Hacker News Reader

Uber is sometimes cheaper and Uber drivers have an incentive to provide a better service because if they don't their rating goes down. Taxi drivers don't care because they don't have a rating and will be rude, overcharge or take longer routes than needed to make you pay more.

View on HN

That totally depends on location. In my city, price of Uber and taxi is pretty much equal or some taxi operators are even cheaper. Furthermore, there's a centralized taxi app that connects most of operators and you can also rate driver after your journey is completed.

Yes, the fundamental truth is that taxi service varies wildly depending on location, due to many factors including differing regulation and geography. You just can't compare taxis in Manhattan NYC with taxis in Houston TX.

I used to live in northern NJ, within commutable distance of Manhattan. Manhattan cabs, for me as a white person, were pretty easy: just stand on the corner and hail one. There wasn't any point in using Uber/Lyft because it would have taken more time to get out my phone and mess with the app! However, back at home in NJ the taxis were ridiculously bad: I had to call ahead and hope they would show up within an hour. Then they'd drive me in some weird long route to get a higher fare. Uber/Lyft were so much easier (aside from being cheaper).

Reply on news.ycombinator.com