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It's a little unfair. Uber drivers get screwed over by wages, but taxis are a miserable affair. Every company has their own hailing app; even though drivers are

by duaneb 12y ago

It's a little unfair. Uber drivers get screwed over by wages, but taxis are a miserable affair. Every company has their own hailing app; even though drivers are required by law to offer credit card charges, I've been forced multiple times to get cash out of a machine because the machine doesn't work. One time it was even blatantly unplugged. Both sides are fucked, in their own way; the taxi companies will need to come together and figure out something aside from a lawsuit to survive uber (and uber's successors).

jobposter1234 12y ago
I have been told by multiple cabbies in different cities that most personal revenue ("salary") they make is eliminated by absurd cc processing fees. A recent driver in a SoCal city told me that his processing rates were 20-30%, and he was only allowed to use that service by the terms of his cab lease from the medallion owner. (They obviously operated the cc processing service as well.) Shouldn't blunt your frustration, but I wanted to repeat what I've heard from traditional taxi drivers -- they're sometimes better off not driving you than driving you and collecting payment by cc.
- dustingetz 12y ago
  I would like a source please
  - jobposter1234 12y ago
    Sorry, don't have one. Wasn't trying to convince you of my perspective, or change your mind. If you're genuinely curious, I'd encourage you to talk with the next few taxi drivers you interact with, and ask them about it.
  - duaneb 12y ago
    I can vouch for this; it's a common gripe. Talk to your driver about it the next time you taxi.
- duaneb 12y ago
  I'm well aware of this, and I attempt to tip to offset this. That's no excuse for basically refusing to accept how I want to pay. I don't take short taxi rides, so if I'm traveling in the city I always pay at least $20.
- cmurf 12y ago
  Processing rates are 2-4%. 20-30% is egregious and probably illegal. But even if not illegal it's such high order extortion by his boss that he shouldn't trust him. His boss must be a complete dickhole to do this to his driver.
Pyxl101 12y ago
I wonder if there is a business opportunity in launching a company that is "Uber for Taxis". That is, rather than selling it directly to the consumers, you partner with the taxi companies to provide the technology that enables an Uber-like experience with regular taxis. The taxi companies must be scared shitless by Uber and perhaps will greedily adopt any (cheap) tech that will close the user experience gap. Get a single taxi company on board in an area, and perhaps the others will follow. Either craft your terms to ensure you can work with all of them, or partner with one exclusively and help them become the winner. Is there a service like this already? Ideally consumers would have a single app that can interface with all participating taxi companies. Perhaps the user chooses the taxi company from a list (polished list with nice branding), or perhaps accepting a ride is first-come-first-serve across multiple taxi companies. Handle the payments efficiently with a similar experience to Uber. The app knows the taxi fare ahead of time. Support passenger and driver reviews. Take a nonthreatening stance in the market. Focus on partnering with existing transportation providers like taxis, not disrupting them or replacing them. The system will need to be very simple and cheap to install in taxis. Perhaps a mobile device for dispatch, as well as a mobile payments system like Square to handle card swipes from random fares. The service could take over all taxi dispatching functions for participating companies, as well - with features for central dispatch to request drivers manually (such as by phone, etc.), as well as automatic routing to users of the app. With a leg in the door for dispatching, the app could also expand into other backoffice functions.
- duaneb 12y ago
  I believe Hailo has taken this approach; the problem is getting the myriad taxi companies on board.
  - Pyxl101 12y ago
    Thanks for the tip! The site implies that taxi drivers sign up for the app individually too: > If you drive a taxi or for-hire vehicle in New York City, Hailo is for you. Co-created by three taxi drivers, the Hailo app sends you extra jobs, so you can earn more money every shift. https://hailocab.com/nyc/drivers https://hailocab.com/nyc/drivers The approach that I'm suggesting is to sell technology directly to the major taxi companies - get them on board, and set it up in every car in their fleet. Don't attempt to displace them or hide their branding, but make it a distinguishable part of the experience. At least in the beginning. Perhaps they will become a commodity eventually. (There's probably a reason this won't work; just throwing an idea out there.) Thanks for replying!

by duaneb 12y ago

jobposter1234 12y ago

I have been told by multiple cabbies in different cities that most personal revenue ("salary") they make is eliminated by absurd cc processing fees. A recent driver in a SoCal city told me that his processing rates were 20-30%, and he was only allowed to use that service by the terms of his cab lease from the medallion owner. (They obviously operated the cc processing service as well.) Shouldn't blunt your frustration, but I wanted to repeat what I've heard from traditional taxi drivers -- they're sometimes better off not driving you than driving you and collecting payment by cc.

dustingetz 12y ago
I would like a source please
- jobposter1234 12y ago
  Sorry, don't have one. Wasn't trying to convince you of my perspective, or change your mind. If you're genuinely curious, I'd encourage you to talk with the next few taxi drivers you interact with, and ask them about it.
- duaneb 12y ago
  I can vouch for this; it's a common gripe. Talk to your driver about it the next time you taxi.
duaneb 12y ago
I'm well aware of this, and I attempt to tip to offset this. That's no excuse for basically refusing to accept how I want to pay. I don't take short taxi rides, so if I'm traveling in the city I always pay at least $20.
cmurf 12y ago
Processing rates are 2-4%. 20-30% is egregious and probably illegal. But even if not illegal it's such high order extortion by his boss that he shouldn't trust him. His boss must be a complete dickhole to do this to his driver.

Pyxl101 12y ago

I wonder if there is a business opportunity in launching a company that is "Uber for Taxis". That is, rather than selling it directly to the consumers, you partner with the taxi companies to provide the technology that enables an Uber-like experience with regular taxis. The taxi companies must be scared shitless by Uber and perhaps will greedily adopt any (cheap) tech that will close the user experience gap. Get a single taxi company on board in an area, and perhaps the others will follow. Either craft your terms to ensure you can work with all of them, or partner with one exclusively and help them become the winner. Is there a service like this already? Ideally consumers would have a single app that can interface with all participating taxi companies. Perhaps the user chooses the taxi company from a list (polished list with nice branding), or perhaps accepting a ride is first-come-first-serve across multiple taxi companies. Handle the payments efficiently with a similar experience to Uber. The app knows the taxi fare ahead of time. Support passenger and driver reviews. Take a nonthreatening stance in the market. Focus on partnering with existing transportation providers like taxis, not disrupting them or replacing them. The system will need to be very simple and cheap to install in taxis. Perhaps a mobile device for dispatch, as well as a mobile payments system like Square to handle card swipes from random fares. The service could take over all taxi dispatching functions for participating companies, as well - with features for central dispatch to request drivers manually (such as by phone, etc.), as well as automatic routing to users of the app. With a leg in the door for dispatching, the app could also expand into other backoffice functions.

duaneb 12y ago
I believe Hailo has taken this approach; the problem is getting the myriad taxi companies on board.
- Pyxl101 12y ago
  Thanks for the tip! The site implies that taxi drivers sign up for the app individually too: > If you drive a taxi or for-hire vehicle in New York City, Hailo is for you. Co-created by three taxi drivers, the Hailo app sends you extra jobs, so you can earn more money every shift. https://hailocab.com/nyc/drivers https://hailocab.com/nyc/drivers The approach that I'm suggesting is to sell technology directly to the major taxi companies - get them on board, and set it up in every car in their fleet. Don't attempt to displace them or hide their branding, but make it a distinguishable part of the experience. At least in the beginning. Perhaps they will become a commodity eventually. (There's probably a reason this won't work; just throwing an idea out there.) Thanks for replying!