6 ms·

> Nobody but nobody wants their cabby to be a guide That's not just wrong, but unimaginative.

by throwaway_xx9 10y ago

collyw 10y ago
There are Taxi tours of Belfast where they show you around the sites. The guy we got made a pretty good tour guide.
- austinjp 10y ago
  Well, passengers who are booking a tour expect a tour. So... I don't think this compares to the average cab passenger in e.g. London. But I take your point, and I was over-zealous in my previous comment.
- grkvlt 10y ago
  Interesting. Apparently, during the 'euphemisms' the public bus service was often disrupted by terrorism or bomb threats, so sharing rides in black taxis became common in Belfast as an alternative.
austinjp 10y ago
It seems I've underestimated the quality of taxi tours, and over-stated my position. Black-cab taxi tours of London are apparently very high quality [0] although I'm uncertain of how much in-demand they are. I was envisaging the passengers who book a cab to travel from A to B, not explicit tour bookings. I find it odd that cabbies are rallying behind the "safest ride with the greatest guide" slogan when Uber appear to do a reasonable job regarding background investigations [1], and the "greatest guide" is only required for a minority (I presume) of bookings. To me, it feels that black-cabs have had a monopoly on being able to pick up passengers and charge high fares. They're now being undercut by Uber, and they're fighting back by emphasising their current business model. Surely their business is suffering precisely because their operating model has failed to predict and adapt to change? [0] https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186338-d1888678-Reviews-London_Black_Taxi_Tours-London_England.html https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186338-d188... [1] See footnote in this article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11608878/I-said-Uber-was-better-than-Londons-black-cabs.-And-then-it-all-kicked-off....html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11608878/I-said-...

> Nobody but nobody wants their cabby to be a guide That's not just wrong, but unimaginative.

collyw 10y ago

There are Taxi tours of Belfast where they show you around the sites. The guy we got made a pretty good tour guide.

austinjp 10y ago
Well, passengers who are booking a tour expect a tour. So... I don't think this compares to the average cab passenger in e.g. London. But I take your point, and I was over-zealous in my previous comment.
grkvlt 10y ago
Interesting. Apparently, during the 'euphemisms' the public bus service was often disrupted by terrorism or bomb threats, so sharing rides in black taxis became common in Belfast as an alternative.

austinjp 10y ago

It seems I've underestimated the quality of taxi tours, and over-stated my position. Black-cab taxi tours of London are apparently very high quality [0] although I'm uncertain of how much in-demand they are. I was envisaging the passengers who book a cab to travel from A to B, not explicit tour bookings. I find it odd that cabbies are rallying behind the "safest ride with the greatest guide" slogan when Uber appear to do a reasonable job regarding background investigations [1], and the "greatest guide" is only required for a minority (I presume) of bookings. To me, it feels that black-cabs have had a monopoly on being able to pick up passengers and charge high fares. They're now being undercut by Uber, and they're fighting back by emphasising their current business model. Surely their business is suffering precisely because their operating model has failed to predict and adapt to change? [0] https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186338-d1888678-Reviews-London_Black_Taxi_Tours-London_England.html https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186338-d188... [1] See footnote in this article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11608878/I-said-Uber-was-better-than-Londons-black-cabs.-And-then-it-all-kicked-off....html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11608878/I-said-...