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I very much agree - having lived in SF for years myself. But you contradict your own point a bit by admitting that in NYC you easily can hail a cab off the stre

by ulfw 12y ago

I very much agree - having lived in SF for years myself. But you contradict your own point a bit by admitting that in NYC you easily can hail a cab off the street. So it's really not a global problem (as we are discussing Germany here) at all. It's a problem in some localities, especially in San Francisco. And Uber solved that problem. For it's local market. The thing is - why would it have to 'disrupt' markets that don't really need disruption or solve problems in markets where those don't really exist? Yet with it's enormous funding and hence market power it can take over markets around the globe, where the dude trying to make a living with his 5-cab taxi company or the student driving his one cab on his own can never even remotely compete.

oh_sigh 12y ago
You can only street hail a cab in NYC if you are in certain select portions of manhattan, and it isn't cab rush hour or cab switch over hour. Good luck hailing a cab in the middle of queens at any time of the day.
- scarmig 12y ago
  Also key point: some groups of people--namely, white people and rich-looking people--are much more likely to be able to hail a cab. That isn't an issue with Uber/Lyft, so far as I can tell.
- modfodder 12y ago
  I've hailed cabs in Queens. I live in Greenpoint and there are times that hailing a cab is quicker than waiting for an UberX, especially now that the green cabs are becoming ubiquitous. Cab switch over hour sucks, but I've also been in a busy parts of Manhattan with plenty of Uber cars showing on the app yet can't get an Uber car to my location. I've also noticed a drastic decline in the state of UberX vehicles in the past few months (I assumer from their aggressive recruiting effort). Used to be every UberX that picked me up was very clean and typically nicer cars (occasionally getting picked up by Range Rovers or Town Cars). Now quite a few of the cars are messier/dirtier than any cab I've ever been in. I'll continue to use Uber and UberX when convenient, but I've cut back quite a bit because the drop in quality.

by ulfw 12y ago

oh_sigh 12y ago

You can only street hail a cab in NYC if you are in certain select portions of manhattan, and it isn't cab rush hour or cab switch over hour. Good luck hailing a cab in the middle of queens at any time of the day.

scarmig 12y ago
Also key point: some groups of people--namely, white people and rich-looking people--are much more likely to be able to hail a cab. That isn't an issue with Uber/Lyft, so far as I can tell.
modfodder 12y ago
I've hailed cabs in Queens. I live in Greenpoint and there are times that hailing a cab is quicker than waiting for an UberX, especially now that the green cabs are becoming ubiquitous. Cab switch over hour sucks, but I've also been in a busy parts of Manhattan with plenty of Uber cars showing on the app yet can't get an Uber car to my location. I've also noticed a drastic decline in the state of UberX vehicles in the past few months (I assumer from their aggressive recruiting effort). Used to be every UberX that picked me up was very clean and typically nicer cars (occasionally getting picked up by Range Rovers or Town Cars). Now quite a few of the cars are messier/dirtier than any cab I've ever been in. I'll continue to use Uber and UberX when convenient, but I've cut back quite a bit because the drop in quality.