[_8j50]

I agree with you except with the marginally better part. Their service is profundly revolutionary.

It isn't lack of capital or brains that prevented the taxi indistry before and after uber to provide the same service but beneficial to their interests. After all these years they are not even trying to compete with Uber they just want things to go back to the way they were where consumers are taken advantage of or discriminated against. Like it or not, Uber is more accessible to all types of consumers not just the ones drivers think will tip the most, they have better background checks and uniform and scrutinized safety controls and providen a viable primary or secondary income to drivers.

The local laws and regulations should get out of the way and enable what uber is trying to do with or without Uber. The livelihood of taxi drivers is not the law's problem, the well being od consumers and the economy however is. An outdated business model should not be put on a respirator by politicians. I am of the opinion that traditional taxi system with medallions and all that should be done with. Anyome who provides consumer transportation can compete fairly with Uber and pals.

[KennyBlanken]

Their service is not revolutionary if you're trans: https://xtramagazine.com/power/uber-trans-drivers-discrimina...

Their service is not revolutionary if you're non-white and a driver: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-58831373

Their service is not revolutionary if you're handicapped. The TNCs charge wait time fees which end up discriminating against handicapped passengers who take longer to get from their home to the waiting vehicle, and to get into the vehicle. In fact, they were sued over this, more specifically for not making accommodations: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-uber-... and https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-10/uber-sued...

The TNCs are not required to operate a minimum number of paratransit vehicles like taxi fleets are. Uber has been sued for not providing paratransit vehicles https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/18/uber-accessibility-lawsuit...

The TNCs and local regulators have done nothing to address widespread problems of drivers refusing to provide service to the handicapped. I remember being shocked at the posts in TNC driver subreddits and web forums regarding handicapped passengers. Many drivers see someone in a wheelchair and just bolt - using various methods to cancel/reject the ride - because they see picking up such a passenger to be time consuming, a risk, or annoying.

The service is not revolutionary if you live in the "wrong" part of town. I lived in a "not quite wrong, not quite right" neighborhood where there was plenty of wealthy young people but it was also close to the "wrong" part of town...and when I tried using the service, it'd be 20 minutes to get a ride and usually at least one cancellation. In the "right" part of town? A quarter of the wait, and never a canceled pickup.

[dannyobrien]

I'm curious to your baseline here: my experience with cabs in San Francisco is/was that they would just drive off if you had a wheelchair, whereas Uber/Lyft drivers were already committed, so would follow through. Same for coming out to certain locations. I'm guessing this has far more to do with the norm about drivers being penalised for excessive cancellations/refusing trips, and riders ability to provide direct feedback.

[lesstenseflow]

> I lived in a "not quite wrong, not quite right" neighborhood where there was plenty of wealthy young people but it was also close to the "wrong" part of town...and when I tried using the service, it'd be 20 minutes to get a ride and usually at least one cancellation. In the "right" part of town? A quarter of the wait, and never a canceled pickup.

Is it possible fewer people were calling Ubers from that part of town, so there were fewer drivers there? Whereas the wealthier part of town was busier? Drivers go where they are called more frequently, hence the shorter wait time in the other part of town. What do you propose Uber do differently here, force drivers to idle in less busy parts of town?

“I had to wait twenty minutes for a ride” what’s your complaint here, that Uber is evil and transphobic, or that you’re upset a livery servant doesn’t show up the moment you snap your fingers? This “I had to wait 20 minutes for a ride” complaint shows a really entitled and self centered attitude.

I’m really curious what you think Uber should do differently in that case, and why you were calling Ubers at all if they’re so evil and taxis are just as good. The last point really makes me scratch my head.

[Spooky23]

Pretty easy, they control the ability to cancel and the ability to get work. If they cared about these problems, they’d reward the drivers who don’t fuck around.

The cancellation one is the easiest, you just purge the top cancellers.

[_8j50]

Everything you said is an attempt to find a rare case to make your point. I do live in a bad part of town where insurance companies cancel on me because of risky neighborhood and I use uber many times a week. Majority of my drivers are african americans or a minority who would not be able to drive a Taxi without fronting a lot of money or have a connection with a someone who will rent a medallion and then of course do it full time to break even. I even had family members who drove Taxi and it was so miserable for them because on off seasons they barely made enough to cover gas and medallion rental. Minorities that have a hard time getting work or living in areas with economic drought (chain stores moved out due to white flight or crime so jobs are far away) can just drive uber at least as supplement which is what they tell me they do when I ask them.

As for trans folks, their face should match what is on their ID. This is a safety issue. Even if your stare or country won't let you set preferred gender they won't stop you from updating your picture. Bad guys can game the system otherwise.

[wolverine876]

> After all these years they are not even trying to compete with Uber they just want things to go back to the way they were

Who are you describing? Can you name anyone?

> where consumers are taken advantage of

I've never felt taken advantage of in a taxi. I know Uber pushes this all the time, but can you give examples? I know with Uber or Lyft they collect data on me such as where I am and where I go.

> or discriminated against

Is there any evidence that it's better with ridesharing apps? I mean evidence, not the same claims long made by Uber.

[bhb916]

Pre-uber it was common at McCarren Airport (Las Vegas) that taxis would intentially take you the wrong way to spike their fare. Those who knew would have to demand the driver to not take the tunnel, and even then they would argue with you. There is no reason not to think that this was common everywhere.

[KennyBlanken]

Why do you think TNC drivers don't do this, especially when the company is incentivized to ignore it? Pro tip: if the driver's phone isn't visible from the rear passenger seat, pull up the route on your phone and watch them like a hawk.

The uber/lyft driver subreddits and web forums used to be full of stories of drivers bragging about intentionally taking the 'long way'. Drivers bragged about how the often strange and dynamic routing used by Waze and Google Maps made it very easy to take a random turn that adds miles to the trip (or lots of traffic, preferable if the driver has a hybrid) and how they could just dismiss the customer's questions with "oh, I don't know, I'm just following the app" (except for the purposeful wrong/missed turn.)

I used to take Uber/Lyft occasionally and I'd always pull up the route on my own phone because I'd frequently catch my driver starting to make an unexplainable turn, or intentionally choose a very high-congestion route instead of a faster arterial road.

If you don't know the city well, it's easy to miss the driver purposefully making one accidental wrong turn that ends up adding significantly to the fare.

The difference in my city is that if your taxi driver did this, you could complain to the police unit overseeing taxis.

Now? You complain to Uber and they give you a discount or correction if you're lucky and haven't been too much of a squeaky wheel.

[stormbrew]

In some places (I don't think it's everywhere) Uber charges/pays the estimated fare from before the trip regardless of the route actually taken, I believe. In theory that makes it harder to do the thing being described, but it also obviously means a driver who gets stuck in traffic on the route uber says they should take is gonna get screwed.

[wolverine876]

There is plenty of reason - while I heard rumors of it, I never experienced it. Also, in most locales taxis make a significant bonus from the 'flag drop', the start of a ride. Prolonging rides isn't as profitable as finding new ones.

[codazoda]

I’ve been taken on much longer rides than necessary in multiple cities. Las Vegas and Chicago are the first that come to mind. It’s also nearly impossible to know how much a taxi ride will cost in advance. The app and “quote” are the game changer with Uber and Lyft. If the Taxi companies (especially in Vegas) would build a similar app and pre-quote my trips, I’d probably still use them, even if they are a little more expensive, because Uber stops are typically much farther away. But Taxi companies don’t seem to want to.

[jonnybgood]

As a POC and for many of my POC friends in NYC Uber was a god send. The discrimination is real.

[SamoyedFurFluff]

Also a POC and never had an issue with NYC taxis.

[jonnybgood]

That's great! I'm glad you never had to experience it.