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> Take away the gig economy part from Uber and it becomes a regular taxi market, an industry that has been around for a hundred years already, with all the che

> Take away the gig economy part from Uber and it becomes a regular taxi market, an industry that has been around for a hundred years already, with all the checks and balances installed already (from driver and passenger rights to ride fares to maximum amount of drivers allowed to operate in a certain area to avoid oversaturating the market). Let's not forget that in that world uber drivers are unemployed while taxi drivers make more money.

vidarh 6y ago
In that world customers flow back to the many minicab companies and Uber competitors in London, which will need to take on more drivers. It's not like Uber is the only app like this in London. I have at least four different ones on my app, and Uber is rarely the cheapest as it is.
- unishark 6y ago
  So minicab companies pay more and charge less than uber? How does that work economically? And wouldn't everyone just switch to the mincab companies, both drivers and passengers, if that's the case?
  - vidarh 6y ago
    Varies very much by company. Many of them are small operators covering much smaller areas than Uber. Many of them will intentionally keep far fewer drivers available to keep their drivers busier. I'm sure there are plenty who are much worse than Uber too, and there's plenty of room to get rid of more of these operators. Uber has captured market share by being visible, and covering the whole city so you don't need to care which companies cover where you are. There are a few others that covers all of London and aim for the same over-supply of drivers, and most of them are not cheaper.
  - phatfish 6y ago
    Is it impossible to operate a mini-cab business more efficiently than Uber to a similar standard? I suspect it's pretty hard NOT to.
    - unishark 6y ago
      And wouldn't everyone just switch to the mincab companies, both drivers and passengers, if that's the case?

vidarh 6y ago

In that world customers flow back to the many minicab companies and Uber competitors in London, which will need to take on more drivers. It's not like Uber is the only app like this in London. I have at least four different ones on my app, and Uber is rarely the cheapest as it is.

unishark 6y ago
So minicab companies pay more and charge less than uber? How does that work economically? And wouldn't everyone just switch to the mincab companies, both drivers and passengers, if that's the case?
- vidarh 6y ago
  Varies very much by company. Many of them are small operators covering much smaller areas than Uber. Many of them will intentionally keep far fewer drivers available to keep their drivers busier. I'm sure there are plenty who are much worse than Uber too, and there's plenty of room to get rid of more of these operators. Uber has captured market share by being visible, and covering the whole city so you don't need to care which companies cover where you are. There are a few others that covers all of London and aim for the same over-supply of drivers, and most of them are not cheaper.
- phatfish 6y ago
  Is it impossible to operate a mini-cab business more efficiently than Uber to a similar standard? I suspect it's pretty hard NOT to.
  - unishark 6y ago
    And wouldn't everyone just switch to the mincab companies, both drivers and passengers, if that's the case?