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Part of the blame needs to be on the drivers, who are likely bad at estimating the true cost of operating a vehicle. Uber could probably do better at making th

by johnrob 12y ago

Part of the blame needs to be on the drivers, who are likely bad at estimating the true cost of operating a vehicle. Uber could probably do better at making this clear, but it's not really in their interest. Long story short: traditional taxi pricing seems expensive but is actually pretty fair once you account for costs and a decent wage. Airbnb has given the sharing economy an inflated reputation, because they feed off a great business model: renting a scarce asset (land) with minimal marginal cost.

jorde 12y ago
It's easy to put blame on the drivers who have no visibility to Uber's pricing and potential revenue. It hasn't been talked much in public but Uber is also providing financing for drivers.
erroneousfunk 12y ago
> traditional taxi pricing seems expensive but is actually pretty fair once you account for costs and a decent wage. This isn't true in some cities, such as Boston, where weird politics have driven the cost of a medallions, required to operate a taxi, up to ridiculous levels (The Boston Globe did an excellent article series on this http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/03/30/spotlight/9eVWW7Y6RaOIqII62n2XlI/story.html)Anyway http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/03/30/spotlight/9eVWW7..., there are a lot of factors that go into cab fares, and some of them genuinely are stupid and antiquated.