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You get what you pay for. If you're happy to entrust your life into a random untrained uninsured stranger, then go ahead and get the cheaper unregulated taxi.
by anticon 11y ago
You get what you pay for. If you're happy to entrust your life into a random untrained uninsured stranger, then go ahead and get the cheaper unregulated taxi.
- boothead 11y agoI'm pretty sure that the taxi that was being touted for the first time was also unregulated, so it's extremely unclear here what 3x my money was going to get me. Quality of black cabs and mini-cabs in London in also wildly variable. At least with uber you can actually leave a bad review (I'm not sure what comes of those) but I get a response on bad reviews at least.
- anticon 11y agoNever had a bad black cab ride. I'd trust any black cab driver over software/GPS etc.
- boothead 11y agoAlmost every black cab ride I've ever had has been great - and they most certainly know how to get round London better than a newly minted uber driver with google maps. However if you've never had a black cab with the driver spouting racist/misogynist/anti immigration rhetoric they whole journey, then you haven't lived ;-)
- anticon 11y agoA lot of taxi drivers grew up when London was part of England, before it became a "global city". It's unsurprising that they miss those days when it was still culturally part of England.
- ad_hominem 11y agoRegulations didn't save John Nash from dying in a traditional taxi. If you're happy to entrust your life to a random stranger that's shielded from market conditions/feedback, then go ahead and get the regulated taxi.
- hoopd 11y agoYou think market conditions will make taxis safer? Why do you think we have OSHA? Why do you think selling products with lead paint in them is illegal?
- dylanjermiah 11y agoMarket conditions have made transportation safer. Two way rating systems, accessible GPS, drivers #, drivers picture, driers location, arrival time etc.
- hoopd 11y agoThose aren't market conditions, they're technological advances.
- dylanjermiah 11y agoThese qualities are present because they were superior to the previous market provider, in order to compete in a free market your product or service has to be superior in some manner. Competitive market forces like safety, efficieny (both price and liquidity) are what makes Uber successful. No laws dictated these qualities, no legislation demanded this level of safety. These practices were conceived via market forces, and safety was a by product.
- wfo 11y agoSafety precautions are in fact codified by law. Uber is in the business of breaking the law and ignoring all regulations. The fact that they have a substitute that follows the spirit of the regulations if not the letter and provides safety is the only reason governments have chosen to allow Uber to exist. The safety precautions Uber has ARE required by regulation, though implicitly; they act as a substitute which makes Uber's lawbreaking far less egregious.
- hoopd 11y agoThis is a fairy tale. > ...in order to compete in a free market... The entire point of Uber is that the taxi industry is not a free market, therefore the things necessary to compete in a theoretical "free market" are not relevant and can't be assumed to be why Uber is successful. Uber uses roads that were designed to comply with government safety regulations and their drivers drive cars designed to comply with a different set of government safety regulations. Those regulations exist because experience has shown that they need to.
- icebraining 11y agoIf you're happy to entrust your life into a random untrained uninsured stranger, then go ahead and get the cheaper unregulated taxi. Except the whole point is that taxi license owners want to prevent me from doing that.