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Comment by JumpCrisscross | Hacker News Reader

> Uber's business model is replacing FTEs

Where are taxi drivers employees with benefits? At least in New York, they're mostly independent contractors. (A minority are sole proprietors.)

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Check where they unionized more?

New York is probably one of the most union heavy places in America. Checking where they are unionized more isn't an accurate reflection of the rest of the world.

NL.

Look more at car service companies (Uber's original service), not taxis.

Why? For the vast majority of people, Uber is a taxi service.

The reason is that car service drivers are also being replaced and they are more likely to have been FTEs.

Great, I think you came up with the simplest solution: Uber should make whatever single digit percentage of total drivers that comprise their Uber Black drivers FTEs.

This might be a good selling point for the higher levels of Uber service: You're getting a full-time, professional driver who's been thoroughly vetted. It's not just some random person with an app.

I think for the vast VAST majority of riders, the "random person with an app" is good enough. In the age of turn-by-turn directions, rides are commoditized. A hundred crimes per year divided by billions of trips per year represents decimal point percentage crime rate — which is a risk not all that different from aircraft crash statistics, or even car crash statistics.

I know I definitely prefer to save tens of dollars per ride vs the services provided by some platonic ideal of a "professional driver".

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