[giaour]

As much as I would be displeased if my fare were manipulated, I can only blame Uber and Lyft for this. They created an incentive for drivers to act as a unit, and groups of drivers are figuring it out. Really makes you long for the transparent, posted pricing of municipal taxis

[icebraining]

Uber/Lyft prices are totally transparent: they show you the fixed price before the ride.

Meanwhile, municipal taxis may not have been able to charge more per minute and/or unit of distance, but they could control how many of those units the ride took.

[klausjensen]

>> Really makes you long for the transparent, posted pricing of municipal taxis

...Absolutely not.

I live in Malta, where Uber does not exist, but similar services do + local regulated taxis.

It is extremely clear who gets a rating and who does not give a f### about reputation and repeat business.

The only ones who use the real taxis here are tourists. I don't know anybody local (expat or native), who would use the "real" taxi company.

[la_barba]

Taxi's are not allowed to price gouge, they also cannot refuse you service, etc, etc. I don't see that as a bad thing.

[colejohnson66]

Depends on the state. Also, the GP mentioned Malta, which isn’t the US.

[la_barba]

They mentioned Malta but they were responding to a comment that was made in a general context. There are benefits to having a regulated taxi system. Saying that unless those benefits are realized at every single place on earth, they don't mean much.

[mikeash]

The taxis are still available if you’d rather use them.

[umeshunni]

> Really makes you long for the transparent, posted pricing of municipal taxis

Did I miss a sarcasm tag?

[Analemma_]

In most cities I've been to, the local taxi service has fixed fares for trips to/from the airport.

[magduf]

In good cities, there's an inexpensive train or subway that goes straight to the airport.