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Comment by chillingeffect | Hacker News Reader

Can someone please help me understand why traditional taxis haven't adapted the same tech as Lyft and Uber? You're right, there really is no moat. Tech is mostly a big ol database. Is it due to disjointure among small companies?

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There's a startup called Flywheel that has been selling shovels to taxi cab companies -- in the form of electronic dispatch, payments, navigation and GPS-based metering.

https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/22/flywheel-expands-uber-like...

And it works fine. I've been using Flywheel since 2013. Their software started out rough, but now it's solid. It may be a bit more expensive, but the average driver I get has been driving in SF more than a decade, so they're knowledgeable and competent. Plus I know they're insured and properly regulated.

They have in a lot of markets, like Denmark and Spain.

Taxi companies are not these monolithic nimble entities, and have multiple parties involved with any transaction - actual driver (independent contractor "renting" the vehicle"), medallion owner, vehicle owner, dispatch service. None have a very strong incentive to differentiate or enough financial resources to break from the pack.

Yellow Cab San Francisco has the YoTaxi app. (I heard about it during one of the few recent times that I took a cab instead of Uber/Lyft since my phone was dead and they advertised it on the back of the passenger seat)

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yotaxi/id1046974371?mt=8

there are apps for this. but as a taxi you are subject to fixed prices and regulation. uber and left can undercut them thanks to our glorious fake world of VC money. you don't see taxi drivers handing out free $25 for first time riders

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