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(Note: what follows is a purely US viewpoint. I have no idea how these markets work in the rest of the world.) Well, the thing about Taxi's was that they were

(Note: what follows is a purely US viewpoint. I have no idea how these markets work in the rest of the world.) Well, the thing about Taxi's was that they were available, at some times, in downtown business districts. If you wanted a taxi south of 70th St in Manhattan, congrats! If you wanted one in the Bronx you needed to get very lucky. If you wanted one in a typical suburb you had to call someone and talk on the phone to schedule a taxi to come get you with plenty of advance notice. It's something that was so inconvenient I only remember ever doing it to go to the airport. The number of taxis was such that in a busy central business district you had a pretty good chance of catching one (presuming you didn't look too 'scary') but pretty much anywhere else you would never see one. Uber tried to change that fundamental fact of life by bringing many more drivers out there, so that it would never be more than a few minutes wait, even in the suburbs. This, of course, means much more competition for drivers. They tried to solve that by bringing many more riders out, which was where the massive subsidies come in: you can keep both sides of a two sided market coming out if they are getting big subsidies. It's when they tried to make the riders pay enough, and paid the drivers little enough, to be profitable that the drivers and riders stopped showing up. Presumably it will be profitable still in heavily trafficked areas, but the dream of Uber being a reasonable choice for transportation in suburbs of Des Moines seems like a failure.

ylee 5y ago
>The number of taxis was such that in a busy central business district you had a pretty good chance of catching one (presuming you didn't look too 'scary') but pretty much anywhere else you would never see one. I well remember being unable to get a taxi in 45 minutes of waiting at 19th Avenue and Judah in San Francisco's Sunset district, despite calling taxi companies' dispatch offices. Yes, it was Sunday, but it was also 2pm, and anyone who knows the area knows that 19th is a very, very busy street at all times because it is the de facto north-south route between the Golden Gate Bridge and the peninsula, in the absence of a true highway. Now no one ever thinks of not being able to get a rideshare regardless of time or place, as long as the area isn't completely rural.

ylee 5y ago

>The number of taxis was such that in a busy central business district you had a pretty good chance of catching one (presuming you didn't look too 'scary') but pretty much anywhere else you would never see one. I well remember being unable to get a taxi in 45 minutes of waiting at 19th Avenue and Judah in San Francisco's Sunset district, despite calling taxi companies' dispatch offices. Yes, it was Sunday, but it was also 2pm, and anyone who knows the area knows that 19th is a very, very busy street at all times because it is the de facto north-south route between the Golden Gate Bridge and the peninsula, in the absence of a true highway. Now no one ever thinks of not being able to get a rideshare regardless of time or place, as long as the area isn't completely rural.