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Comment by dorfsmay | Hacker News Reader

Would it be different with a taxi company?

Would a taxi customer be able to obtain anything from a taxi company beside the money paid out by the insurance? Does it matter who pays for the insurance, company vs driver? Aren't a lot of taxi driver insured themselves?

I don't see technology to call the ride (an apps vs phone), or work arrangement (cab might be an employee or a contractor to a large company vs an "independent worker" makes a difference. Would a taxi company bear more responsibilities? How?

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Perhaps it would not be different. But maybe this whole time it should have been different, and the centralization provided by ride share apps like Grab now make it feasible for it to be different.

So I don’t buy this argument, and I think it’s a dangerous one. The hyperbolic, oblivious version of what you’re saying is: “well, when there were many taxi companies, it was a Wild West with no tracking and little accountability, why should that change now that the tech lets you call a cab from a phone?”

The technology we use to hail cabs provides new business opportunities, and those are actively being pursued. But also the centralization of these operations also provides new regulatory opportunities — perhaps we should be taking advantage of those too!

The author talks about compromises we made in accepting technology. I'm pretty sure she doesn't argue it should have been different.

Now, let's address your question, should it be different? Sure, but not taxi vs people driving. All drivers should be targeted, not just professional drivers. This is not like airliners vs general aviation, because those two very rarely share paths and runway, while we all share the same roads. If I die as a taxi passenger because the other driver made a mistake, I'll still be dead.

Also, deaths on the road in the western world has been drastically declining because of campaign and laws against drunk driving, enforcement of speed limits, better engineering of roads and car safety. What are you proposing here for technology to increase road safety when you are saying maybe it should be different?

People driving taxis and Ubers certainly do have reason to be vetted at a higher standard than regular drivers, since for the most part they're spending much more time driving than anyone else; this leads to a much higher risk-per-driver if one is unsafe.

This is comparable to how there are special licensing requirements, above and beyond the typical driver's license, in order to drive a truck or a bus (and, IIRC, even higher requirements to drive a schoolbus.)

I didn’t get the sense that the article was about taxi vs ride sharing, I don’t think her point depends on ride sharing being worse than taxis. They should both bear some responsibility, in my interpretation of the article.

> Would a taxi company bear more responsibilities? How?

I don’t know about Singpore, but I think the answer in many cities is yes to some degree, and the reason is that taxi companies are more established and have more regulatory oversight today. In some places the taxi company owns the car, and licenses the car and the driver, where ride sharing apps benefit from hiring people who use their own car. That is, after all, the main reason why ride share apps are currently under-cutting taxis.

I haven't been to singapore for a copule of years, but I didn't notice Uber undercutting taxis, it was just easier to get them (especially out of the city centre), and easier to expense, with a single bill at the end of the month.

Likewise in the UK, all uber drivers are licensed private hire drivers, same as Sal's taxis. It's just that they tend to be far better. The only illegality I've seen is potentially breaking the regulations I've heard exist to prevent a taxi based in stoke and thus licensed under Staffs driving me from Crewe (Cheshire) to Knutsford (Cheshire). Far better than the unlicense minicabs that used to be so common in cities on a friday night.

Isn't it about taxi vs ride sharing? The author wrote:

"I’m also more aware of the profound compromises we’ve made in giving tech companies, even those with well-intentioned CEOs, so much power over our daily lives"

How do you interpret that?

Compromises over what if this isn't taxi vs ride share? What compromises have we made here?

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