4 ms·

With Uber and no distinction by law, do you mean only taxi drivers should be allowed as hired drivers, or that all hired drivers should be allowed to be hailed?

by LanceH 12y ago

pessimizer 12y ago
I mean that hiring a car in advance and hiring a car spontaneously are pretty much the same thing.
- AndrewDucker 12y ago
  I disagree. Tourists wandering round Edinburgh (or London) can stick out their arm and be guaranteed someone trained, vetted, and able to give them service at a standard price. Locals can decide they want to take a risk and phone up a hire car company for a non-regulated price without guaranteed training, if they so wish. The former is _totally_ worth it from a reputational point of view, as far as London/Edinburgh council is concerned.
  - pessimizer 12y ago
    Why would a hired car company be non-regulated, and not have guaranteed training? I know that's the current state, but what's the reason for it? The only reason that I can come up with is that people who privately hire a car are expected to have done more due diligence about the company, therefore are more aware of the risks that they're taking. That is not necessarily true, and may not even be commonly true. I say that raising your hand to hail a car and making a call to hire a car are identical acts, and that it was inevitable that someone would come up with a way to make a call that was as simple as raising your hand. Are those cabs being hired or hailed? Does it matter? Why?
    - LanceH 12y ago
      There is a lot more for-hire business out there than can be anticipated by the taxi industry. The regulation spoken of regarding the taxi industry is typically the medallion allowing hailed fares. There are typically other regulations which may apply, such as a commercial driver's license and commercial insurance. The latter two would be seen for bus, limo, truck and courier services. It is that group where Uber should fall, if anything, not taxi regulation which also includes regulation limiting the number.
- michaelt 12y ago
  Traditionally I think the distinction was made for practical purposes; taxi ranks are first-in-first-out and street hailing is select-at-random, so the customer doesn't get to choose the taxi. There's not a competitive market to control prices, so in the absence of regulation you'd expect prices to skyrocket. Prebooked mini cabs are "expert mode" where, instead of being assigned to a taxi at random, you get to choose a taxi company. You can compare prices, look at reviews etc. This choice creates a competitive market to control prices and quality, allowing for softer touch regulation. In the latter system, my taxi company which charges $100 a mile and only uses serial rapists driving 1978 Yugos would go out of business due to lack of demand. In the former system, either every taxi would soon cost the same, or people would bypass the random assignment, or people would stop using taxi ranks and hailing.

With Uber and no distinction by law, do you mean only taxi drivers should be allowed as hired drivers, or that all hired drivers should be allowed to be hailed?

by LanceH 12y ago

With Uber and no distinction by law, do you mean only taxi drivers should be allowed as hired drivers, or that all hired drivers should be allowed to be hailed?

pessimizer 12y ago

I mean that hiring a car in advance and hiring a car spontaneously are pretty much the same thing.

AndrewDucker 12y ago
I disagree. Tourists wandering round Edinburgh (or London) can stick out their arm and be guaranteed someone trained, vetted, and able to give them service at a standard price. Locals can decide they want to take a risk and phone up a hire car company for a non-regulated price without guaranteed training, if they so wish. The former is _totally_ worth it from a reputational point of view, as far as London/Edinburgh council is concerned.
- pessimizer 12y ago
  Why would a hired car company be non-regulated, and not have guaranteed training? I know that's the current state, but what's the reason for it? The only reason that I can come up with is that people who privately hire a car are expected to have done more due diligence about the company, therefore are more aware of the risks that they're taking. That is not necessarily true, and may not even be commonly true. I say that raising your hand to hail a car and making a call to hire a car are identical acts, and that it was inevitable that someone would come up with a way to make a call that was as simple as raising your hand. Are those cabs being hired or hailed? Does it matter? Why?
  - LanceH 12y ago
    There is a lot more for-hire business out there than can be anticipated by the taxi industry. The regulation spoken of regarding the taxi industry is typically the medallion allowing hailed fares. There are typically other regulations which may apply, such as a commercial driver's license and commercial insurance. The latter two would be seen for bus, limo, truck and courier services. It is that group where Uber should fall, if anything, not taxi regulation which also includes regulation limiting the number.
michaelt 12y ago
Traditionally I think the distinction was made for practical purposes; taxi ranks are first-in-first-out and street hailing is select-at-random, so the customer doesn't get to choose the taxi. There's not a competitive market to control prices, so in the absence of regulation you'd expect prices to skyrocket. Prebooked mini cabs are "expert mode" where, instead of being assigned to a taxi at random, you get to choose a taxi company. You can compare prices, look at reviews etc. This choice creates a competitive market to control prices and quality, allowing for softer touch regulation. In the latter system, my taxi company which charges $100 a mile and only uses serial rapists driving 1978 Yugos would go out of business due to lack of demand. In the former system, either every taxi would soon cost the same, or people would bypass the random assignment, or people would stop using taxi ranks and hailing.