care
- manigandham 7y ago
  It's the same amount of driving. The Uber drivers are giving rides to people who need to get somewhere, and who would otherwise be using their own cars or taxis. If anything there are less total cars on the road since the same Uber driver can service many passengers (or same amount of cars delivering more people with less parking).
koolba 7y ago
Car safety, accepting multiple payment options, refusing pick ups or drop offs to particular neighborhoods, scam pricing... There’s plenty of reasons to have some regulation. What was missing previously wasn’t regulation, it was competition.
- manigandham 7y ago
  And yet, those are all things where unregulated Uber is far better than regulated taxis ever were. Why is that?
  - memmcgee 7y ago
    What? How are you arriving at that conclusion?
    - russell_h 7y ago
      Is this a serious question? Did you ever ride in a taxi in the US?
    - manigandham 7y ago
      Car safety = Uber knows the drivers, has real-time tracking for your entire trip, and lets you call for help quickly and silently. Taxis have none of this, and there are lots of bandit/underground cabs where you have no idea if it's legit. Payment options/scams = Uber lets you pay however you want through the app/apple pay without any need for cash, with an upfront price. Most taxis only accept cash, have unclear pricing that you only know at the end, can easily pad the meter in various ways, and may extort you if you really need a ride. Refusing pickups = Uber drivers don't know the destination until you get in the car, and get kicked off the network if they cancel too many rides or abuse riders. Taxis are notorious for ignoring people based on looks, destination, convenience and usually won't deal with any trip they deem is not worth their time. The difference in service and safety is magnitudes better with ridesharing vs taxis, that's why they're so popular.
    - bandrami 7y ago
      "Sorry, I don't go east of the river" "Sorry, the meter is broken" "Sorry, the card reader is broken, cash only" "No, don't worry, this is really the fastest way" Also your Uber driver doesn't know your race when he accepts your ride or not. Which is probably why I find it a lot easier to get an Uber than a taxi.