[n72]

I'm in a taxi at the moment driving home from Orly. There are lots of those 'chauffeurs' out there like there are at many airports in the states. I walked by them to the taxi stand about 15 feet from the airport exit and am now in a taxi as comfortable as any uber I've been in in NYC.

Two weeks ago I returned to Paris from Amsterdam by train at Gare du Nord (a major train station in Paris) and the experience was almost identical to the one I am currently experiencing.

In short, there is no need for uber to save your ass in the circumstances you describe since your ass doesn't need saving in the circumstances you describe.

[nikanj]

Search for "stockholm taxi scam" for a great example of why your ass might indeed need saving

[atomwaffel]

True, that's quite scummy, but surely it's an example of under-regulation, not over-regulation. This scam (not sure that's the right word since what they're doing is perfectly legal albeit morally reprehensible) literally cannot happen in places where taxi fares are fixed.

[nikanj]

In my opinion, I'd rather not have to research the taxi legistlation of countries I visit. Uber provides a globally uniform service at an uniform price, and like it or not, taxis do not.

[atomwaffel]

That's fair, I guess. It seems like a relatively minor point in the grand scheme of cultural differences you will have to deal with whenever you travel somewhere else and I find it hard to relate to the desire for standardisation and uniformity that I notice mostly from people in the tech community, but I'm not going to pretend that variations in taxi legislation are a charming cultural quirk worth preserving, so nothing makes my opinion more valid than yours.

[icebraining]

In those places they just take a longer route instead.

[briandear]

Until there's a taxi strike or you get overcharged or you order a prepaid taxi and they never show up. I live in France and taxi drivers as a group are not even in the same league as Uber drivers. I speak French and know my city extremely well and they'll try to take some ridiculous routing until I call them out on it. In Paris especially, I would only hire private car services or Uber, never a taxi. I don't have to beat my head against a wall more than a few times before I realize that taxis are a pain point that needed solving.