3 ms·

It's true that Uber follows a liberal interpretation of existing regulations and this gives rise to legitimate concerns about fairness of its competition with t

by avz 12y ago

It's true that Uber follows a liberal interpretation of existing regulations and this gives rise to legitimate concerns about fairness of its competition with the incumbents. Nevertheless, the new model does offer some benefits over the old way of doing things. The two that come to mind first: Utilization of resources. As a society we have a lot of cars. It seems reasonable to increase their utilization instead of setting aside a dedicated pool for taxi services. Regulatory upgrade. The existing regulations and licensing regimes were meant to increase safety and quality of service, but did that at the cost of reduced competition, increased prices and granting disproportionate privileges to the incumbents. Some of the same very goals like trust, safety and quality have now been achieved by Uber and the like without the same costs thanks to the reputation and review systems long employed in the internet. This is clearly desirable. I wish Uber engaged in more German-style consensus-seeking with the authorities, regulators and the incumbents instead of going for an all-out war. Change is clearly overdue in the taxi services, but the way it happens is just as important.

Xylakant 12y ago
> but did that at the cost of reduced competition, increased prices and granting disproportionate privileges to the incumbents. This is a feature. Whether those privileges are disproportionate is up for debate. There are very few actual privileges in germany. It would be an easy thing for Uber to just get some licenses for Berlin. They don't want that though, because the regulation also places burdens on the license holder: No right to deny a ride, even if you're making a loss, fixed prices, etc. > It seems reasonable to increase their utilization instead of setting aside a dedicated pool for taxi services. There's no requirement that forbid use of taxis as private cars. Nobody in Berlin does so, since a cab makes more money when it's driving, so drivers share cabs. But the town where I was raised, the local cab driver would use it as a private car. > Some of the same very goals like trust, safety and quality have now been achieved by Uber and the like without the same costs thanks to the reputation and review systems long employed in the internet. Looking at how reputation and review systems get abused and gamed on the internet, I'd rather trust the Berlin administration, as incapable and weird they sometimes are. > This is clearly desirable. I think sticking to the regulations is clearly more desirable than disrupting them. Who's right here? > Change is clearly overdue in the taxi services I actually don't think that's the case, at least not in Berlin. Some adaptions, sure, but nothing dramatic (like does a cab really have to be white? It's useful when you're trying to find one, but a sign on top might be sufficient).
- avz 12y ago
  Not sure about Berlin, but in many places getting a taxi license (medallion) involves paying so much money that people use mortgage-like financing to get it. This denies taxi jobs to low income and unskilled people without good credit rating. There is clearly a lot more than taxi colors that can be improved. Rating and reviews is one such example. Price and route transparency are another. User experience (for example through replacement of call centers with mobile apps) yet another.
  - Xylakant 12y ago
    I couldn't find the price for the taxi license in Berlin, but some Hamburg Taxi driver summarizes about 600-700 Euro for all costs included [1]. It's for an extension, so that doesn't include the health check and the special driver license you need, but all in all that should be a low 4-digit investment. There are 7000 medallions in Berlin, so that already shows it's not a mortgage-like investment. You'll have to pay the actual cab, though :) There's an app for regular cabs in germany (mytaxi) that gives you ratings, reviews, payments and the user interface improvement you wish for while still being fully legal. They basically replace the callcenter and take a commission, like a call center would do. [1] http://taxi-magazin.de/taxi/topics/buerokratie-huerden-und-kosten-einer-konzessions-verlaengerung.php http://taxi-magazin.de/taxi/topics/buerokratie-huerden-und-k...

by avz 12y ago

Xylakant 12y ago

> but did that at the cost of reduced competition, increased prices and granting disproportionate privileges to the incumbents. This is a feature. Whether those privileges are disproportionate is up for debate. There are very few actual privileges in germany. It would be an easy thing for Uber to just get some licenses for Berlin. They don't want that though, because the regulation also places burdens on the license holder: No right to deny a ride, even if you're making a loss, fixed prices, etc. > It seems reasonable to increase their utilization instead of setting aside a dedicated pool for taxi services. There's no requirement that forbid use of taxis as private cars. Nobody in Berlin does so, since a cab makes more money when it's driving, so drivers share cabs. But the town where I was raised, the local cab driver would use it as a private car. > Some of the same very goals like trust, safety and quality have now been achieved by Uber and the like without the same costs thanks to the reputation and review systems long employed in the internet. Looking at how reputation and review systems get abused and gamed on the internet, I'd rather trust the Berlin administration, as incapable and weird they sometimes are. > This is clearly desirable. I think sticking to the regulations is clearly more desirable than disrupting them. Who's right here? > Change is clearly overdue in the taxi services I actually don't think that's the case, at least not in Berlin. Some adaptions, sure, but nothing dramatic (like does a cab really have to be white? It's useful when you're trying to find one, but a sign on top might be sufficient).

avz 12y ago
Not sure about Berlin, but in many places getting a taxi license (medallion) involves paying so much money that people use mortgage-like financing to get it. This denies taxi jobs to low income and unskilled people without good credit rating. There is clearly a lot more than taxi colors that can be improved. Rating and reviews is one such example. Price and route transparency are another. User experience (for example through replacement of call centers with mobile apps) yet another.
- Xylakant 12y ago
  I couldn't find the price for the taxi license in Berlin, but some Hamburg Taxi driver summarizes about 600-700 Euro for all costs included [1]. It's for an extension, so that doesn't include the health check and the special driver license you need, but all in all that should be a low 4-digit investment. There are 7000 medallions in Berlin, so that already shows it's not a mortgage-like investment. You'll have to pay the actual cab, though :) There's an app for regular cabs in germany (mytaxi) that gives you ratings, reviews, payments and the user interface improvement you wish for while still being fully legal. They basically replace the callcenter and take a commission, like a call center would do. [1] http://taxi-magazin.de/taxi/topics/buerokratie-huerden-und-kosten-einer-konzessions-verlaengerung.php http://taxi-magazin.de/taxi/topics/buerokratie-huerden-und-k...