[TheSageMage]

... and that exactly what the Taxi industry should do, step up. Not just in price, but in technology. IMO the best feature of Uber is the app and transparency like features of taking a trip. If I can pull the app up, input where I am and where I want to go, how much it will cost, and when my driver will be here, I'm happy.

The few experiences I've had with local Taxi systems, coming from a everyone-drives-a-car suburban background, have been awful. Overcharging, credit card machine breakdown, and unreliability of driver arrival estimation have made me seek out more expensive alternatives, just to avoid the hassle.

I now live in a city where I take public transport 90% of the time. But that 10% has been made so much easier by Uber and Lyft(they offer the "same" features, so they are the same in my book). They tell me; How long until the driver is here(often incorrect, but only by a small factor), how long the trip will take(often incorrect, by only by a small factor), and how much it will cost(often correct or guaranteed).

None of the features above sound unique to Uber/Lyft, the only difference between them and Taxi's are subsidization by Capitalization. I've heard of Flywheel offering the same app features Uber/Lyft do, but Uber's are often under ~$10 where I am, which a Taxi can take anywhere from $25-$45. But if Uber's subsidization goes dry, as long as there's an feature-like alternative, I'd still pay for that.

[henrikschroder]

Some have already done it, Taxi Stockholm has a very nice app; enter pickup and destination, book it, track it, pay through it, etc. And they're marketing themselves by stressing all the things they provide that Uber doesn't. You get a licensed, properly insured taxi driver in a nice car.

[mjevans]

One advantage Uber has over the app you mention is that it's in many (most) cities. You only need /one/ app and one place to go to get fulfillment. The network effect is not insubstantial.

[cderwin]

Most people use Uber almost entirely in a single city. This is obviously not true for those who travel a lot, but for most people they only need a single app (whether or not it be Uber) for their home city.

The real advantage Uber has is brand trust when taxis go back to their shady and anti-competitive business practices and the regulatory environment relaxes. The important question is if brand trust will be worth anything.

[user5994461]

Taxis and their local apps have zone limitations. They arbitrary bounds, within parts of your "home city".

They may not go where you want, they may not be available where you are, because you are not in the right part of the city.

[cderwin]

But does Uber really have a competitive advantage here? In the multiple cities I have lived in in the past couple years (Boston, Austin, Dallas) I have never noticed Uber's range being greater than any particular taxi. I do prefer uber do to brand trust, but I had no issue switching to RideAustin after uber left the city.

[Daviey]

Most people? [Citation Needed]. Most of the people I know that use it, do use it in many locations.

[mattmanser]

The vast majority of people live/work in one place. No citation needed, just common sense.

Sounds like you're suffering from a pretty severe filter bubble.

[Daviey]

So the people I know that use Uber in multiple cities (mostly for work), spanning multiple employers and multiple countries and locations is a 'filter bubble' - but the inverse perception from you is common sense?

I'd say it is bad form to base an argument like this as fact, when there is clearly significant evidence of the inverse. We know that Uber has targeted airport usage, with a seemingly offline cache of airport GPS locations baked into the app - to tap the travel market... I'd be hesitant to say this doesn't alone make an impact.

[toomuchtodo]

How terrible. Having to spend 1-2 minutes downloading an app.

Expect Austin to occur elsewhere (Uber and Lyft leaving due to local regulation, and competitors filling the void).

[pfooti]

Spend time: figure out what app, download it (possibly on data roaming), make a new account, use app once, be stuck wuth data breaches forever, and good luck figuring out which one is tracking you all the time and running your battery to the ground.

Uber is not an angel, but at least with one app we have a lot of people pointing out privacy violations. With two (say, Lyft in US cities), there's some choice. If Uber really fails and the taxis end up running the streets again, I don't see any real pressure to make good ride hail / pay apps.

[farm_code]

I don't travel frequently. When I do, install the app at home and then uninstall on return. So they can't track me when I am not using them. I understand it's not for everybody.

[chrisseaton]

It's not the 1-2 minutes to download it, it's when I roll off a flight into some new city I've never been to before, how do I know what app to use?

[forthefuture]

Google it like everyone has googled everything for the past 15 years.

[chrisseaton]

Google for it and then stand around reading the reviews to figure out which is the best one, you mean. And sign up for a new account and everything with the new app. By that time I'm already on my way to my hotel with Uber.

[hackerboos]

Meh in Liverpool, UK our local cab firm Delta had an app out before Uber/Hailo were on the scene.

Features were pretty much on par with Uber.

[anexprogrammer]

Quite a few of the cab firms did - many used the same app skinned for each taxi co. I forget who made it now.

[matt_wulfeck]

Yes but you needed a different app for each taxi company. That's a terrible experience.

[kbart]

"Yes but you needed a different app for each taxi company."

Depends on a market I guess. Here you have a single app for all local taxi companies (actually, there are few competing apps, but you get a point), you can even select which companies do you want to use via checkboxes, because their price differs. Same centralized service works with SMS too, if you don't want to install app or have an ancient cell phone.

[henrikschroder]

Cool, but where's "here"? :-)

[sangnoir]

It's not that bad: Lyft, Uber and Hailo don't share a common app either.

[kahnpro]

And guess what Uber and Lyft are? Two different taxi companies with two different apps. I'm not sure what you think has changed here?

[_nedR]

Yeah, but Uber and Lyft are not restricted to one city or country. No Taxi company (of the kind that actually owns and operates their own fleet of cars) could do that.

[user5994461]

You only need one or the other. Not both.

[moogly]

So you are advocating a world-wide taxi monopoly?