| > As a monopoly, you usually have no reason to change. But they don't have a monopoly and haven't for several years. I mean changing from phone dispatch to apps has to be done in 6-12 months not 6-12 years otherwise yes they will go under. So what you are saying is that they are too slow to change? What's the reason for that? Is it that the taxi operators are small businesses and they are a too diverse group to be willing to take large risks/investmentst together such as for improving their common dispatch? In that case - the system is almost a perfect storm. So would you agree that at challenges to traditional taxi in medallion-cities include: - Small taxi companies (single car to maybe 100 cars) rather than large operators (1000 cars or more) that would have the money to evolve when needed - Expensive medallions causing overhead compared to Uber/Lyft - Long history of monopoly causing an unfamiliarity with rapid changes - (Possibly) regulative hurdles to overcome before you could e.g. pre-charge for a ride or dispatch with an app rather than phone? |
I think you underestimate the amount of work involved in building a rideshare platform. How are taxi companies going to consolidate and find app developers to build a platform to compete with Lyft and Uber in a tiny fraction of the time, not to mention getting the word out about their platform, when Uber and Lyft are already so good (and cheap). This is to say nothing about disparities in investment and regulation.