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Yeah because in many "regulated" markets the market was fixed so that taxis can have limited supply and hence insane prices. In Croatia they changed the law aft

Yeah because in many "regulated" markets the market was fixed so that taxis can have limited supply and hence insane prices. In Croatia they changed the law after Uber came to deregulate taxis and it's way better now than it was before while other countries protected the insane taxi mafias

dspillett 5y ago
That the laws/regulations were (effectively? intentionally?) rigged to ensure high prices, doesn't at all invalidate the claim that Uber ignored laws/regulations. They are also accused of ignoring more general laws/regulations around worker pay/benefits/health that are not related to regulations specific to taxi services.
- JAlexoid 5y ago
  The laws were intentionally created to restrict supply of services. Restricted supply = higher prices. Uber should not have been buying cars for their drivers... but if Uber is to be forced to have employee/employer relationships - then Uber's value of freedom to choose working hours goes out the window, as they now can mandate working hours... and surge capacity is literally annihilated.
  - dspillett 5y ago
    But that also does not invalidate the claim that Uber ignored laws/regulations, which is what was questioned earlier in the thread. I'm not (in these posts, I may elsewhere) passing judgement on why they did it and if it were right, only stating that it is what they did.
adventured 5y ago
The same is mostly true in the US. The US taxi system in most cities was an abusive cartel holding on to a market solely through a government protection racket, and that's the nice description of it. Uber and Lyft destroyed the cartels, delivering a far superior service.
- AlexandrB 5y ago
  This narrative is funny for a couple of reasons. The first being that Taxi companies were never super-profitable nor, generally, did they span multiple metropolitan centres. Uber/Lyft radically centralized Taxi service replacing a supposed "cartel" with a much better capitalized and politically powerful duopoly. As for the superior service, I'm not sure that will last once the VC funding runs out and these companies have to actually turn a profit. Uber/Lyft is MoviePass writ large.
  - Ekaros 5y ago
    Taxis and food delivery are rather low margin businesses. I really wonder how much profit they can reasonably extract even if the markets are big.
  - chelical 5y ago
    Are we forgetting that taxis often refused to serve minorities and minority neighborhoods?
Spooky23 5y ago
Yeah, that worked out great. The Taxis are all out of business and Uber’s magical robot taxis didn’t appear. So now I pay 3x more to have an experience often shittier than cabs.
- kungito 5y ago
  Well in Croatia the taxis aren't out of business. They just lowered prices, introduced an app for requesting rides and introduced rating of employees. They also service smaller cities where the volume is too low for Uber to operate so they can keep the higher prices due to low volume.
- dantheman 5y ago
  Uber is never shittier than a cab.
  - ethanbond 5y ago
    My Uber ride in the cigarette-stained car driven by a woman watching Netflix begs to disagree. Got out after 2 blocks (a few seconds after she hit “unpause”)
  - AzzieElbab 5y ago
    Depends on the city. I still hold high regard for London's cabbies, NY's ones not so much.
eli_gottlieb 5y ago
"The law was bad, so we did crimes until they changed it."
- tobyjsullivan 5y ago
  When you phrase it like that, it actually sounds like a noble protest. Perhaps a tad generous for Uber.
- chelical 5y ago
  What is civil disobedience.

dspillett 5y ago

That the laws/regulations were (effectively? intentionally?) rigged to ensure high prices, doesn't at all invalidate the claim that Uber ignored laws/regulations. They are also accused of ignoring more general laws/regulations around worker pay/benefits/health that are not related to regulations specific to taxi services.

JAlexoid 5y ago
The laws were intentionally created to restrict supply of services. Restricted supply = higher prices. Uber should not have been buying cars for their drivers... but if Uber is to be forced to have employee/employer relationships - then Uber's value of freedom to choose working hours goes out the window, as they now can mandate working hours... and surge capacity is literally annihilated.
- dspillett 5y ago
  But that also does not invalidate the claim that Uber ignored laws/regulations, which is what was questioned earlier in the thread. I'm not (in these posts, I may elsewhere) passing judgement on why they did it and if it were right, only stating that it is what they did.

adventured 5y ago

The same is mostly true in the US. The US taxi system in most cities was an abusive cartel holding on to a market solely through a government protection racket, and that's the nice description of it. Uber and Lyft destroyed the cartels, delivering a far superior service.

AlexandrB 5y ago
This narrative is funny for a couple of reasons. The first being that Taxi companies were never super-profitable nor, generally, did they span multiple metropolitan centres. Uber/Lyft radically centralized Taxi service replacing a supposed "cartel" with a much better capitalized and politically powerful duopoly. As for the superior service, I'm not sure that will last once the VC funding runs out and these companies have to actually turn a profit. Uber/Lyft is MoviePass writ large.
- Ekaros 5y ago
  Taxis and food delivery are rather low margin businesses. I really wonder how much profit they can reasonably extract even if the markets are big.
- chelical 5y ago
  Are we forgetting that taxis often refused to serve minorities and minority neighborhoods?

Spooky23 5y ago

Yeah, that worked out great. The Taxis are all out of business and Uber’s magical robot taxis didn’t appear. So now I pay 3x more to have an experience often shittier than cabs.

kungito 5y ago
Well in Croatia the taxis aren't out of business. They just lowered prices, introduced an app for requesting rides and introduced rating of employees. They also service smaller cities where the volume is too low for Uber to operate so they can keep the higher prices due to low volume.
dantheman 5y ago
Uber is never shittier than a cab.
- ethanbond 5y ago
  My Uber ride in the cigarette-stained car driven by a woman watching Netflix begs to disagree. Got out after 2 blocks (a few seconds after she hit “unpause”)
- AzzieElbab 5y ago
  Depends on the city. I still hold high regard for London's cabbies, NY's ones not so much.

eli_gottlieb 5y ago

"The law was bad, so we did crimes until they changed it."

tobyjsullivan 5y ago
When you phrase it like that, it actually sounds like a noble protest. Perhaps a tad generous for Uber.
chelical 5y ago
What is civil disobedience.