[fragmede]

Last time I was in Vegas (in 2026), there was a $40/$60 surcharge to my destination because the taxicab commission was able to enact regulations that says taxis can charge that, while Lyft/Ubers to the same location did not have to pay it. I was waiting at a smaller hotel for 20 minutes for a taxi to arrive to the taxi stand. There was a line of people an no taxis in sight. The time before that, I got hit with the ole "credit card machine doesn't work" bit.

If they wannted to innovate, every taxi stand would have a QR code to download their app, you set your destination while you're waiting in the line (if there is one), you get in the cab, the driver scans the QR code from your phone, payment happens via CC in the app, no surprises either. The phone app would show you the route, and then give an estimated price, and if there's an overage due to traffic/other problem, give me a notification on my phone. It would also let me set preferences for conversation/temperature.