3 ms·

I doubt that there's a lot of political contributions from taxi companies. The market is very different from the US - in Berlin the 7000 Taxis are mostly owned

I doubt that there's a lot of political contributions from taxi companies. The market is very different from the US - in Berlin the 7000 Taxis are mostly owned by companies having anywhere between 1 and a handful of cars. A medallion costs the administration fee and can be freely obtained, they're more or less unlimited. Certainly, the cab owners are somewhat organized and have some influence, but the degree is much lower than that. Uber alone has more lobbying power.

WildUtah 12y ago
Then Uber's prospects in Berlin aren't that good anyway. Maybe that's why they're willing to be so patient and fight things out in court. In US cities, the taxi companies are collecting monopoly profits and providing bad service. Their scam is protected from competition by strict nonsense regulations by local governments. The local governments support the taxi companies for bad reasons like corruption and ignorance. Uber is better because it is subject to competition and is not a monopoly. In a city with functioning taxi competition, Uber's only advantage is its software, its brand, and its network. Local companies could easily compete very effectively against that.
krrrh 12y ago
This is such a key point that so many people are missing by getting caught up in "Europeean regulation = anti-innnovation" clichés. The German laws requiring adequate insurance and inspections are mostly reasonable consumer-protection regulations, and not nearly as protectionist as the taxi regulation in many US cities. It's actually a much more open and free market than in cities where Uber has had most of its success. It's rare that one can't flag down a taxi on a busy street within a couple of minutes in Berlin, and they are almost without exception clean modern cars with courteous drivers. The MyTaxi app has already brought regular Berlin taxis up to par with Uber for the smartphone-inclined. https://de.mytaxi.com/ https://de.mytaxi.com/

WildUtah 12y ago

Then Uber's prospects in Berlin aren't that good anyway. Maybe that's why they're willing to be so patient and fight things out in court. In US cities, the taxi companies are collecting monopoly profits and providing bad service. Their scam is protected from competition by strict nonsense regulations by local governments. The local governments support the taxi companies for bad reasons like corruption and ignorance. Uber is better because it is subject to competition and is not a monopoly. In a city with functioning taxi competition, Uber's only advantage is its software, its brand, and its network. Local companies could easily compete very effectively against that.

krrrh 12y ago

This is such a key point that so many people are missing by getting caught up in "Europeean regulation = anti-innnovation" clichés. The German laws requiring adequate insurance and inspections are mostly reasonable consumer-protection regulations, and not nearly as protectionist as the taxi regulation in many US cities. It's actually a much more open and free market than in cities where Uber has had most of its success. It's rare that one can't flag down a taxi on a busy street within a couple of minutes in Berlin, and they are almost without exception clean modern cars with courteous drivers. The MyTaxi app has already brought regular Berlin taxis up to par with Uber for the smartphone-inclined. https://de.mytaxi.com/ https://de.mytaxi.com/