5 ms·

> Pretty fair that they blocked it. Assuming taxi service regulation is fair of course. Taxis are insanely expensive in Germany.

by VMG 13y ago

aw3c2 13y ago
Taxi drivers earn really little... I am not sure what price you would find fair?
- swombat 13y ago
  Depends on the country. As far as I know, at least back when I was a kid, taxi drivers in Geneva earned very well due to the monopoly and limit on numbers. In London, black cab drivers still earn a very decent amount, able to take home £500 on a regular day afaik. http://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/18oush/how_much_do_taxi_drivers_earn_in_london/ http://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/18oush/how_much_do_t...
  - aw3c2 13y ago
    Sorry, I was talking about Germany where I personally know the struggle.
raverbashing 13y ago
" Taxis are insanely expensive in Germany." What? In Berlin from SXF to the "city center" it will run around 40€, from TXL, around 20€ to 30€ depending, and no tip. (Also both airports are served by public transport) So, no, they are not insanely expensive compared to other places in Europe (and even elsewhere)
- omnibrain 13y ago
  SXF is not in Berlin. It's even in another german country (Brandenburg). So different regulations apply. TXL should be cheaper, but that depends on the target.
  - raverbashing 13y ago
    " It's even in another german country (Brandenburg)" For someone who wants to nitpick you seem to have a funny definition of country... And yes, taxis in SXF have a higher tariff http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxigewerbe_in_Berlin http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxigewerbe_in_Berlin
    - zyx321 13y ago
      Well, Americans have a funny definition of state. I will however make no judgement whether one definition is more correct than the other.
    - dang 13y ago
      > For someone who wants to nitpick you seem to have a funny definition of country Please don't call people out for minor mistakes that the principle of charity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity) can easily explain. Even when you're right, it usually adds more noise than signal. It's easy to consider that omnibrain might be a non-native English speaker who isn't up on the distinctions between "country", "county", "state", "province", and the like. His or her meaning was clear, in any case. If you do think something is important to correct, please edit out personalized language ("for someone...nitpick...you seem") from the correction. That too adds noise, plus detracts from civility.
      - raverbashing 13y ago
        This also applies to the parent's pointless observation and not providing a clarifying source (like I provided) So if they're going to say I don't know what I'm saying while providing erroneous information (Brandenburg is a state, not a country) I'm going to prove them wrong You could also avoid the noise by saying what people should or should not do
        dang 13y ago
        Please understand that when we post moderation comments like this, they're not intended personally. The intent is to send feedback into the HN system about what makes for a good thread. The hypothesis is that it will slowly adapt to the feedback. This may be working—some people feel the threads have gotten better—so, even though they're tedious both to write and to read, I'll keep posting them for now. Ideally, the system would eventually become self-correcting. We'll see.
- brightsize 13y ago
  TXL=>Mitte (Rosenthaler Platz) cost me less than 20EUR a few months ago, with tip. Hardly "insanely expensive".
- schneid 13y ago
  Compared to Britain (not London; I have no experience there), I find taxis in Germany very expensive. I would often take a taxi for £3 or £4 half way across a city in the UK, which would cost more like 15€ in Germany.
  - Xylakant 13y ago
    It's a bad argument to compare the prices for one service in two distinct countries and then imply that the price difference must be due to regulation. There are a lot of other factors going into the price difference - from fuel prices, car prices, repairs, to taxes and other differentiating factors. Prices also always relate to the average cost of living in the area. The average earning per km in Berlin is somewhere around or below 1,50 EUR before costs (anecdotal evidences but from a credible source). Nobody really gets rich from that - not even the cab company.
    - joeclark77 13y ago
      I don't think you realize how small a kilometer is! Or how valuable a Euro is (in terms of real money like dollars). That sounds to me like an incredible rate of profit.
    - schneid 13y ago
      Fair enough, but I wasn't arguing any such thing. Just giving my opinion that I find taxis far more expensive in Germany than I did when living in the UK.
  - EliRivers 13y ago
    These cities in the UK that cost three pounds to cross half of. Are they some kind of special, tiny city? Perhaps made out of lego? An awful lot of taxis charge a couple of quid as the minimum fare just to get in it, so where you're getting these taxis I don't know. Here's a big list. Even allowing for the inherent unreliability of the internet (and some of those prices look a bit suspicious), just which city is it that costs three pounds to cross in a taxi? http://www.numbeo.com/taxi-fare/country_result.jsp?country=United+Kingdom http://www.numbeo.com/taxi-fare/country_result.jsp?country=U...
nymph 13y ago
Taxis are insanely expensive in Germany. Like lots of other things in Europe, some things are cheaper, and some thing more expensive than in North American cities. But to say that taxis are "insanely" expensive is not just overdrawn, but disconnected from reality. And doesn't in the least detract from the main point: that just because Uber (or its fans on HN) perceive taxi fares as being higher in some locations than in others, doesn't give Uber the right to bust its way through local regulations. Period.
mseidl 13y ago
As a German this is news to me...

> Pretty fair that they blocked it. Assuming taxi service regulation is fair of course. Taxis are insanely expensive in Germany.

by VMG 13y ago

> Pretty fair that they blocked it. Assuming taxi service regulation is fair of course. Taxis are insanely expensive in Germany.

aw3c2 13y ago

Taxi drivers earn really little... I am not sure what price you would find fair?

swombat 13y ago
Depends on the country. As far as I know, at least back when I was a kid, taxi drivers in Geneva earned very well due to the monopoly and limit on numbers. In London, black cab drivers still earn a very decent amount, able to take home £500 on a regular day afaik. http://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/18oush/how_much_do_taxi_drivers_earn_in_london/ http://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/18oush/how_much_do_t...
- aw3c2 13y ago
  Sorry, I was talking about Germany where I personally know the struggle.

raverbashing 13y ago

" Taxis are insanely expensive in Germany." What? In Berlin from SXF to the "city center" it will run around 40€, from TXL, around 20€ to 30€ depending, and no tip. (Also both airports are served by public transport) So, no, they are not insanely expensive compared to other places in Europe (and even elsewhere)

omnibrain 13y ago
SXF is not in Berlin. It's even in another german country (Brandenburg). So different regulations apply. TXL should be cheaper, but that depends on the target.
- raverbashing 13y ago
  " It's even in another german country (Brandenburg)" For someone who wants to nitpick you seem to have a funny definition of country... And yes, taxis in SXF have a higher tariff http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxigewerbe_in_Berlin http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxigewerbe_in_Berlin
  - zyx321 13y ago
    Well, Americans have a funny definition of state. I will however make no judgement whether one definition is more correct than the other.
  - dang 13y ago
    > For someone who wants to nitpick you seem to have a funny definition of country Please don't call people out for minor mistakes that the principle of charity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity) can easily explain. Even when you're right, it usually adds more noise than signal. It's easy to consider that omnibrain might be a non-native English speaker who isn't up on the distinctions between "country", "county", "state", "province", and the like. His or her meaning was clear, in any case. If you do think something is important to correct, please edit out personalized language ("for someone...nitpick...you seem") from the correction. That too adds noise, plus detracts from civility.
    - raverbashing 13y ago
      This also applies to the parent's pointless observation and not providing a clarifying source (like I provided) So if they're going to say I don't know what I'm saying while providing erroneous information (Brandenburg is a state, not a country) I'm going to prove them wrong You could also avoid the noise by saying what people should or should not do
      - dang 13y ago
        Please understand that when we post moderation comments like this, they're not intended personally. The intent is to send feedback into the HN system about what makes for a good thread. The hypothesis is that it will slowly adapt to the feedback. This may be working—some people feel the threads have gotten better—so, even though they're tedious both to write and to read, I'll keep posting them for now. Ideally, the system would eventually become self-correcting. We'll see.
brightsize 13y ago
TXL=>Mitte (Rosenthaler Platz) cost me less than 20EUR a few months ago, with tip. Hardly "insanely expensive".
schneid 13y ago
Compared to Britain (not London; I have no experience there), I find taxis in Germany very expensive. I would often take a taxi for £3 or £4 half way across a city in the UK, which would cost more like 15€ in Germany.
- Xylakant 13y ago
  It's a bad argument to compare the prices for one service in two distinct countries and then imply that the price difference must be due to regulation. There are a lot of other factors going into the price difference - from fuel prices, car prices, repairs, to taxes and other differentiating factors. Prices also always relate to the average cost of living in the area. The average earning per km in Berlin is somewhere around or below 1,50 EUR before costs (anecdotal evidences but from a credible source). Nobody really gets rich from that - not even the cab company.
  - joeclark77 13y ago
    I don't think you realize how small a kilometer is! Or how valuable a Euro is (in terms of real money like dollars). That sounds to me like an incredible rate of profit.
  - schneid 13y ago
    Fair enough, but I wasn't arguing any such thing. Just giving my opinion that I find taxis far more expensive in Germany than I did when living in the UK.
- EliRivers 13y ago
  These cities in the UK that cost three pounds to cross half of. Are they some kind of special, tiny city? Perhaps made out of lego? An awful lot of taxis charge a couple of quid as the minimum fare just to get in it, so where you're getting these taxis I don't know. Here's a big list. Even allowing for the inherent unreliability of the internet (and some of those prices look a bit suspicious), just which city is it that costs three pounds to cross in a taxi? http://www.numbeo.com/taxi-fare/country_result.jsp?country=United+Kingdom http://www.numbeo.com/taxi-fare/country_result.jsp?country=U...

nymph 13y ago

Taxis are insanely expensive in Germany. Like lots of other things in Europe, some things are cheaper, and some thing more expensive than in North American cities. But to say that taxis are "insanely" expensive is not just overdrawn, but disconnected from reality. And doesn't in the least detract from the main point: that just because Uber (or its fans on HN) perceive taxi fares as being higher in some locations than in others, doesn't give Uber the right to bust its way through local regulations. Period.

mseidl 13y ago

As a German this is news to me...