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If people setup businesses offering rides full-time and those businesses perform better than cab companies or buses, who cares? If the business is full of drive

by tdavis 18y ago

If people setup businesses offering rides full-time and those businesses perform better than cab companies or buses, who cares? If the business is full of drivers (or just a driver) who doesn't follow fair business practices it's not going to be successful. Sure, they may trick a couple people, but it won't take long for them to be shunned. If such a company existed that could get me from A to B at half the cost of a regular cab and they had a decent reputation, I'd use 'em. Hell, I wouldn't even care if the vehicles had been inspected recently; I can wear a seat belt. Who knows if it would even be a viable business; maybe none of the companies would do a good enough job vetting drivers or provide enough protection to get enough business, but the market should be allowed to decide that, not a bus company. If "Bob's Taxi" existed, I wouldn't care, so long as they weren't outright lying. If they said, "Hey, we don't have as many consumer protections or regulation as regular cabs but we're cheaper." I would have no problem with that at all.

tptacek 18y ago
Easy: because many of the problems the bad businesses will cause are externalities. Your argument as stated is, "we should eliminate all taxicab and car service regulation". I assume you want to refine it a bit more. At the very least, if that's your stance, you can no longer argue that it is crazy for the state to shut down services like this: first, pass the law that deregulates cabs, then start the shadow taxi dispatch service.
- tdavis 18y ago
  No, I kinda like it the way it is actually. Look, I think cab regulation is a good thing; let it be regulated. Despite the inherent inefficiencies and abuse that comes with any sort of regulation, I'm sure it helps consumers by providing strict rules for cabbies and cab companies. Except, we're not talking about a Cab company because it's not licensed as one. If I want to drive people around in my car all day for a fee and I put an ad in the newspaper that says "Tom's Kinda Cab Company; I Drive You Places" why should that be illegal? If someone asks "Is this a regulated cab service" I say "No, but it's half the price!" Either they use my service or they don't. If I get turned down by so many people that it's not viable employment, I guess it's time to look elsewhere. And, perhaps I'm being naive here, but I have no reason to believe that if I were to provide a horrible service that it would somehow affect the bottom line of Yellow Cab. I'm all about giving people choices and letting the market decide. If you decide to order a cab from some deregulated company you've never heard of and you get kidnapped and tortured instead of driven to the bar, well, that's your own fault. It's certainly not "all the cab companies'" fault. And that cab company probably won't be around long.
  - tptacek 18y ago
    I think I mostly agree. But then, we're talking about a condition that assumes PickupPal fails as an enterprise. If they succeed, and this is forced to scale, then there's a real issue. My original argument is really just that "it's not crazy for there to be a legal concern about this service". I think my argument is holding up OK.
    - tdavis 18y ago
      I have all sorts of concerns about such a service, I just don't think Government should decide if I get to worry about those concerns or if they'll just eliminate them for me by taking away the choice in the first place. And, no, I would not classify a legal concern in this matter as "crazy."
axod 18y ago
"Hell, I wouldn't even care if the vehicles had been inspected recently; I can wear a seat belt." Crashing isn't fun. I'd rather pay twice the price for a regulated licensed taxi than getting one off the internet :/
- tdavis 18y ago
  And that's your prerogative and I think you should 100% be able to do that.
  - axod 18y ago
    Do you think practicing unlicensed plastic surgery via the internet should be fine also? If it's half the price? You have to draw lines to protect the public.
    - tdavis 18y ago
      I think that's perfectly fine. Probably not an option I would elect for were I seeking plastic surgery, but that's neither here nor there. I am sick of those lines. Those lines have caused me to lose the ability to smoke in a bar (or basically anywhere else) for christ sake. Those lines have created "helmet laws" and all sorts of "protect Joe from himself" bullshit laws that exist for the sole purpose of annoying me, near as I can tell. Nobody makes Joe sit at the bar any more than anybody makes him get in my Cab (which I intend to use as a battering ram). If, in the course of my cabbing, I were to break an actual law (speed limit, driving uninsured, etc.) then I should be punished. Until then, let me drive recklessly and force small talk with strangers in peace. If you don't let me do that then you've created a law to protect Joe from his own idiocy which is bad enough, but you've also ruined a perfectly good market opportunity.
      - axod 18y ago
        Once you have kids, who might mistakenly choose an unlicensed unsafe taxi over a safe one, you might change your mind. Especially if it's your daughter - rape by unlicensed taxi drivers is a real risk. This isn't about protecting joe from himself, it's about protecting vulnerable people who might make a poor decision just to save a bit of cash. Similar to smoking - it's an expensive addiction (For the smoker and society) and should be actively discouraged. Also it's kinda nice not to have smokers blowing their smoke in mine+my kids faces any more.

by tdavis 18y ago

tptacek 18y ago

Easy: because many of the problems the bad businesses will cause are externalities. Your argument as stated is, "we should eliminate all taxicab and car service regulation". I assume you want to refine it a bit more. At the very least, if that's your stance, you can no longer argue that it is crazy for the state to shut down services like this: first, pass the law that deregulates cabs, then start the shadow taxi dispatch service.

tdavis 18y ago
No, I kinda like it the way it is actually. Look, I think cab regulation is a good thing; let it be regulated. Despite the inherent inefficiencies and abuse that comes with any sort of regulation, I'm sure it helps consumers by providing strict rules for cabbies and cab companies. Except, we're not talking about a Cab company because it's not licensed as one. If I want to drive people around in my car all day for a fee and I put an ad in the newspaper that says "Tom's Kinda Cab Company; I Drive You Places" why should that be illegal? If someone asks "Is this a regulated cab service" I say "No, but it's half the price!" Either they use my service or they don't. If I get turned down by so many people that it's not viable employment, I guess it's time to look elsewhere. And, perhaps I'm being naive here, but I have no reason to believe that if I were to provide a horrible service that it would somehow affect the bottom line of Yellow Cab. I'm all about giving people choices and letting the market decide. If you decide to order a cab from some deregulated company you've never heard of and you get kidnapped and tortured instead of driven to the bar, well, that's your own fault. It's certainly not "all the cab companies'" fault. And that cab company probably won't be around long.
- tptacek 18y ago
  I think I mostly agree. But then, we're talking about a condition that assumes PickupPal fails as an enterprise. If they succeed, and this is forced to scale, then there's a real issue. My original argument is really just that "it's not crazy for there to be a legal concern about this service". I think my argument is holding up OK.
  - tdavis 18y ago
    I have all sorts of concerns about such a service, I just don't think Government should decide if I get to worry about those concerns or if they'll just eliminate them for me by taking away the choice in the first place. And, no, I would not classify a legal concern in this matter as "crazy."

axod 18y ago

"Hell, I wouldn't even care if the vehicles had been inspected recently; I can wear a seat belt." Crashing isn't fun. I'd rather pay twice the price for a regulated licensed taxi than getting one off the internet :/

tdavis 18y ago
And that's your prerogative and I think you should 100% be able to do that.
- axod 18y ago
  Do you think practicing unlicensed plastic surgery via the internet should be fine also? If it's half the price? You have to draw lines to protect the public.
  - tdavis 18y ago
    I think that's perfectly fine. Probably not an option I would elect for were I seeking plastic surgery, but that's neither here nor there. I am sick of those lines. Those lines have caused me to lose the ability to smoke in a bar (or basically anywhere else) for christ sake. Those lines have created "helmet laws" and all sorts of "protect Joe from himself" bullshit laws that exist for the sole purpose of annoying me, near as I can tell. Nobody makes Joe sit at the bar any more than anybody makes him get in my Cab (which I intend to use as a battering ram). If, in the course of my cabbing, I were to break an actual law (speed limit, driving uninsured, etc.) then I should be punished. Until then, let me drive recklessly and force small talk with strangers in peace. If you don't let me do that then you've created a law to protect Joe from his own idiocy which is bad enough, but you've also ruined a perfectly good market opportunity.
    - axod 18y ago
      Once you have kids, who might mistakenly choose an unlicensed unsafe taxi over a safe one, you might change your mind. Especially if it's your daughter - rape by unlicensed taxi drivers is a real risk. This isn't about protecting joe from himself, it's about protecting vulnerable people who might make a poor decision just to save a bit of cash. Similar to smoking - it's an expensive addiction (For the smoker and society) and should be actively discouraged. Also it's kinda nice not to have smokers blowing their smoke in mine+my kids faces any more.