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In my experience by cutting corners wherever possible but that leaves a bad reputation. Cars that were beat up, sometimes just didn't show up, no GPS or knowled

In my experience by cutting corners wherever possible but that leaves a bad reputation. Cars that were beat up, sometimes just didn't show up, no GPS or knowledge of streets, cash payments to avoid some taxes, avoiding unprofitable locations or rides, etc. Uber and Lyft aimed for a better brand image but that is at odds with cheap costs.

woodruffw 4y ago
I've never had a beat up taxi, but NYC might be an outlier in that regard (due to the yellowcab fleet + TLC regulation). The part about avoiding unprofitable locations is certainly true, however. OTOH, I've taken a decent number of sketchy Lyft and Uber rides: ones where the driver was clearly not the person on the account (possibly a relative?), where the car didn't match, etc. All in medium to large US cities.
- dagw 4y ago
  NYC has some of the most beat up taxis I've seen, only place I've been that compares is probably Cairo.
- marcinzm 4y ago
  The comparison to Uber in NYC isn't yellow cabs but the call taxi companies which were as I described. Yellow taxis were non-existent outside Manhattan and even then couldn't be scheduled conveniently. Even the yellow cabs often refused to pick up people based on appearance/race, refused to drop off outside Manhattan and had conveniently broken credit card readers. That's not even getting into the true "gypsy" cabs (as they were called) which had no TLC licenses.
  - vips7L 4y ago
    > refused to drop off outside Manhattan I recently had a taxi refuse to take me from the Vegas Strip to a friends house on the North side. It’s because they’ll have to drive back to the city center without a ride.
    - Ekaros 4y ago
      Seems like they need to double their prices. Or have better model for pricing where those who exploit the system to go to unprofitable locations pay more.
      - vips7L 4y ago
        That is the benefit of uber/lyft. The apps can calculate all that.
- Spooky23 4y ago
  A lot of people pool these services. Uber/lyft/DoorDash/etc. There’s a ton of hustles. Sometimes they’ll hang a bunch of phones in a tree near a strategic location to get gigs. It gets to the real problem. If you get in an accident in an Uber and get hurt, there’s a high likelihood that you’re fucked.
bitwize 4y ago
In the Boston area, taxi drivers often ask you two things: 1) Where you goin'? 2) How do you get there? Which is... if you're new to the area or going someplace new, how do you answer that second one?
- rzz3 4y ago
  That’s to scam you. Either you know how to get there, or you don’t and they’ll take the long way to run up the meter.

woodruffw 4y ago

I've never had a beat up taxi, but NYC might be an outlier in that regard (due to the yellowcab fleet + TLC regulation). The part about avoiding unprofitable locations is certainly true, however. OTOH, I've taken a decent number of sketchy Lyft and Uber rides: ones where the driver was clearly not the person on the account (possibly a relative?), where the car didn't match, etc. All in medium to large US cities.

dagw 4y ago
NYC has some of the most beat up taxis I've seen, only place I've been that compares is probably Cairo.
marcinzm 4y ago
The comparison to Uber in NYC isn't yellow cabs but the call taxi companies which were as I described. Yellow taxis were non-existent outside Manhattan and even then couldn't be scheduled conveniently. Even the yellow cabs often refused to pick up people based on appearance/race, refused to drop off outside Manhattan and had conveniently broken credit card readers. That's not even getting into the true "gypsy" cabs (as they were called) which had no TLC licenses.
- vips7L 4y ago
  > refused to drop off outside Manhattan I recently had a taxi refuse to take me from the Vegas Strip to a friends house on the North side. It’s because they’ll have to drive back to the city center without a ride.
  - Ekaros 4y ago
    Seems like they need to double their prices. Or have better model for pricing where those who exploit the system to go to unprofitable locations pay more.
    - vips7L 4y ago
      That is the benefit of uber/lyft. The apps can calculate all that.
Spooky23 4y ago
A lot of people pool these services. Uber/lyft/DoorDash/etc. There’s a ton of hustles. Sometimes they’ll hang a bunch of phones in a tree near a strategic location to get gigs. It gets to the real problem. If you get in an accident in an Uber and get hurt, there’s a high likelihood that you’re fucked.

bitwize 4y ago

In the Boston area, taxi drivers often ask you two things: 1) Where you goin'? 2) How do you get there? Which is... if you're new to the area or going someplace new, how do you answer that second one?

rzz3 4y ago
That’s to scam you. Either you know how to get there, or you don’t and they’ll take the long way to run up the meter.