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In developing countries, the taxi market is largely unregulated and Uber faces actual competition. Uber cannot compete on price in these regions.
by tristanj 2mo ago
In developing countries, the taxi market is largely unregulated and Uber faces actual competition. Uber cannot compete on price in these regions.
- PunchyHamster 2mo agotheir only leg up in 1st world countries was largely going around any laws governing taxis
- tristanj 2mo agoI disagree, that was only true 15 years ago. In developed countries, ride hailing is highly regulated. Uber is one of the few companies willing to implement all the required rules and procedures.
- ttoinou 2mo agoCounterpoint : in Portugal they are regulated under TVDE, and Uber is competitive with Bolt
- aleksandrm 2mo agoThat's not a counterpoint.
- ttoinou 2mo agoYou’re right, maybe they don’t make good profits in Portugal
- wolvoleo 2mo agoEven in countries where taxis are regulated, sometimes Uber is more expensive but safer. Like in Romania. When I used to go there a lot the official taxis were mandated to offer such low standardized rates that there was a lot of scamming going on. One of my colleagues was basically abducted by a taxi driver (taken to a dangerous gypsy area and told they would kick him out of the car unless he paid them hundreds of euro). Uber was a lot safer because you have tracability on the driver, but more expensive too. And there weren't a lot of them. There were ways to get safe drivers in some cases by booking them through the yellow machines. But in the end the company hired private drivers for us. Though personally I would just use the metro and tram a lot too :P If you know where you're going it's not a dangerous place. Not sure if the taxi situation is still as bad there by the way. I would hope not.
- chermi 2mo agoDoes no one have any memory of what taxis were like and how much they cost? The taxis are gone because they weren't competitive.
- bdangubic 2mo agotaxis “weren’t competitive” when Uber rides were heavily subsidized and Uber was burning billions. I ride taxi now exclusively because it is almost always cheaper than Uber
- jojobas 2mo agoA taxi to the airport in Melbourne was >AUD100 from where I am more than 10 years ago. An Uber is ~AUD70 still, past all the subsidies.
- awesome_dude 2mo agopffft - 901 Bus to Broadmeadows station, then jump onto the train to Southern Cross Total cost: $AU2.85 Takes FOREVER though :)
- tclancy 2mo agoYes but what’s a taxi to the airport cost now? Otherwise the comparison doesn’t mean much.
- slopinthebag 2mo agoIn my region an Uber to the airport is still cheaper than a taxi and much more convenient
- bdangubic 2mo agoexactly! it was more expensive, now taxi is often 20-30% cheaper and almost never more expensive
- 2mo ago
- aleksandrm 2mo agoIn other words Uber did not bribe the politicians enough in their favor, market was not favorable for them, so they exited.
- noeltock 2mo agoEven in Ukraine, it's far more expensive than the local equivalent which works flawlessly.
- adleyjulian 2mo agoIt is precisely in unregulated markets I would want to use a ride shape app else they'd try to scam you on the price. Multiple times I've had drivers attempt to triple the agreed to price, or I'd have to haggle them down before the ride etc. This was over 20 years ago and Uber and the like did away with all that.
- omcnoe 2mo agoAlso, these are generally cash economies. Drivers use Uber to get leads but will then negotiate the actual ride off-platform stripping Uber of their cut.
- ksec 2mo agoMay be in developing countries. In developed countries, qualities matter. And Uber tends to do much better there, even with higher price.