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I know of no city in the US (although there may be some small towns) where taxi rates are not dictated by either state, county, or local laws. You cannot get a
by maxk42 5y ago
I know of no city in the US (although there may be some small towns) where taxi rates are not dictated by either state, county, or local laws. You cannot get a taxi for any rate other than the officially-sanctioned one. Unfortunately, this rate seldom has anything to do with the cost of gas, maintenance, depreciation, pandemics suddenly causing people to use more / less services, etc. This means that for the taxi industry, there are four chief ways of making more money (1) lobbying, which is effective but slow; (2) reducing costs in the extreme, which is also effective, but only to the extent that you are able to reduce your costs further by delaying repairs, doing it yourself, not offering refreshments, not providing great customer service, not developing apps, etc.; (3) working more hours, often in contravention of labor and safety laws. Also effective, but only if you're independent. (4) Breaking the law. A significant number of cab meters are illegally altered to charge more money than allowed by law.
Uber, for all its flaws, provided a service that was better than the taxi companies simply because they didn't require their contractors cut corners, cheat, or provide poor service to make money. People flocked to Uber because it was genuinely a better experience than the local taxi companies. I think in the long run, Uber will compete by becoming as expensive as (or more expensive than) local cab companies, and having a much smaller customer base.
- otterley 5y ago> (4) Breaking the law. A significant number of cab meters are illegally altered to charge more money than allowed by law. Do you have evidence of this claim, at least insofar as U.S. taxis are concerned?
- canada_dry 5y agoCertainly the same method used by some unscrupulous gas stations. They added a device to the pump that electronically altered the cost i.e. skipping/adding x cents after y amount pumped. More than one Canadian station owner was nailed a few years ago for adding these devices to their pumps. My google-foo skills haven't found the relevant story tho.
- maxk42 5y agoFor taxis the device is called a "pulse multiplier" or "pulse divider". You can make them yourself if you have some basic electronics knowledge.
- maxk42 5y agoSee this? http://www.taxicabelectronics.com/my_first_taxi.htm http://www.taxicabelectronics.com/my_first_taxi.htm They'll sell you a new taxi cab meter "preprogrammed with your rates". You swap the legit one out yourself. Install this bad boy. Charge whatever you feel like. When it's time for the annual inspection you swap it out for the regular taximeter and you're good to go. Taxi cab drivers share other tips like replacing the tires for k-value tests, swapping out the vss, or installing a "pulse divider" (Google taxi pulse divider / multiplier). Then there's good old-fashioned charging the wrong fare. Many cities have special fares depending on time, pickup / drop-off location, and cabbies will try to "accidentally" charge someone the wrong fare. I've even had taxi drivers show me their "special fares" programmed into their taximeters. I present no evidence. I have been charged the wrong fare entirely too often in the days back before Uber. It's a real event that happens a significant proportion of the time, and that's not even to touch on the subject of pirate cabs.
- otterley 5y agoThis argument is akin to claiming that the availability of sawed-off shotguns implies that a "significant" number of people are buying them and shooting people with them. It's not a substitute for statistical evidence of use and lawbreaking. Besides, "significant" is a classic weasel word - it could mean one, for all we know.