[pfarnsworth]

You mean the taxi drivers that would pass me by on 3rd and Howard for 2 hrs because there was a conference and they could make more money servicing conference people? Or the taxi drivers that said they would be at my house at a certain time and then never show up, forcing me to wait another 45-60 mins for the next promised car, and then give up and drive myself and pay for parking? No, I don't have any sympathy.

Plus, they can always become Uber drivers, and have better earnings and make their own hours. 90% of all drivers I've had are happy to be driving for Uber.

[Eric_WVGG]

Same. I once got thrown out of a taxi in the middle of a busy street, halfway to my destination because I accidentally admitted that I didn't have any cash and he would have to run my credit card. (This was just a year before all the drivers spontaneously realized that card users tip better and the practice changed overnight. But it would still be years later before rides could be reliably found in the outer boroughs…)

The taxi system is — or was — indicative of all these weird east coast attitudes that I, as a westerner, find completely insane. All these awful inefficiencies and shitty attitudes baked that everyone accepts as normal because that's just how things are done. (Basic traffic enforcement is another biggie… the "Masshole maneuver," and New Yorkers blocking intersections or parking on sidewalks, landlords who would rather risk lawsuits than do inexpensive repairs…)

Although I have moved on from Uber for various reasons, I will be forever grateful to them for tearing down this horrible system. It sucks that some independent medallion owners are going to take a bath on their loans, but it was a terrible investment in the first place.

[curun1r]

He probably means the taxi drivers that would pass by my minority friends to pick me up. The look of horror in their faces as I waved my friends to come get in the cab was always some slight consolation. If it hadn't happened so regularly, it might have been funny. We now take Uber and it's never a problem.

I feel for any of the honest cab drivers that didn't pull this kinda crap, but my experience tells me that there weren't many of them.

[lordnacho]

I appears one of the main advantages of Uber is you don't get to see the guys who didn't want to pick you up. For one, it's less obvious an uber cab has driven past you than an official cab (NYC/London), and also only guys who want you will accept you as a ride. So you don't have that awkward 2am "it's not on my way home" conversation.

[maverick_iceman]

Not to mention the racism.