See, I think the whole "remote hired livery car" things was brilliant, works around the hailing rate limitation, and it's only the subsequent forays into UberX

See, I think the whole "remote hired livery car" things was brilliant, works around the hailing rate limitation, and it's only the subsequent forays into UberX and Taxi hiring that have brought the unsavory side of things. Before the push to dethrone taxis, I think they were a reasonably priced upmarket good, priced north of taxis, but infinitely more convenient and flexible than hiring a car service. That's not a 10+x multiplier on investment though, and it's not a high-margin business, especially if you want to retain good livery drivers. That said, the pressure probably would've provided a few things: a. a graceful decline in medallion prices b. catalyst for change in Taxi markets I don't know where they want to go with the service, but I know that the decided anti-regulatory push, combined with the tone of Uber's public statements has pushed me towards more traditional taxis (who in Boston actually have e-hail).