5 ms·

This is why you don't have "conversations" with law enforcement. If it actually was illegal, even if you didn't know, you just confessed to a crime and they can

by ck2 12y ago

This is why you don't have "conversations" with law enforcement. If it actually was illegal, even if you didn't know, you just confessed to a crime and they can use what you just told them against you. ps. reality-check, this dude paid $100 to basically get across town and eventually back - this is not how most of the rest of the world lives

thesumofall 12y ago
I guess most larger companies pay their employees taxi trips to/from the airport.
- sokoloff 12y ago
  I would expect that every company pays their employees' business travel costs. (With some "ordinary and reasonable" caveats, of course.) Why would an employee pay out of pocket for something that's for the employer's convenience/at the employer's discretion and direction?
  - ithkuil 12y ago
    Some companies don't pay _taxi_ travel costs if there is a cheaper alternative (e.g. shuttle busses)
    - sokoloff 12y ago
      Good point. I try to take public transport on business (and personal) trips whenever that's reasonable (which is subset of those times when it's cheaper). In many foreign countries, the taxi is so much easier than trying to figure out public transport that the taxi wins. In many US cities, public transport doesn't get you close enough to be reasonable alternative, even though it would be less money out of pocket.
Dylan16807 12y ago
Reality check, this dude had taken a plane and needed transport around his destination - this is very much how people live when on a trip. This is perfectly normal behavior in most of the world, especially when it's a trip for business purposes. The only change is that the price of travel varies extremely between countries.
- ck2 12y ago
  No, I can safely say there are billions (with a b) of people in this world who could never afford to take a $100 car ride across town and back. If you think this is normal, you are in an elite group and only use people in your group to compare to. Even if there are a million people in that group, it is still elite.
  - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
    And these billions of people are all living in the states and flying into Colorado? As an American, I thought American taxis were expensive until I visited Europe some....wow, or even japan. It's all about the perspective. Chinese farmers are in an elite group compared to African or even Vietnamese farmers...so what is your point?
  - oldmanjay 12y ago
    there are 330 million people in the US for whom these rates are perfectly normal. if you want to call us an elite group, those are your words. if you want us to apologize for having an advanced economy, you might be waiting a while.
    - chippy 12y ago
      and the irony is that Uber's main business model is making these rates cheaper! (I've been to Denver once - I took a shuttle bus from the airport to my hotel on Colfax (took long way around and was not that cheap) and the public bus back to the terminal which left from the central bus station, was cheap and direct.)
  - Napapijri 12y ago
VLM 12y ago
One possibly useful data point is this is Denver Colorado and the "local" airport for Denver can be a good 30-40 mile drive depending on where your Denver side destination is located. Its entirely possible he's only paying $1/mile or so which isn't all that bad for door to door service. Or put another way the driver is only grossing in revenue maybe $30/hour and has expenses and probably doesn't earn revenue 8 hours per day anyway. On a semi-regular basis I used to take the train to Chicago and the train station is across the street from the corporate office in the formerly named sears tower. Also historically I've taken the train to the NYC Hope conference which is also across the street from the NYC train station. Air travel isn't as convenient as taking the train or a bus...
- seanmcdirmid 12y ago
  Unless your train stations are out further than your airports with poorer transport connections into the city. So is life in china.
  - steveklabnik 12y ago
    Ha, train stations, that's rich. So is life in the US.
    - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
      Portland to Seattle via train is quite reasonable. The stations are both downtown.
      - jpindar 12y ago
        Same with Boston to NYC, or the Northeast coast in general.
  - rahimnathwani 12y ago
    This. Trains are faster than planes for short-ish inter-city journeys in many other places because (i) you can use public transport to get to the stations, (ii) you avoid the time spent on check-in and security check and (iii) trains are more frequent than planes to the same destination. None of these is the case in Beijing. I don't know about other cities. I've taken inter-city trains from Beijing a few times. Each time, I've found the experience of getting to the station, and finding the right spot, more arduous than for international flights.

by ck2 12y ago

thesumofall 12y ago

I guess most larger companies pay their employees taxi trips to/from the airport.

sokoloff 12y ago
I would expect that every company pays their employees' business travel costs. (With some "ordinary and reasonable" caveats, of course.) Why would an employee pay out of pocket for something that's for the employer's convenience/at the employer's discretion and direction?
- ithkuil 12y ago
  Some companies don't pay _taxi_ travel costs if there is a cheaper alternative (e.g. shuttle busses)
  - sokoloff 12y ago
    Good point. I try to take public transport on business (and personal) trips whenever that's reasonable (which is subset of those times when it's cheaper). In many foreign countries, the taxi is so much easier than trying to figure out public transport that the taxi wins. In many US cities, public transport doesn't get you close enough to be reasonable alternative, even though it would be less money out of pocket.

Dylan16807 12y ago

Reality check, this dude had taken a plane and needed transport around his destination - this is very much how people live when on a trip. This is perfectly normal behavior in most of the world, especially when it's a trip for business purposes. The only change is that the price of travel varies extremely between countries.

ck2 12y ago
No, I can safely say there are billions (with a b) of people in this world who could never afford to take a $100 car ride across town and back. If you think this is normal, you are in an elite group and only use people in your group to compare to. Even if there are a million people in that group, it is still elite.
- seanmcdirmid 12y ago
  And these billions of people are all living in the states and flying into Colorado? As an American, I thought American taxis were expensive until I visited Europe some....wow, or even japan. It's all about the perspective. Chinese farmers are in an elite group compared to African or even Vietnamese farmers...so what is your point?
- oldmanjay 12y ago
  there are 330 million people in the US for whom these rates are perfectly normal. if you want to call us an elite group, those are your words. if you want us to apologize for having an advanced economy, you might be waiting a while.
  - chippy 12y ago
    and the irony is that Uber's main business model is making these rates cheaper! (I've been to Denver once - I took a shuttle bus from the airport to my hotel on Colfax (took long way around and was not that cheap) and the public bus back to the terminal which left from the central bus station, was cheap and direct.)
- Napapijri 12y ago

VLM 12y ago

One possibly useful data point is this is Denver Colorado and the "local" airport for Denver can be a good 30-40 mile drive depending on where your Denver side destination is located. Its entirely possible he's only paying $1/mile or so which isn't all that bad for door to door service. Or put another way the driver is only grossing in revenue maybe $30/hour and has expenses and probably doesn't earn revenue 8 hours per day anyway. On a semi-regular basis I used to take the train to Chicago and the train station is across the street from the corporate office in the formerly named sears tower. Also historically I've taken the train to the NYC Hope conference which is also across the street from the NYC train station. Air travel isn't as convenient as taking the train or a bus...

seanmcdirmid 12y ago
Unless your train stations are out further than your airports with poorer transport connections into the city. So is life in china.
- steveklabnik 12y ago
  Ha, train stations, that's rich. So is life in the US.
  - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
    Portland to Seattle via train is quite reasonable. The stations are both downtown.
    - jpindar 12y ago
      Same with Boston to NYC, or the Northeast coast in general.
- rahimnathwani 12y ago
  This. Trains are faster than planes for short-ish inter-city journeys in many other places because (i) you can use public transport to get to the stations, (ii) you avoid the time spent on check-in and security check and (iii) trains are more frequent than planes to the same destination. None of these is the case in Beijing. I don't know about other cities. I've taken inter-city trains from Beijing a few times. Each time, I've found the experience of getting to the station, and finding the right spot, more arduous than for international flights.