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The biggest issue that I have with this is that the government regulations are meaningless these days due to lack of code enforcement. Two great examples: 1.)

by imroot 12y ago

The biggest issue that I have with this is that the government regulations are meaningless these days due to lack of code enforcement. Two great examples: 1.) Staying in Fremont, CA, needing a trip to the San Jose airport at 4:50 in the morning. I had a cab 'scheduled' but a few drivers didn't show up, and they didn't bother calling me to let me know that they were not going to show up. The dispatcher didn't speak english well and didn't understand the questions that I asked. If I had instant feedback that nobody was coming, I would have made alternate plans the minute that I knew nobody was going to pick me up. 2.) In Chicago for a business trip. I generally don't carry cash, but, needed a ride from point a to point b. Taxi driver's sticker said he took credit cards, but his machine was 'down.' A "standoff" of sorts occurred between me, the taxi driver, and Chicago PD; ultimately, after the police harassing him (and reminding him that a working credit card reader was required in the city), he reluctantly ran my credit card and let me out of his car. It's unfair that the Taxi companies skirt these rules too -- Uber and Lyft just give their ecosystems a quicker way to get ride of bad actors and focus on customer service, where the Taxi companies are focused on keeping the medallion owners happy.

skosuri 12y ago
I've seen the other way around just as much if not more so. People calling taxis and then not waiting for the one they called, with a driver just hanging around. My experience in Boston was quite good over many hundreds of taxis rides. As far as I saw, the rules were generally followed.
dkarapetyan 12y ago
I've never had this issue. Every dispatcher has spoken very clearly and my cab orders have arrived on or ahead of time every time. As for the credit card issue that is easy enough to fix. I always give them a cash tip and then ask them to put the actual travel charge on a credit card.
- AJ007 12y ago
  Cities vary. There are good cab drivers, bad ones, and really bad ones. I've had the same things happen to me as the previous poster: didn't show up, claimed credit card didn't work (frequent.) I have also had a few other things: kidnapped, cab driver trying to run other cars off the road, talking on cell phone (40% - 60% of the time), stopping for gas, picking up their friends, operate a vehicle with brakes that were clearly barely operable, and so on. Uber has bad drivers too, but I assume they don't last long. In NYC, at least, cab drivers can expect to keep driving even after killing pedestrians. http://nypost.com/2014/02/09/cabbies-who-kill-or-maim-in-nyc-keep-licenses-return-to-work/ http://nypost.com/2014/02/09/cabbies-who-kill-or-maim-in-nyc...
  - waps 12y ago
    This is what you'd expect government to do when taking away a licence would mean the person loses their livelihood. The same thing is true for lawyers, land meters, certified accountants, ... they effectively get one "get out of jail free" card for any offence that occurred on the job, and isn't an obvious repeat offence, or was an obvious case of corruption (and getting paid a lot, but not directly to commit a crime is not corruption). Why ? Two reasons. Firstly, because taking that licence destroys the person, nobody wants to do it. Second because of the effect of taking away licences, their competitors could cause their licence to be taken away to increase business (for lawyers at least, I know two cases where this happened)
silencio 12y ago
I think that's a very underestimated reason for why taxis and Uber alike are hated by many. There is an artificial medallion shortage, sure, but I'm in the same bucket as skosuri and think that code enforcement would solve a lot of problems. I think that even forcing Uber et al to participate in some of the codes - or creating new ones for rideshare services - would be great. Stuff like working with local paratransit services, 24/7 availability with decent coverage, choices that are more like "I have a wheelchair/need a ramp or lots of luggage" vs luxury or not (uber SUVs are occasionally super hard to come by!) and a standardized, routinely enforced safety program for vehicles and drivers alike. Then the argument for overhauling taxi medallions and restrictive rideshare laws wouldn't be sidelined so often by stories of shitty uber drivers/practices and bad taxis alike. I also feel that everyone would benefit from this kind of government regulation _if done well_, because if left alone with little enforcement and only free market choices to influence business decisions, nobody would want to deal with servicing half of San Francisco, or folks with disabilities. Like your story of getting to SJC from Fremont - have you tried to catch an Uber on the east side of the Bay Area when you're not in downtown Oakland or near airports? It takes forever and a half even during the day. It's easier to just walk/use AC Transit to a BART station or wait and call for a regular cab five times than it is to wait for an Uber from OAK or worse for me, even though there were a whole bunch of times where I _wanted_ to pay for an Uber from Hayward to SF multiple times in a week (read: BART strike).

by imroot 12y ago

skosuri 12y ago

I've seen the other way around just as much if not more so. People calling taxis and then not waiting for the one they called, with a driver just hanging around. My experience in Boston was quite good over many hundreds of taxis rides. As far as I saw, the rules were generally followed.

dkarapetyan 12y ago

I've never had this issue. Every dispatcher has spoken very clearly and my cab orders have arrived on or ahead of time every time. As for the credit card issue that is easy enough to fix. I always give them a cash tip and then ask them to put the actual travel charge on a credit card.

AJ007 12y ago
Cities vary. There are good cab drivers, bad ones, and really bad ones. I've had the same things happen to me as the previous poster: didn't show up, claimed credit card didn't work (frequent.) I have also had a few other things: kidnapped, cab driver trying to run other cars off the road, talking on cell phone (40% - 60% of the time), stopping for gas, picking up their friends, operate a vehicle with brakes that were clearly barely operable, and so on. Uber has bad drivers too, but I assume they don't last long. In NYC, at least, cab drivers can expect to keep driving even after killing pedestrians. http://nypost.com/2014/02/09/cabbies-who-kill-or-maim-in-nyc-keep-licenses-return-to-work/ http://nypost.com/2014/02/09/cabbies-who-kill-or-maim-in-nyc...
- waps 12y ago
  This is what you'd expect government to do when taking away a licence would mean the person loses their livelihood. The same thing is true for lawyers, land meters, certified accountants, ... they effectively get one "get out of jail free" card for any offence that occurred on the job, and isn't an obvious repeat offence, or was an obvious case of corruption (and getting paid a lot, but not directly to commit a crime is not corruption). Why ? Two reasons. Firstly, because taking that licence destroys the person, nobody wants to do it. Second because of the effect of taking away licences, their competitors could cause their licence to be taken away to increase business (for lawyers at least, I know two cases where this happened)

silencio 12y ago

I think that's a very underestimated reason for why taxis and Uber alike are hated by many. There is an artificial medallion shortage, sure, but I'm in the same bucket as skosuri and think that code enforcement would solve a lot of problems. I think that even forcing Uber et al to participate in some of the codes - or creating new ones for rideshare services - would be great. Stuff like working with local paratransit services, 24/7 availability with decent coverage, choices that are more like "I have a wheelchair/need a ramp or lots of luggage" vs luxury or not (uber SUVs are occasionally super hard to come by!) and a standardized, routinely enforced safety program for vehicles and drivers alike. Then the argument for overhauling taxi medallions and restrictive rideshare laws wouldn't be sidelined so often by stories of shitty uber drivers/practices and bad taxis alike. I also feel that everyone would benefit from this kind of government regulation _if done well_, because if left alone with little enforcement and only free market choices to influence business decisions, nobody would want to deal with servicing half of San Francisco, or folks with disabilities. Like your story of getting to SJC from Fremont - have you tried to catch an Uber on the east side of the Bay Area when you're not in downtown Oakland or near airports? It takes forever and a half even during the day. It's easier to just walk/use AC Transit to a BART station or wait and call for a regular cab five times than it is to wait for an Uber from OAK or worse for me, even though there were a whole bunch of times where I _wanted_ to pay for an Uber from Hayward to SF multiple times in a week (read: BART strike).