I think there is some legitimacy to the shake-up of the "taxi cartel".
Where I live in the midwest traditional taxi cabs are unreliable with their pickup times, they often advertise they accept credit cards when they do not, and they have a history of intentionally diverting through long routes.
Uber brings accountability and transparency to every step in the process of getting a taxi cab.
I'm not rooting for the good guy, I'm rooting for the more convenient and efficient customer experience.
I agree with you here -- I'm not necessarily pumped about ride-sharing because it's the best way for everybody to get around, but it is an outstanding way to wake up the taxi companies and force them to actually consider customers. Until recently, they've had enough of a corner on the market that they can have broken credit readers, unsafe drivers and suspect billing without much consequence. In my city, they seem to be regarded as the Comcast of the transportation world.
> they often advertise they accept credit cards when they do not,
This is not allowed in the UK and you have a variety of ways to tackle it.
> and they have a history of intentionally diverting through long routes.
This sounds straight up criminal. Carrying a GPS enabled phone and mapping the route driven should gather enough evidence to persuade regulators to take action.
"This sounds straight up criminal. Carrying a GPS enabled phone and mapping the route driven should gather enough evidence to persuade regulators to take action."
Do you think that is more efficient/effective over just going to another "taxi" company? Because that's how you'd solve the problem if you didn't have a cartel/monopoly granted and enforced by government.
Additionally, do you think it's fair/efficient/effective for us to legislate against scenic driving? Because, some taxi companies might offer that specifically, and not as a ploy for more money.
Following from that, do you think it's efficient/effective to clog up regulations with such minutiae exceptions/details as above? So that even new competitors into the "taxi" business need to comply with countless regulations.
Face it, as soon as you make exceptions, you need transparency. To get transparency you need to enforce compliance, to enforce compliance you need to make sure the players conform to whatever method you come up with to ensure that they aren't breaking your minute detail/regulation. And that means increasing the barrier to entry into that market, which means less competition.
> This sounds straight up criminal. Carrying a GPS enabled phone and mapping the route driven should gather enough evidence to persuade regulators to take action.
This happened to me multiple times in the US, Europe and Asia generally when taking a taxi from the airport or a railway station. And I know first hand that tired customers in a hurry in a foreign country don't have time, energy and determination to gather evidence or argue. This willingness to give up a fight is likely a contributing factor to the continued prevalence of the practice.
I dislike many of Uber's business practices, but ride sharing in general is a great way to leverage technology to solve the above problem.
Where I live in the midwest traditional taxi cabs are unreliable with their pickup times, they often advertise they accept credit cards when they do not, and they have a history of intentionally diverting through long routes.
Uber brings accountability and transparency to every step in the process of getting a taxi cab.
I'm not rooting for the good guy, I'm rooting for the more convenient and efficient customer experience.