[Tiktaalik]

Additionally taxis are regulated so as to create a reasonably universally publicly accessible transportation system. That is that you can call a cab and it will pick you up and you will have an understanding of the price you will pay.

In an Uber/Lyft ride hailing system cabs can only be hailed via an app, and will only accept the most profitable rides. Surge pricing may also make the ride only affordable to the relatively wealthy. In such a system, low income persons in relatively remote areas lose transportation options.

Part of the extra price of cabs is the price of creating a transportation system that is accessible to everyone, not just the most wealthy.

[iopq]

Uber and Lyft actually succeeded in creating an accessible system that everyone could afford. You have it all backwards. The common person can actually afford Uber, not cabs.

[Tiktaalik]

Many elderly people are no longer able to drive and aren't technically comfortable with using mobile phones.

App based ride hailing dominance reduces accessibility.

[astrange]

A button that calls you an Uber is as easy to build as a button that calls the taxi dispatcher for you, but I don’t think the elderly appreciate the taxi experience of demanding cash because they’re pretending the card reader broke.

(You can already get a voice assistant to book a ride for you too.)

[marenkay]

Ask your grandma etc if they would use that. Anyone above 50 these days will probably not give you a nice answer to having to use smartphones or voice assistants that usually understand less than a newborn child.

[1_2__4]

As someone around that age get off your virtue signaling high horse. People in their fifties today helped build most of the tech you use every day, but even if they hadn’t your implicit ageism levied in service of an accessibility rant is a level of irony that just can’t be ignored.

[marenkay]

Considering my own age, it might happen that I just mentioned this because I am rather close to that generation myself.

I seriously doubt people will be comfortable with this stuff unless they have a history with engineering/IT.

[dang]

We've banned this account for repeatedly violating the HN guidelines.

[brucephillips]

You've never met a newborn child.

[marenkay]

Happen to have a grown up child. Duh.

[1_2__4]

No, it doesn’t.

See we can both play the no proof game.

[pfarnsworth]

> That is that you can call a cab and it will pick you up and you will have an understanding of the price you will pay.

LOL you must never have taken a cab ride pre-Uber. Your two assertions are the two main reasons why Uber and Lyft exist.

> In an Uber/Lyft ride hailing system cabs can only be hailed via an app, and will only accept the most profitable rides.

You don't know how the Uber app works.

[megaman22]

Lol, where I live, the idea of finding any cab, even if you knew the cab company and called them, was laughable. Uber at least will come, and will give you an estimate beforehand.

[Tiktaalik]

> You don't know how the Uber app works.

So Uber drivers are not able to decline a ride request?

[pfarnsworth]

No, not the way that you're describing. They have no way to "accept only the most profitable rides". This is patently false.

[Tiktaalik]

Ok yeah I see what you mean.

The fear that I've heard described by politicians in my city is that uber drivers could position themselves in areas where they know from experience they will be most profitable (eg. dense downtown core) while avoiding areas that over time are not as profitable (eg. sparse outer areas). This fact, coupled with the fact that they are not obligated to travel to a certain area to receive a fare, means that certain areas could receive less reliable service as drivers chase high profit areas and are able to ignore others.

[pfarnsworth]

Your politicians are lying to you because they are paid off by the taxi monopoly. Service everywhere increases because of Uber and Lyft. The behavior you describe is exactly what taxis do. If you look at how things improved in all cities, service improved by orders of magnitude. In NYC, service to all 5 boroughs improved dramatically because of Uber and Lyft, because taxis would only service manhattan.

Before you follow blindly what your politicians are telling you, do some research and educate yourself first. Don’t rely on headlines and word of mouth.

[greenleafjacob]

If there is demand and lack of supply in an area then it will surge.

[ClassyJacket]

How can that be true when Uber is cheaper than taxis?

[Tiktaalik]

Uber drivers aren't obligated to accept hail requests.

As Uber gains dominance over regulated taxis (which are obligated to serve everyone), the level of accessibility to transportation in certain generally unprofitable areas may decrease.