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My friend lived until recently in Washington DC. She said she loved using Uber in Washington because taxis often didn't stop for her. Uber drivers don't seem t

My friend lived until recently in Washington DC. She said she loved using Uber in Washington because taxis often didn't stop for her. Uber drivers don't seem to decline to pick her up, due to her skin tone. Or perhaps are not able to tell in advance. Finally, this adult woman could easily get a ride at night.

monort 12y ago
Seems like Uber is really solving racism problem with catching taxis: https://medium.com/matter/ubering-while-black-146db581b9db https://medium.com/matter/ubering-while-black-146db581b9db
wallflower 12y ago
Back from the days when Uber was not the 362.874kg gorilla, there was a nice write-up about how it made a difference in underserved neighborhoods. > There’s no way to tell which will happen until it happens—and so, I rarely bother to try hailing a cab. Neither do my neighbors. And the paucity of potential fares in my part of town—a relatively low-income, low-density neighborhood—also makes it harder to get cabs back home from other neighborhoods. Technically, it’s illegal for D.C. cabdrivers to refuse a fare within the District, but then, technically, it’s also illegal to drive above the speed limit, jaywalk.. The cabdrivers have their own litany. They drive long hours for little money: the average cabdriver earns $27,060 a year, before expenses. They are at high risk for traffic accidents and, because they carry a lot of cash, for robbery. When drivers turn down fares to neighborhoods like mine, it’s not because they don’t want to miss a second of The Diane Rehm Show while they take my cash and make change. Those trips, where they probably won’t get a return fare, and must instead burn time and gas while the meter’s off, can mean the difference between profit and loss for the day; cabbies can’t afford too many of them. What I’m describing is a classic market failure: people who are willing to do business together can’t make it happen. If taxis and passengers only knew how to find each other, and could strike deals that would appeal to both, everyone would be better off. Why can’t we fix this? http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/why-you-cant-get-a-taxi/308942/ http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/why-you-...
- __Joker 12y ago
  While aggregated services makes a difference, will it hold for future ? Like, if Uber figures out it is not cost effective to cater to certain areas and stops servicing them.
  - lmm 12y ago
    Uber is willing to adjust its pricing and has the infrastructure to do so in realtime. A taxi driver is rarely unwilling to go to these underserved neighbourhoods point blank - just unwilling to go for the standard NYC (or wherever) per-mile fare. Which is set down in law for good reason, but the result is a market failure. Uber has the capability to just charge 2x the price if you want a ride to a bad neighbourhood, and I'd expect to see them doing that sooner or later. It's clearly worse than what's theoretically legally required (equal service to everyone, cab driver must take you anywhere within the city limits), and it's worse than what you get with the regulated service where I live (in Europe). But it sounds like it might be better than what getting a taxi in the US is like in practice.
moonka 12y ago
I've had the same experience in Seattle. To the point where a couple times I had to ask my roommate to flag down a cab for me. With apps like Uber, Lyft etc I have not had the same issue.

monort 12y ago

Seems like Uber is really solving racism problem with catching taxis: https://medium.com/matter/ubering-while-black-146db581b9db https://medium.com/matter/ubering-while-black-146db581b9db

wallflower 12y ago

Back from the days when Uber was not the 362.874kg gorilla, there was a nice write-up about how it made a difference in underserved neighborhoods. > There’s no way to tell which will happen until it happens—and so, I rarely bother to try hailing a cab. Neither do my neighbors. And the paucity of potential fares in my part of town—a relatively low-income, low-density neighborhood—also makes it harder to get cabs back home from other neighborhoods. Technically, it’s illegal for D.C. cabdrivers to refuse a fare within the District, but then, technically, it’s also illegal to drive above the speed limit, jaywalk.. The cabdrivers have their own litany. They drive long hours for little money: the average cabdriver earns $27,060 a year, before expenses. They are at high risk for traffic accidents and, because they carry a lot of cash, for robbery. When drivers turn down fares to neighborhoods like mine, it’s not because they don’t want to miss a second of The Diane Rehm Show while they take my cash and make change. Those trips, where they probably won’t get a return fare, and must instead burn time and gas while the meter’s off, can mean the difference between profit and loss for the day; cabbies can’t afford too many of them. What I’m describing is a classic market failure: people who are willing to do business together can’t make it happen. If taxis and passengers only knew how to find each other, and could strike deals that would appeal to both, everyone would be better off. Why can’t we fix this? http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/why-you-cant-get-a-taxi/308942/ http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/why-you-...

__Joker 12y ago
While aggregated services makes a difference, will it hold for future ? Like, if Uber figures out it is not cost effective to cater to certain areas and stops servicing them.
- lmm 12y ago
  Uber is willing to adjust its pricing and has the infrastructure to do so in realtime. A taxi driver is rarely unwilling to go to these underserved neighbourhoods point blank - just unwilling to go for the standard NYC (or wherever) per-mile fare. Which is set down in law for good reason, but the result is a market failure. Uber has the capability to just charge 2x the price if you want a ride to a bad neighbourhood, and I'd expect to see them doing that sooner or later. It's clearly worse than what's theoretically legally required (equal service to everyone, cab driver must take you anywhere within the city limits), and it's worse than what you get with the regulated service where I live (in Europe). But it sounds like it might be better than what getting a taxi in the US is like in practice.

moonka 12y ago

I've had the same experience in Seattle. To the point where a couple times I had to ask my roommate to flag down a cab for me. With apps like Uber, Lyft etc I have not had the same issue.