6 ms·

The only thing that "ride-sharing" companies proved was that they can do it cheaper by (a) bleeding capital and (b) evading regulator enforcement/taxes.

mensetmanusman 5y ago
Note that it wasn’t just cheaper, but also better quality.
- TeMPOraL 5y ago
  Initially, when they entered new markets and burned VC money to sustain the beachhead. Once their position on a given market was established, the prices went up and quality dropped like a stone.
  - michaelt 5y ago
    The experience here is extremely location-dependent. In some cities, pre-Uber taxi companies have upped their game and got themselves apps that'll give you a price and wait time both of which are actually right, that let you see the taxi on its way to you, tip included in the price, and let you pay by card. In other cities, taxi operators provide shitty service where their card machine "doesn't work" and they "don't have any change" either.
  - solveit 5y ago
    Do the taxis still actually come? Then quality is miles ahead of what it used to be.
    - jfrunyon 5y ago
      Do the Ubers?
- alkonaut 5y ago
  If an Uber is a better experience in any dimension (booking experience, car, driver, payment, …) that just means the Taxi company was a poor one. If it has a worse app than Uber then it’s not running its business properly. There are off the shelf taxi apps with booking, tracking, payments etc that any taxi company can license.
- jfrunyon 5y ago
  That goes along with "bleeding capital"
nikanj 5y ago
I've never had an Uber driver pretend their card machine is broken / take the long way around town / etc. Taxes used to -s-u-c-k-
- jfrunyon 5y ago
  I've had one take the long way. She didn't speak English, either. That was fun. Fortunately my sister speaks a bit of Spanish and was able to tell her she drove past the exit that her nav app clearly told her to take. On the flipside, I've actually never had a taxi driver do any of those things to me, although they sure do lie through their teeth.

mensetmanusman 5y ago

Note that it wasn’t just cheaper, but also better quality.

TeMPOraL 5y ago
Initially, when they entered new markets and burned VC money to sustain the beachhead. Once their position on a given market was established, the prices went up and quality dropped like a stone.
- michaelt 5y ago
  The experience here is extremely location-dependent. In some cities, pre-Uber taxi companies have upped their game and got themselves apps that'll give you a price and wait time both of which are actually right, that let you see the taxi on its way to you, tip included in the price, and let you pay by card. In other cities, taxi operators provide shitty service where their card machine "doesn't work" and they "don't have any change" either.
- solveit 5y ago
  Do the taxis still actually come? Then quality is miles ahead of what it used to be.
  - jfrunyon 5y ago
    Do the Ubers?
alkonaut 5y ago
If an Uber is a better experience in any dimension (booking experience, car, driver, payment, …) that just means the Taxi company was a poor one. If it has a worse app than Uber then it’s not running its business properly. There are off the shelf taxi apps with booking, tracking, payments etc that any taxi company can license.
jfrunyon 5y ago
That goes along with "bleeding capital"

nikanj 5y ago

I've never had an Uber driver pretend their card machine is broken / take the long way around town / etc. Taxes used to -s-u-c-k-

jfrunyon 5y ago
I've had one take the long way. She didn't speak English, either. That was fun. Fortunately my sister speaks a bit of Spanish and was able to tell her she drove past the exit that her nav app clearly told her to take. On the flipside, I've actually never had a taxi driver do any of those things to me, although they sure do lie through their teeth.