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> For startups, Europe’s main problem is fragmentation. Yet Uber operates in most European countries. It is very much the bureaucracy that’s holding it back,

by Laaas 2y ago

> For startups, Europe’s main problem is fragmentation. Yet Uber operates in most European countries. It is very much the bureaucracy that’s holding it back, and the bureaucracy stems from the culture. The corruption then makes it worse. Why do so few countries in EU have ride sharing? Fragmentation is an excuse.

sandis 2y ago
> Why do so few countries in EU have ride sharing? What? https://bolt.eu/en/cities/ https://bolt.eu/en/cities/
- Laaas 2y ago
  EDIT: I checked, and for Denmark it’s just the bikes. It’s probably the same for most of the listed European countries. Original comment: I _think_ that it’s not “real” ride sharing in many of the noted places. E.g. it shows Denmark, and in all my years living there I’ve never seen one. I’m pretty sure it’s illegal. I imagine they are just a front end for standard taxis.
  - sandis 2y ago
    Haven't traveled to Denmark recently, but always use Bolt and/or Uber when traveling in Europe - can't recall a place where it wasn't available (Portugal, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Spain, Italy all had them from the top of my head).
  - yreg 2y ago
    Almost all EU countries have some ridesharing apps available in the cities. There are many apps though, and always only a couple of them compete in a particular country. AFAIK it's the same with food delivery apps now. (Sometimes both the rides and the food delivery is done by the same company - e.g. Bolt.)
CaptainOfCoit 2y ago
> It is very much the bureaucracy that’s holding it back If by "bureaucracy" you mean "not being allowed to blatantly break the law(s)", then yes, it is very much so. > The corruption then makes it worse. Blaming issues in Europe/EU (two different things by the way) on corruption seems to indicate you don't really have a perspective on corruption as an issue in the world. Take a look at South America or various Asian countries to see corruption as something actually having a huge impact. > Why do so few countries in EU have ride sharing? What countries are you referring to here exactly? I don't I've visited a single country in Europe that didn't have some sort of "ride sharing" (app taxis?)
- Laaas 2y ago
  App taxis aren’t ride sharing. Ride sharing is letting normal people earn money by sharing their car. In e.g. Spain IIRC Uber is just a front end for the taxis.
  - raverbashing 2y ago
    > Spain IIRC Uber is just a front end for the taxis. It isn't. In some places yes, but not in Spain
  - elric 2y ago
    What's the difference between a taxi driver and a "normal person" in this story? They're both making money from driving a person from A to B. Sounds to me like they should both follow the same rules.
    - jv95 2y ago
      In germany the difference would be the license to transport other people. At least that was named as the issue when Uber initially wanted to expend to Germany.
  - piva00 2y ago
    Letting people share their cars for riding incur increased risks, at least insurance should be different from a family's car who has the usual riders and the odd trip with other people vs a car which is being share with hundreds to thousands of different riders each month. How do you, as a government, ask for a different insurance class in this case? Regulation. Same with Airbnb, having some guests over from time to time it's just usual life, hosting people to make money is a business and the business of hosting people has different rules than having a guest at home. We can debate if such rules should be relaxed, if they make sense or need to be updated, etc., but these rules were created out of necessity through time, just allowing some tech company to completely sideline it because "it's tech!" is absurd...
omnimus 2y ago
> Why do so few countries in EU have ride sharing? There is pretty popular EU one https://www.blablacar.com/ https://www.blablacar.com/ but its used mostly by students and people wanting to save. It’s not glamourous. And most countries have Bolt and local taxi apps like Freenow or Liftago.

by Laaas 2y ago

sandis 2y ago

> Why do so few countries in EU have ride sharing? What? https://bolt.eu/en/cities/ https://bolt.eu/en/cities/

Laaas 2y ago
EDIT: I checked, and for Denmark it’s just the bikes. It’s probably the same for most of the listed European countries. Original comment: I _think_ that it’s not “real” ride sharing in many of the noted places. E.g. it shows Denmark, and in all my years living there I’ve never seen one. I’m pretty sure it’s illegal. I imagine they are just a front end for standard taxis.
- sandis 2y ago
  Haven't traveled to Denmark recently, but always use Bolt and/or Uber when traveling in Europe - can't recall a place where it wasn't available (Portugal, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Spain, Italy all had them from the top of my head).
- yreg 2y ago
  Almost all EU countries have some ridesharing apps available in the cities. There are many apps though, and always only a couple of them compete in a particular country. AFAIK it's the same with food delivery apps now. (Sometimes both the rides and the food delivery is done by the same company - e.g. Bolt.)

CaptainOfCoit 2y ago

> It is very much the bureaucracy that’s holding it back If by "bureaucracy" you mean "not being allowed to blatantly break the law(s)", then yes, it is very much so. > The corruption then makes it worse. Blaming issues in Europe/EU (two different things by the way) on corruption seems to indicate you don't really have a perspective on corruption as an issue in the world. Take a look at South America or various Asian countries to see corruption as something actually having a huge impact. > Why do so few countries in EU have ride sharing? What countries are you referring to here exactly? I don't I've visited a single country in Europe that didn't have some sort of "ride sharing" (app taxis?)

Laaas 2y ago
App taxis aren’t ride sharing. Ride sharing is letting normal people earn money by sharing their car. In e.g. Spain IIRC Uber is just a front end for the taxis.
- raverbashing 2y ago
  > Spain IIRC Uber is just a front end for the taxis. It isn't. In some places yes, but not in Spain
- elric 2y ago
  What's the difference between a taxi driver and a "normal person" in this story? They're both making money from driving a person from A to B. Sounds to me like they should both follow the same rules.
  - jv95 2y ago
    In germany the difference would be the license to transport other people. At least that was named as the issue when Uber initially wanted to expend to Germany.
- piva00 2y ago
  Letting people share their cars for riding incur increased risks, at least insurance should be different from a family's car who has the usual riders and the odd trip with other people vs a car which is being share with hundreds to thousands of different riders each month. How do you, as a government, ask for a different insurance class in this case? Regulation. Same with Airbnb, having some guests over from time to time it's just usual life, hosting people to make money is a business and the business of hosting people has different rules than having a guest at home. We can debate if such rules should be relaxed, if they make sense or need to be updated, etc., but these rules were created out of necessity through time, just allowing some tech company to completely sideline it because "it's tech!" is absurd...

omnimus 2y ago

> Why do so few countries in EU have ride sharing? There is pretty popular EU one https://www.blablacar.com/ https://www.blablacar.com/ but its used mostly by students and people wanting to save. It’s not glamourous. And most countries have Bolt and local taxi apps like Freenow or Liftago.