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I feel less sorry for NYC taxis than in most cities -- they have had non-medallion competition for decades in the form of car services, which work much like Ube
by njloof 11y ago
I feel less sorry for NYC taxis than in most cities -- they have had non-medallion competition for decades in the form of car services, which work much like Uber but you have to use the "phone" function of your smartphone.
Car services flourished because even today, cabs will refuse to go to Brooklyn. This was a form of "redlining" that profiled customers by race, even now that Brooklyn has added white hipsters to its ethnic and religious minorities.
So in NYC there is nothing new about this form of competition; it is only that Uber has made it more convenient.
- nubb 11y agoI used to take cabs from Penn to Lorimer Street and back all the time through 2007-11 when I didnt feel like switching trains - no problems. I don't want folks reading this to think cabs really don't go to BK.
- untog 11y agoIt was definitely an issue. Not that "every" cab wouldn't, but I learned quickly to get in the cab before saying that I was going to Brooklyn - numerous drivers would drive off when they heard it.
- fennecfoxen 11y agoDoesn't Penn have a taxi-stand that's all nice and managed, like the airports do, with a line of taxis and a line of people lining up to use them? That's probably a contributing factor to you never having a problem; it would be really awkward to enforce that sort of demand on a fare's destination right there, and more likely to get you in trouble. Street hails are a different matter.