Post: #26

Uber is fuckin beautiful. Can't take a cab to a 5 star restaurant/club suited up and car services used to be grossly overpriced in my city unless you had a driver on lock. Not to mention the quality of the drivers, and that it's easy to hail an uber at anytime of the day or night. If you don't have to dough to splurge on black car/SUV from uber on a night on the town IMO you should be out earning until you can.

Post: #27

It's the taxi companies who pushed cities to create restrictions to market entry and drove up the prices so high that Uber became a viable alternative. Fuck the taxi companies and fuck their dishonest drivers. I hope they end up on the street.

Post: #28

I don't understand why taxi companies didn't innovate and provide apps for customers. Instead of protest, why not innovate? In Moscow, many taxi drivers have dashboard mounted tablets that link up to dispatching. To get a taxi, I use one app (Yandex Taxi) and it takes less than 2 minutes for a cab to be dispatched. On the app you can actually track your cab on the map to know when it will be at your building. It tells you the fare, everything.

Post: #29

(06-26-2014 07:51 AM)Roosh Wrote:  I don't understand why taxi companies didn't innovate and provide apps for customers. Instead of protest, why not innovate? In Moscow, many taxi drivers have dashboard mounted tablets that link up to dispatching. To get a taxi, I use one app (Yandex Taxi) and it takes less than 2 minutes for a cab to be dispatched. On the app you can actually track your cab on the map to know when it will be at your building. It tells you the fare, everything.

Textbook incentive analysis. Most cities allow one or two cab companies to have a monopoly or auction off medallions severely limiting the supply of cabs. No reason to innovate so they didn't.

Post: #30

DC cab drivers are horribly unreliable. I don't even use uber and I hope they crush them.

Post: #31

^^^ Good riddance to them. Hate using cabs in this city.

There will no doubt be some attempt at banning uber and similar services in dc via legislation.

Have you all heard about the crackdown on UberX and Lyft in Miami?

Quote:How incensed are taxicab operators at rogue car services Lyft and UberX?

Running sting operations, fining drivers and taking their cars away — all of which the county has been doing — is just not harsh enough, one industry representative told Miami-Dade commissioners Wednesday.

He called those punishments “a joke” and demanded more: A little trip to the big house.

“Put the drivers in jail,” Rudy Gonzalez, the owner of U.S.A. Taxi, said.

And no time like right then and there: Industry lobbyist Susan Fried pushed for a “citizen’s arrest” of Lyft representatives at the meeting if they weren’t registered to lobby.

Another speaker called for a Lyft driver in the county commission chambers to be issued a ticket — on the spot.

The commissioners on the transportation and aviation committee did none of the above. Instead, they spent three hours listening to public testimony and debating what to do about UberX and Lyft. No conclusions emerged, with commissioners clearly perplexed about how to wrestle with the disruptive technology that allows passengers to request rides from private drivers via smartphone applications.

On one hand, Commissioner Bruno Barreiro said the government should consider taking Lyft and UberX, which are operating in defiance of county laws, to court.

“At what point is it, in your opinion, the proper legal time to take full action?” Barreiro asked an assistant county attorney, referring to a potential injunction. (The answer: not yet.)

On the other hand, Commissioner Esteban “Steve” Bovo said Miami-Dade should pass new laws to regulate the the companies, even if he’s unsure they will do well in car-loving Miami.

“We’re the biggest impediment to evolving — right here, at the Board of County Commissioners,” he said.

None of the four commissioners on the committee — even Jean Monestime, who has criticized taxicab owners’ dealings with cab drivers — favored the insurgent tactic employed by Uberx and Lyft to flout the law as a way to pressure politicians into action.

“They’ve been told their service is illegal,” Committee Chairman Dennis Moss said. “We can’t have folks coming in and just operating, setting up shop. The question becomes, where does it stop?”

Miami-Dade regulates “for-hire transportation,” which includes taxis and limousines. While UberX and Lyft say they are providing “ride-sharing” services that don’t fall under any of the laws on the books, the county considers the rides for-hire because passengers request and pay for them.

Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s administration has been fining Lyft drivers and, in at least four instances so far, impounding their cars in undercover stings run with the county police department. Lyft has been covering the drivers’ fines and other costs, including hiring an attorney to appeal the citations.

Gimenez, who made a rare committee-meeting appearance Wednesday, said his staff is enforcing the rules even though he wants the new technology in place.

“We need to change our regulations so that we can allow these kind of services to operate here,” he said.

Lyft staffers and their County Hall lobbyist, attorney and Gimenez confidant Jorge Luis Lopez, have met with regulators to draft a new ordinance for their services, which in other states have been deemed “transportation network providers.” Neither Lyft nor UberX employs drivers or runs its own vehicle fleet.

Uber, which in addition to UberX offers a luxury-car service known as Uber Black, was the first of the two companies to lobby Miami-Dade to reform its laws. But the idea foundered late last year at the hands of the same transportation committee that heard from Lyft on Wednesday.

Last month, with no notice to the county, Lyft threw a party and inaugurated its service, prompting fierce competitor UberX to do the same two weeks ago.

Tuwana Dumond, the Lyft driver who spoke at Wednesday’s meeting, said giving rides helps her network and supplements her income as an actress.

“I believe in forceful change,” she said. “I don’t think what we’re doing on the streets is wrong. People deserve options.”

Among commissioners’ concerns were that unregulated car service could endanger passengers or lead to insurance headaches. Veronica Juarez, Lyft’s director of government relations, insisted the company accepts few drivers who apply, based on driver history and background checks.

She also said Lyft provides insurance if personal coverage doesn’t kick in when a driver is in an accident, though she acknowledged the insurance industry is also catching up to the car-service model.

“All we ask is that you maintain an open mind in addressing those concerns,” she told commissioners.

But cab company owners — many of them longtime County Hall fixtures who hold valuable taxi medallions that could be devalued by competition — were having none of it. They can’t compete with the likes of Uber, which investors recently valued at $17 billion, they said — while noting extensive protests against the company across Europe this week that paralyzed traffic in major cities.

“For 42 years, I followed all of your rules. Every driver out here has followed all of your rules,” said owner Jerry Moskowitz, who referred to Uber as a “honey bear that runs amok.” “ They went over your heads.”

Fried, the lobbyist for the South Florida Taxicab Association who called for the citizen’s arrest of the Lyft driver, offered a tongue-in-cheek ride to anyone who wanted to go home with her, since the county apparently wouldn’t care about regulating it, she said.

Then she defended the existing laws, which have protected the taxi industry.

“There’s nothing wrong with them,” she said. “If you want to get rid of the old regulations, we’ll go back to the Old West — become a group of gangsters.”

Fucking fascists. I hope people will just continue to openly disobey it like that bullshit NYC tried to pull with banning Airbnb.

Post: #32

What a hilariously stupid idea, striking to protest a competing service.

Post: #33

(06-25-2014 11:18 PM)tarquin Wrote:  The type of people who use the government to keep oligopolies in control are the same type of people who underfund social programs and protest the cutting of "their" medicare benefits. The self-interested nature of these groups would be comical if it weren't so grotesque. It is a pervasiveness in society that all "wrongs" can somehow be remedied by yelling loud enough to get your own way.

Not sure why you're decrying basic human nature. I know for damned sure that if I ever manage to climb to the top of the heap, I will fight tooth and nail to preserve my top-dog status. You will have to take my priviledges and protections out of my cold, dead hands. The idea that "self interest" is bad is as blue-pill as it gets.

On a related note, I see stuff like Uber and AirBnB as a race towards the bottom. It shows how far general living standards have fallen when fully grown adults consider it worth their time to run part time cab service or rent out rooms in their house to strangers for some extra pennies. The next logical step is to keep a few pigs in your living room for a small subsidy from Big Agribusiness. If that sounds too much like medieval squalor, just make an app for it, and it automagically becomes cool and cutting edge rather than depressingly wretched.

Post: #34

(06-26-2014 11:30 AM)rekruler Wrote:  

(06-25-2014 11:18 PM)tarquin Wrote:  The type of people who use the government to keep oligopolies in control are the same type of people who underfund social programs and protest the cutting of "their" medicare benefits. The self-interested nature of these groups would be comical if it weren't so grotesque. It is a pervasiveness in society that all "wrongs" can somehow be remedied by yelling loud enough to get your own way.

Not sure why you're decrying basic human nature. I know for damned sure that if I ever manage to climb to the top of the heap, I will fight tooth and nail to preserve my top-dog status. You will have to take my priviledges and protections out of my cold, dead hands. The idea that "self interest" is bad is as blue-pill as it gets.

You're right to call me on it.

I suppose "self-interested" isn't really what irks me. Perhaps I'm annoyed by the a mob-like myopic view of things which hinders everybody. Petitioning and the like is one way to respond, but it can't last forever. I'd rather see (or be apart of) the cab companies which respond with a fury of capitalistic competition. I'm not going to hold my breath.

Post: #35

(06-25-2014 09:45 PM)Drazen Wrote:  TAXIs are TERRIBLE, even at LAX, if you're in the last terminals sometimes they never even have taxi drivers there, I've had to wait like 30-40 minutes in line at times to get a cab. I'm going to start walking to the In'n'Out and getting a Uber/LYFT ride from there.

LAX is a fucking scam – they have a minimum charge of at least USD $20 even if you want to get dropped off a mile down the road. Are Uber/Lyft drivers not allowed to enter LAX?

Same shit in London with these “black cab” drivers. I had to get a ride to go to a birthday party straight from Heathrow. The venue was about 6 miles from the airpot and the fare was USD $70!

Post: #36

I would love to see something like this in Buenos Aires. Will give the taxi drivers a fit, and they are know for beign quite disruptive when their interests are touched.

Post: #37

(06-26-2014 07:51 AM)Roosh Wrote:  I don't understand why taxi companies didn't innovate and provide apps for customers. Instead of protest, why not innovate? In Moscow, many taxi drivers have dashboard mounted tablets that link up to dispatching. To get a taxi, I use one app (Yandex Taxi) and it takes less than 2 minutes for a cab to be dispatched. On the app you can actually track your cab on the map to know when it will be at your building. It tells you the fare, everything.

The taxi companies out where i live do but their apps to call cabs are crap. One of them after you set your destination and everything, MAKES YOU CALL! I cannot stress how bass-ackwards that is.

Post: #38

In some cities a cab badge is a license to print money. I read somewhere that a badge in NYC costs close to six figures. Any locals with more insight?

Post: #39

(06-26-2014 02:39 PM)WalterBlack Wrote:  LAX is a fucking scam – they have a minimum charge of at least USD $20 even if you want to get dropped off a mile down the road. Are Uber/Lyft drivers not allowed to enter LAX?

Same shit in London with these “black cab” drivers. I had to get a ride to go to a birthday party straight from Heathrow. The venue was about 6 miles from the airpot and the fare was USD $70!

Black cabs in England and even the private cabs are a rip off. A minimum charge to even get anywhere in the cheap towns is 4-5 pounds and they add on from there.

Black cabs are just the worst and should be challenged by a service such as Uber.

Post: #40

(06-26-2014 04:03 PM)Vicious Wrote:  In some cities a cab badge is a license to print money. I read somewhere that a badge in NYC costs close to six figures. Any locals with more insight?

In Boston a taxi license costs 625K. No joke. Every year only a few licenses are released here, and one Greek guy (I think?) buys them all and resells them at insanely high prices.

Post: #41

I recently took a Lyft from LAX. Uber at the time showed up as unavailable. Apparently Lyft drivers can get ticketed too but they still service LAX. The fare was just less than half of what a taxi would charge.

Post: #42

I think ubers days are numbered. Dont get me wrong awesome concept but government always finds a way to hault innovation. I know chicago is wrestling with this issue right now. I hate cabs as well but they do make a good argument against uber. I used to drive a buddies cab in college for extra cash. Id do illegal airport pickups as we weren't licensed in Chicago but thats where the money was. The regulation is crazy and potential fines huge pain in the ass to get licensed but then uber drivers come in and dont have to compete in that same market so to speak.

Post: #43

(06-27-2014 09:00 AM)jamaicabound Wrote:  I think ubers days are numbered. Dont get me wrong awesome concept but government always finds a way to hault innovation. I know chicago is wrestling with this issue right now. I hate cabs as well but they do make a good argument against uber. I used to drive a buddies cab in college for extra cash. Id do illegal airport pickups as we weren't licensed in Chicago but thats where the money was. The regulation is crazy and potential fines huge pain in the ass to get licensed but then uber drivers come in and dont have to compete in that same market so to speak.

I'm pretty sure you're right. Democrats run America and they hate free markets.

The death of Uber, Lyft, and other ridesharing applications is a great microcosm of why America is dying - Americans are being killed by their own government.

Post: #44

NYC has the best logistics in the country. Surprised anyone would say otherwise.

- Hailing a yellow cab in NYC is still the way to go for hopping around Manhattan
- Uber is a game changer for getting from the airports into Manhattan. (no more long crappy taxi rides or waiting around for the town car service that will drop the ball if you didn't book with enough notice).

Post: #45

Was at a bar last night and saw one UberX car after another dropping people off. If I were Uber or Lyft, I would be selling myself to nosy government as an effective measure in preventing drunk driving. Hell, I'd call up MADD and get their seal of approval.

Post: #46

There is an app for getting a DC area taxi, and it operates similarly to Uber's app. You're still paying more for the ride versus Uber's app. Taxi Magic is installed in the back of a lot of DC taxis and they have an app. They are trying to compete for city markets like Uber is doing. I've noticed a lot of Uber public policy jobs advertised where you would be lobbying city governments worldwide.

DC has come a long way since the time I moved here. They used to have the zone system and you'd get ripped off constantly if you didn't know the zones. You'd also have to go through a line of taxis and negotiate with them/flip them off/share fuck yous with each other before one would agree to take you where you wanted to go for the price you were offering. They would call the cops on me if I asked to go to an ATM. Now everyone is using credit and debit cards. They bitched when the zone system was eliminated. They'll bitch now.

Post: #47

(06-26-2014 02:39 PM)WalterBlack Wrote:  

(06-25-2014 09:45 PM)Drazen Wrote:  TAXIs are TERRIBLE, even at LAX, if you're in the last terminals sometimes they never even have taxi drivers there, I've had to wait like 30-40 minutes in line at times to get a cab. I'm going to start walking to the In'n'Out and getting a Uber/LYFT ride from there.

LAX is a fucking scam – they have a minimum charge of at least USD $20 even if you want to get dropped off a mile down the road. Are Uber/Lyft drivers not allowed to enter LAX?

Same shit in London with these “black cab” drivers. I had to get a ride to go to a birthday party straight from Heathrow. The venue was about 6 miles from the airpot and the fare was USD $70!

My Uber driver last night was telling me he got a ticket for dropping off someone last week. The cop was super aggressive about getting rideshares and he said they are starting to tow away drivers that go in. Sounds odd.

Post: #48

(06-27-2014 11:37 AM)Samseau Wrote:  

(06-27-2014 09:00 AM)jamaicabound Wrote:  I think ubers days are numbered. Dont get me wrong awesome concept but government always finds a way to hault innovation. I know chicago is wrestling with this issue right now. I hate cabs as well but they do make a good argument against uber. I used to drive a buddies cab in college for extra cash. Id do illegal airport pickups as we weren't licensed in Chicago but thats where the money was. The regulation is crazy and potential fines huge pain in the ass to get licensed but then uber drivers come in and dont have to compete in that same market so to speak.

I'm pretty sure you're right. Democrats run America and they hate free markets.

The death of Uber, Lyft, and other ridesharing applications is a great microcosm of why America is dying - Americans are being killed by their own government.

From the same page, Aereo just got killed after the cable companies evidently bought off the supreme court.

Post: #49

(06-26-2014 11:30 AM)rekruler Wrote:  

(06-25-2014 11:18 PM)tarquin Wrote:  The type of people who use the government to keep oligopolies in control are the same type of people who underfund social programs and protest the cutting of "their" medicare benefits. The self-interested nature of these groups would be comical if it weren't so grotesque. It is a pervasiveness in society that all "wrongs" can somehow be remedied by yelling loud enough to get your own way.

Not sure why you're decrying basic human nature. I know for damned sure that if I ever manage to climb to the top of the heap, I will fight tooth and nail to preserve my top-dog status. You will have to take my priviledges and protections out of my cold, dead hands. The idea that "self interest" is bad is as blue-pill as it gets.

On a related note, I see stuff like Uber and AirBnB as a race towards the bottom. It shows how far general living standards have fallen when fully grown adults consider it worth their time to run part time cab service or rent out rooms in their house to strangers for some extra pennies. The next logical step is to keep a few pigs in your living room for a small subsidy from Big Agribusiness. If that sounds too much like medieval squalor, just make an app for it, and it automagically becomes cool and cutting edge rather than depressingly wretched.

There is nothing blue pill about the desire for justice and to fight for a free market where the most competent and innovative succeed, not the person who lobbies the state to prevent competition. Your line of thought results in overall shit-hole places to live where it is extremely difficult if not impossible for the best to truly succeed without bribing the state - places like Mexico or Zimbabwe. It is therefore not in anyone's best interest to allow for conditions like this to succeed.

I am continually surprised and disappointed at what sociopathy keeps getting labeled as "alpha." Using the violence of the state to prevent competition is not "alpha."

Post: #50

(06-25-2014 07:07 PM)JayMillz Wrote:  http://twitchy.com/2014/06/25/d-c-cab-dr...d-c-booms/

What better way to advertise? D.C. taxi drivers decided to strike today in protest against Uber, the wildly popular mobile app startup that connects passengers with drivers of vehicles for hire and ridesharing services.

Instead of garnering sympathy, the strikers lost out big time as stranded tourists and commuters flocked to Uber.

The same thing happened in Milan a few weeks ago.

Now Taxis are going on strike AGAIN (probably next week) against Uber.

I've already registered and downloaded the app.