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For all of the issues around Uber, they disrupted a market that desperately needed disrupting. The black cabs in London are a great example: expensive, uncomfor

• AdamGibbins 6y ago
  Black cabs haven't been cash only since 2016, its now required to accept card.
  • dx034 6y ago
    Uber has been in London since before that, competition by Uber and other minicabs was probably a reason for card requirements for black cabs.
  • twic 6y ago
    The card machine is often mysteriously broken.
    • alasdair_ 6y ago
      Terrible shame that you’re mysteriously only carrying a credit card and no other form of payment then, isn’t it? :)
    • shawabawa3 6y ago
      they used to pull this a lot - if they try it now call them out. They aren't allowed to operate with a broken card machine
      • smileysteve 6y ago
        > if they try it now call them out This is a fun way to make tourists feel insecure. Call them out, where you wait on a foreign police, prove your identity, file a report -- in a non native accent / language -- in the best case... or in the worst case, where they'll take you where you don't want to go (or other cabs to pickup), potentially drive off in a dangerous way as you forcibly exit the vehicle, and blacklist you from other cars -- all while you're hoping to make it to a hotel, airport, tour safely and on time.
        • JAlexoid 6y ago
          Yep. Most people forget that. Tourist places are a literal gold mine for fraudsters and other kinds of bad people.
          • unicornfinder 6y ago
            Indeed and I don't know if it's just me but I genuinely feel like London has gotten a lot worse for fraudsters in recent years...
            • JAlexoid 6y ago
              Cooonsiderably.
      • renewiltord 6y ago
        I don’t want to call them out. I want to never have to call them out. With Uber I don’t have to so I’ll take that.
  • maccard 6y ago
    And uber launched in london in 2012. Meanwhile, the last time I got a black cab, the card machine was broken, and the driver "helpfully" offered to take a detour to an ATM, with the meter running, on my dime of course.
    • alasdair_ 6y ago
      If you are ever in that situation again, just tell them you only have a credit card, nothing else. Of course, only do that at the end of the ride. They are not allowed to pick up passengers if the machine (or meter, or lots of other things) is broken. If it’s genuinely broken and you still want to pay, you can call the number displayed below the machine and pay over the phone.
      • throwaway287391 6y ago
        This is good to know for London specifically. It's not as satisfying as yours but my general technique that works everywhere in the world where cabs are competing is: ask them if they take credit cards and their reader is working before you get into the cab. If they say no you find another cab. (In my experience they never say no anyway. But I learned to do this every single time I use a cab anywhere because this scam is so unbelievably common everywhere in the world.)
        • iso1631 6y ago
          My general technique is to use Uber, or pre-book a cab from the office. I have to admit I was stuck last time I was in Beijing, and of course nobody* takes cash in Beijing.
        • maccard 6y ago
          Yep indeed, I've asked before I got in. In this case I was getting a cab from the airport after a long haul flight. I'd normally use Uber but to try and speed things up I took a black cab because they're allowed use bus lanes and it was 9am.
      • iso1631 6y ago
  • mytailorisrich 6y ago
    Thanks to Uber...
  • kerng 6y ago
    Yes, Uber really helped change that. Pretty amazing, probably still would be cash only otherwise...
• gambiting 6y ago
  I don't know if you ride in the same black cabs I do, but the cabs are vastly better than most offerings from Uber, since the car is designed for transporting paying passengers - it's easy to get in and out of, there's loads of room in the back, the seats are somewhat comfortable. With Uber, if I have to cram myself into yet another Toyota Prius I'll cry. And yeah, black cabs have been accepting contactless payments for ages now.
  • TheCoelacanth 6y ago
    Aren't the levels of Uber that allow a Prius to be used much, much cheaper than a black cab? If you want a larger car, you can get it. You'll just pay a bit more.
    • gambiting 6y ago
      On paper, sure. In practice, I find that Uber is nearly constantly in surge pricing in London. I've had it several times now where I Was riding in a group, same start point same destination - some people in ubers, some in black cabs. Again, with normal pricing Uber should be cheaper, but since it's very often at 1.5x-2x multiplier, it works out the same or actually more expensive than a black cab. And sure, there is the higher tier of ubers too, but it's usually showing me 20-30 minute wait for a cab for a nicer car.
      • dpatru 6y ago
        > . . . cabs are vastly better than most offerings from Uber, since the car is designed for transporting paying passengers . . . > Aren't the levels of Uber that allow a Prius to be used much, much cheaper than a black cab? If you want a larger car, you can get it. You'll just pay a bit more. > On paper, sure. In practice, I find that Uber is nearly constantly in surge pricing in London. I've had it several times now where I Was riding in a group, same start point same destination - some people in ubers, some in black cabs. Again, with normal pricing Uber should be cheaper, but since it's very often at 1.5x-2x multiplier, it works out the same or actually more expensive than a black cab. And sure, there is the higher tier of ubers too, but it's usually showing me 20-30 minute wait for a cab for a nicer car. Seems like the fact that there is constantly surge pricing and long waiting time means that there are too few Uber drivers, even in "low quality" cars, to meet demand. Your complaints sound like the old joke about prison food: it tastes terrible and the portions are too small.
• twic 6y ago
  Baffled to see Uber compared to black cabs. It's a minicab firm. It's vastly more convenient than the legacy minicab firms, because of the app, but the actual service is identical.
  • wastedhours 6y ago
    But convenience and ubiquity was the black cab's selling points, especially since the advent of live updating traffic-aware GPS made storing The Knowledge in your head an occasionally useful party trick.
  • C1sc0cat 6y ago
    Is it? certainly in my small county town 60 miles from London why do I need an app it all works on SMS. I call the taxi company its automated asks me to push 1 or 2 for the last two trips or 0 for an operator. I tell the operator where I want to go and my name and I get a sms message with a link to a map and another one when it has arrived.
• itsoktocry 6y ago
  >For all of the issues around Uber, they disrupted a market that desperately needed disrupting. The black cabs in London are a great example: expensive, uncomfortable, often draughty and cold, unpredictable, cash only, and often unfriendly drivers. So now you have a bunch of "gig-workers" scraping by, often mis-accounting for the deprectiation of using their own vehicle, while often not being properly insured to carry passengers commercially. Meanwhile, Uber corporate is a money burning enterprise. However, for wealthy urbanites, they can now get to where they are going cheaply and conveniently, so the trade off is "good". I remain confident that if Uber (and its drivers) had to charge "true costs" this entire story changes.
  • briandear 6y ago
    > often mis-accounting for the deprectiation of using their own vehicle. How is that a government concern? Or, how is that your concern? Drivers know what they’re doing and if they don’t, they’ll be out of business. That’s how markets work. Nobody is forced to ride or drive Uber.
    • MiroF 6y ago
      The well-being of others in the society I live in is of concern to me.
  • DanBC 6y ago
    ...also, Ubers have consistent problems of not taking guide dogs or wheelchairs.
    • curryst 6y ago
      Isn't there a special flag you can set for people with wheelchairs? Either way, I think you're right, and I predict ADA woes in Ubers future. Those vans with wheelchair lifts aren't cheap, and Uber can't charge more for it under the ADA (I presume). They may end up having to W2 workers driving corporate vans so they can guarantee availability. I wonder how many areas are only served by a handful of people with wheelchair accessibility. Surge pricing is only going to tempt people so much. Guide dogs are basically the same thing. Dogs shed, and some people are allergic, so drivers avoid them since they don't recoup lost time or money if they have to clean their car afterwards. That one's easier to fix, though. Uber is just going to have to take a hard stance on it. I am curious if the drivers know that they are legally required to allow guide dogs. I also wonder if Uber drivers are liable under the ADA in the states where they are still independent contractors.
• cripblip 6y ago
  Often wondered the same, in nyc the cabs offer a check in with app (Arro) which takes care of payment (pre registered cc) permitting the rider to just exit the taxi at the end of the journey. It certainly could be better, unfortunately the app devs are fairly unresponsive .. perplexed why this is not funded more
  • DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
    Uber's software runs worldwide: $1m of developer time for Uber has a much wider impact and reach compared to spending $1m on developer time for Arro, which has a much smaller reach and no guarantees of an RoI.
• seanhunter 6y ago
  I don't recognise this picture at all. Black cabs in London are much more comfortable than most ubers and have taken cards for a lot longer than Uber has been around. Secondly black cabs will pick you up from taxi ranks or if you hail them in the street (which Uber and minicabs can not). They are not really that comparable.
  • JAlexoid 6y ago
    You need your memory checked. Uber started in 2014 in London, as a limo service... and black cabs were still operating mostly in cash.
• mrlala 6y ago
  I mean, back 8+ years ago they had minicab firms. It was basically uber. We had an app on our phone or would make a phone call and get a cab to pick us up pretty quick which we know the fixed price ahead of time. So before uber there was already a service which complemented black cabs.
• Nursie 6y ago
  > cash only Black cabs have been required to have a functional contactless card reader in them for some time now. Any that don't are asking to be reported for it. I know that doesn't address all their issues.
  • philjohn 6y ago
    An interesting questions is - did Uber coming on the scene drive that change, or was it already in the pipeline?
    • Nursie 6y ago
      So it looks like that came in around 2016 - https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2016/october/all-london-black-cabs-to-take-cards-and-contactless-payments-from-mond https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2016/octobe... I wouldn't be surprised if it was TFL trying to force the black cabs to modernise and compete with uber.
      • JAlexoid 6y ago
        I definitely have taken Uber in London in 2015. And a year before we had a luxury vehicle ride booked with Uber in London.
• brigandish 6y ago
  I've never been in a black cab with an unfriendly driver. Minicabs, yes. Don't know about Uber as I don't use them. I was using electronic payment with black cabs almost 20 years ago, contactless came in ages ago. I genuinely find it hard to believe you've used a black cab, at least in this century.
  • JAlexoid 6y ago
    I left London 5 years ago and rare black cab would take anything but cash back then. And my husband has been asked for a blowjob at least twice in London.... some black cab drivers are a little bit too "friendly"...