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This seems false to me as well. I’m not sure what city the author lives in, but, while Uber is pretty bad, Uber is still better than taxis. Better service, bet

This seems false to me as well. I’m not sure what city the author lives in, but, while Uber is pretty bad, Uber is still better than taxis. Better service, better fares, and better pay for drivers. Taxis were like the biggest racket around with usually sleazy companies owning the car and paying immigrants and literal slaves from human trafficking poor wages to drive. There’s this mythical owner/operator that I never encountered. So I think that’s why Uber is tolerated because they are still better than the worlds shittiest industry, taxi. Maybe the only more hated industry would be debt collectors or hospital administrators or telemarketers.

kevviiinn 4y ago
Why is the company owning the car a bad thing
- s1artibartfast 4y ago
  It isn't necessarily, but cab companies often operated on The Medallion system. Medallions going to cost upwards of a million dollars and be required to operate a cab. Cab companies would hold the medallion and charge enormous rent for drivers to use their cabs and medallions.
  - ipaddr 4y ago
    Originally they cost much less but demand / supply has caused the spike. The sensible thing would be to increase Medallions but that reduces the profit from the first group plus increases traffic
    - kevincox 4y ago
      There is also a desirable number of cabs to be driving. Having cabs lined up idling on the side of every street, even if they are profitable, isn't optimal for the city. So there is a legitimate reason to provide a limit. Of course it is clear that the medallion system has other problems like raising barrier to entry. Maybe it would make more sense if the city rented/auctioned the desired number directly on relatively short timeframes.
stcroixx 4y ago
Taxis in Chicago used to be pretty great. Always around when you needed one, no wait, knew the city streets well. Nobody I knew complained about them.
- tptacek 4y ago
  They were great in the loop and more or less useless everywhere else.
  - stcroixx 4y ago
    Nonsense. Near north side, Lincoln park, Gold Coast, all the way up to Rogers park and everywhere in between cabs were all plentiful. I took them regularly. Same on the west side all the way out to oak park. South side I don’t know, never went there on purpose unless you count Chinatown which is at a red line stop. South side has always been an island.
    - giraffe_lady 4y ago
      It sounds like they were fine if you were within a mile of the lake on the north side. I wonder what... else... is notable about that... area... but I just can't quite... put my finger on it.... South side isn't an island, it's half the city's land area and population. To the extent it's cut off from the rest of the city that's an intentional policy choice supported and justified by comments like yours.
      - stcroixx 4y ago
        Please continue to tell us what Uptown, Edgewater, and Rogers park are notable for? Dead bodies in dumpsters outside of your condo? Because that's what was in the dumpster outside mine. I worked for years at the Men's shelter in Uptown - I doubt this area is what you think it is.
        tptacek 4y ago
        This is a weirdly aggro response. I lived in Uptown for a couple years. It's not "random dead bodies in dumpsters" territory. My apartment there was expensive.

kevviiinn 4y ago

Why is the company owning the car a bad thing

s1artibartfast 4y ago
It isn't necessarily, but cab companies often operated on The Medallion system. Medallions going to cost upwards of a million dollars and be required to operate a cab. Cab companies would hold the medallion and charge enormous rent for drivers to use their cabs and medallions.
- ipaddr 4y ago
  Originally they cost much less but demand / supply has caused the spike. The sensible thing would be to increase Medallions but that reduces the profit from the first group plus increases traffic
  - kevincox 4y ago
    There is also a desirable number of cabs to be driving. Having cabs lined up idling on the side of every street, even if they are profitable, isn't optimal for the city. So there is a legitimate reason to provide a limit. Of course it is clear that the medallion system has other problems like raising barrier to entry. Maybe it would make more sense if the city rented/auctioned the desired number directly on relatively short timeframes.

stcroixx 4y ago

Taxis in Chicago used to be pretty great. Always around when you needed one, no wait, knew the city streets well. Nobody I knew complained about them.

tptacek 4y ago
They were great in the loop and more or less useless everywhere else.
- stcroixx 4y ago
  Nonsense. Near north side, Lincoln park, Gold Coast, all the way up to Rogers park and everywhere in between cabs were all plentiful. I took them regularly. Same on the west side all the way out to oak park. South side I don’t know, never went there on purpose unless you count Chinatown which is at a red line stop. South side has always been an island.
  - giraffe_lady 4y ago
    It sounds like they were fine if you were within a mile of the lake on the north side. I wonder what... else... is notable about that... area... but I just can't quite... put my finger on it.... South side isn't an island, it's half the city's land area and population. To the extent it's cut off from the rest of the city that's an intentional policy choice supported and justified by comments like yours.
    - stcroixx 4y ago
      Please continue to tell us what Uptown, Edgewater, and Rogers park are notable for? Dead bodies in dumpsters outside of your condo? Because that's what was in the dumpster outside mine. I worked for years at the Men's shelter in Uptown - I doubt this area is what you think it is.
      - tptacek 4y ago
        This is a weirdly aggro response. I lived in Uptown for a couple years. It's not "random dead bodies in dumpsters" territory. My apartment there was expensive.