4 ms·

Let me tell you how things are in Russia. We don't have any taxi driver unions, I don't think we have any licensing for taxi drivers, but if we do, it's probabl

by snitko 13y ago

Let me tell you how things are in Russia. We don't have any taxi driver unions, I don't think we have any licensing for taxi drivers, but if we do, it's probably not expensive. In Russia it works this way: you go out on the street, raise your hand and you get your car in like 1 minute (even at 4am in the morning it doesn't take very long time, provided you are downtown, did that many times) - basically some guy who wants an extra buck will stop and get you anywhere. Some make a living that way. You negotiate the price, it's usually rather cheap even in large cities compared to what you'd be charged for the same ride in Europe or the US. You don't have to tip the driver, since the price is negotiated beforehand. Now we also have a lot of competing official taxi companies. They all are relatively cheap and they mostly get their clients through internet or phone and the use case for those is when you need to go to the airport or have a pre-arranged trip. We also have jitney transportation which is only slightly more expensive, but much faster than public transportation. Drivers are mostly from central asian republics or southern republics - demographics russians are rather hostile to - yet I haven't met more friendly drivers in the whole world. And, in my personal view, people are rather receptive to that and are quite polite with them too. It's pure competition and free market and it works to the benefit of all. You can criticize Russia all you want, but in some areas the free market here exists relatively untouched (probably thanks to bribes, but still, it's better than regulation).

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
- snitko 13y ago
  No, I don't think so. Maybe from some. But my guess is that most of them would have no idea where to get you a prostitute. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but it sounds like a stereotype.
  - neverminder 13y ago
    My friends travel quite a bit in Russia and from what I hear it would probably be difficult to find a taxi driver who couldn't get you to a hooker. I strongly believe the same is in all other countries.
rdl 13y ago
Would light regulation hurt this? Just requiring that all taxi drivers display an ID number, and with some inexpensive process to become a new taxi driver (verifying you're not already banned, that you have a valid license, and if required in Russia, insurance). The problem with taxi regulation is when "safety" is used as a pretext to reduce supply. I pay a premium in general to get a taxi which is somewhat less likely to be driven by a criminal, and I imagine female/small/weak/foreign/etc. people would pay more of a premium for this. If the regulation is just for the purposes of identification and safety, it wouldn't have a huge cost for the taxi driver ($50 or so and a few hours), and would probably justify an increase in rates to make up for that. I could easily imagine a private licensing system coexisting with an unlicensed market.
- snitko 13y ago
  Why would you need an ID from a taxi driver? If you're scared a taxi driver's gonna rob or rape you (a common concern among ladies) you remember or photograph his plate number (or ask your friend to do so). An official government paper wouldn't make it any more safer. It would only add problems for drivers since they would have to acquire those licences, it would increase corruption and decrease supply, which would in turn raise prices. If you care about safety, call a licenced taxi company - your choice, isn't it? Update: I misread you. "licensing system coexisting with an unlicensed market" is definitely the state of things in Russia currently. I think that's a good way to go. Except maybe that since licensing is not required, then safety may be guaranteed by non-governmental agencies or maybe even technologies (as mentioned in another comment below).
  - yummyfajitas 13y ago
    An Uber-style taxi service would certainly make the situation safer. You get a paper trail before you get into the cab showing that driver X picked up passenger Y at time T.
    - snitko 13y ago
      I agree. But please note that government regulation would have nothing to do with it. This would be safety provided by the free market. Question is, what would the demand for such a safety be. If the prices were to remain the same, then the company providing this safety would drive all those freelance drivers out of the market. If not, then there would still probably be some demand for Uber, but also some demand for less safe options.
rtpg 13y ago
How safe is it? I heard that one of the reasoning for the entire registration of taxi services was that a lot of unlicensed taxis were actually dangerous, and that enforcing registration greatly lowered the amount of crimes happening inside the taxis (at least reports of this).
- snitko 13y ago
  I think it's safe. But I'm not a lady. Even if I was a lady and was really concerned for my safety while riding cabs, why wouldn't I call a licenced taxi company instead and pay more for my safety? The problem with requiring everyone to be licenced is that you force customers who are less concerned about their safety to pay for those who are more concerned.
  - rtpg 13y ago
    Even if you aren't concerned for your safety, you being safer can lead to a better life anyways (see car, health insurance).
    - snitko 13y ago
      So if I'm not concerned about my safety someone should force me to be concerned? On what grounds? Who gave that someone an authority to intrude into my personal life?
      - iand 13y ago
        You can choose not to use these services. There are other forms of transportation.
        snitko 13y ago
        That's not choice. You're saying I shouldn't be able to use unlicenced cabs because someone considers them unsafe. It's like saying I shouldn't be able visit websites a government considers dangerous, and if I don't like to read government approved websites, there are other ways to get information apart from the internet (which, incidentally, are more regulated).
marquis 13y ago
I was in Russia a few times back 10 years ago and regularly did this as a solo woman traveller whose Russian is not so good. I felt perfectly safe, at the instruction of other girl friends at the time. Not sure I'd do that anymore solo (youth provides a certain fearlessness) but no qualms when with others.

by snitko 13y ago

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

snitko 13y ago
No, I don't think so. Maybe from some. But my guess is that most of them would have no idea where to get you a prostitute. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but it sounds like a stereotype.
- neverminder 13y ago
  My friends travel quite a bit in Russia and from what I hear it would probably be difficult to find a taxi driver who couldn't get you to a hooker. I strongly believe the same is in all other countries.

rdl 13y ago

Would light regulation hurt this? Just requiring that all taxi drivers display an ID number, and with some inexpensive process to become a new taxi driver (verifying you're not already banned, that you have a valid license, and if required in Russia, insurance). The problem with taxi regulation is when "safety" is used as a pretext to reduce supply. I pay a premium in general to get a taxi which is somewhat less likely to be driven by a criminal, and I imagine female/small/weak/foreign/etc. people would pay more of a premium for this. If the regulation is just for the purposes of identification and safety, it wouldn't have a huge cost for the taxi driver ($50 or so and a few hours), and would probably justify an increase in rates to make up for that. I could easily imagine a private licensing system coexisting with an unlicensed market.

snitko 13y ago
Why would you need an ID from a taxi driver? If you're scared a taxi driver's gonna rob or rape you (a common concern among ladies) you remember or photograph his plate number (or ask your friend to do so). An official government paper wouldn't make it any more safer. It would only add problems for drivers since they would have to acquire those licences, it would increase corruption and decrease supply, which would in turn raise prices. If you care about safety, call a licenced taxi company - your choice, isn't it? Update: I misread you. "licensing system coexisting with an unlicensed market" is definitely the state of things in Russia currently. I think that's a good way to go. Except maybe that since licensing is not required, then safety may be guaranteed by non-governmental agencies or maybe even technologies (as mentioned in another comment below).
- yummyfajitas 13y ago
  An Uber-style taxi service would certainly make the situation safer. You get a paper trail before you get into the cab showing that driver X picked up passenger Y at time T.
  - snitko 13y ago
    I agree. But please note that government regulation would have nothing to do with it. This would be safety provided by the free market. Question is, what would the demand for such a safety be. If the prices were to remain the same, then the company providing this safety would drive all those freelance drivers out of the market. If not, then there would still probably be some demand for Uber, but also some demand for less safe options.

rtpg 13y ago

How safe is it? I heard that one of the reasoning for the entire registration of taxi services was that a lot of unlicensed taxis were actually dangerous, and that enforcing registration greatly lowered the amount of crimes happening inside the taxis (at least reports of this).

snitko 13y ago
I think it's safe. But I'm not a lady. Even if I was a lady and was really concerned for my safety while riding cabs, why wouldn't I call a licenced taxi company instead and pay more for my safety? The problem with requiring everyone to be licenced is that you force customers who are less concerned about their safety to pay for those who are more concerned.
- rtpg 13y ago
  Even if you aren't concerned for your safety, you being safer can lead to a better life anyways (see car, health insurance).
  - snitko 13y ago
    So if I'm not concerned about my safety someone should force me to be concerned? On what grounds? Who gave that someone an authority to intrude into my personal life?
    - iand 13y ago
      You can choose not to use these services. There are other forms of transportation.
      - snitko 13y ago
        That's not choice. You're saying I shouldn't be able to use unlicenced cabs because someone considers them unsafe. It's like saying I shouldn't be able visit websites a government considers dangerous, and if I don't like to read government approved websites, there are other ways to get information apart from the internet (which, incidentally, are more regulated).

marquis 13y ago

I was in Russia a few times back 10 years ago and regularly did this as a solo woman traveller whose Russian is not so good. I felt perfectly safe, at the instruction of other girl friends at the time. Not sure I'd do that anymore solo (youth provides a certain fearlessness) but no qualms when with others.