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Am I the only person that thinks government regulation is a reasonable thing for the taxi industry? Regulations on work hours, car safety, tougher environmental
by michaelochurch 12y ago
Am I the only person that thinks government regulation is a reasonable thing for the taxi industry? Regulations on work hours, car safety, tougher environmental standards, driver training, requiring pickup if called, etc all seem reasonable.
I agree.
The medallion system is a disaster. In fact, it's systemized government corruption. Most of these medallion-owning assholes have never driven a taxi in their lives. They're just rent-seeking vampires.
The purpose of limiting the supply of drivers is to prevent a race to the bottom-- and I would generally support that, for a variety of reasons. But the effect of the medallion system is that drivers do no better under the system than without it, because they have to pay enormous leasing fees.
A fully unregulated system is a bad idea (it means you're screwed if you live in the outer boroughs, it will encourage unsafe conditions and driving) but the medallion system needs to be shut down.
I do think things like Uber and Airbnb are very cool and innovative
Uber is an evil company. It's not surge pricing alone that makes it evil. It's the complete lack of transparency around surge pricing, and the fact that (unlike Lyft) it increases its own take when surge is in effect. It's one thing for prices to go up when the supply of cars can't mean demand. It's an entirely different situation when the (a) pricing algorithm is opaque and (b) it's determined unilaterally by a company with every incentive to manipulate it.
I am glad to see the medallion parasites under threat, though. If I were mayor of any of these cities, my first move would be to scrap the medallion system, with no compensation to their owners.
- refurb 12y agoHow is surge pricing "evil"? You are free to use Uber or not. When surge pricing is in effect, you have to agree to it before going forward in the app. It's not hard. If you don't like the price of something, don't buy it.
- michaelochurch 12y agoUber is evil because it doesn't publish the conditions under which surge pricing will occur, and because surge pricing often happens when there are plenty of drivers available. Uber collects when surge pricing is in effect, which means that there's a conflict of interest in how it manages this algorithm, which is not really a free market. In a free market, drivers and riders (not Uber) would decide on the price point for each level of service and availability.
- refurb 12y agoI don't really think surge pricing poses a conflict of interest for Uber. If I were running the company, I'd hate surge pricing. Who wants to pay 2 or 3 times the normal rate for a ride? I would imagine that when surge pricing is in effect Uber comes away with less revenue than periods where fares are normal.
- waps 12y ago> I would imagine that when surge pricing is in effect Uber comes away with less revenue than periods where fares are normal. That seems very unlikely.
- MarkMc 12y agoThere is no conflict of interest because it is clear that Uber's goal is to maximise profit for its shareholders - and that is fine. We let Toyota and Starbucks manage the 'algorithm' for pricing cars and coffee, so why not let Uber do the same for rides? If their price is too high then some other company (eg. Lyft) will offer a lower price and grab the business - seems like a free market to me.