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Comment by deathanatos | Hacker News Reader

Huh. I've literally never had a taxi driver take a long route on me. The route I normally take (home to airport & back) is pretty simple though.

I did have one taxi driver (thanks Denver, CO!) alter the terms of the deal on me at payment time. When I questioned why the fare was higher than expected (since it was supposed to be a flat rate from the airport) he asked me how he was supposed to make money if he charged the agreed-upon rate. One of the most idiotic things I've ever heard someone in a business transaction say, and I almost told him to take a hike right there. But, my company was paying, so I figured it wasn't worth the trouble…

I don't think I've really ever had any issues with Uber/Lyft, aside from I wish I could rate drivers honestly without worrying about ending their career. They're honestly not that different from taxis…

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> They're honestly not that different from taxis…

Strong disagree. Uber is better in pretty much every way over taxis. It's hard to overstate how much better Uber is compared to taxis. It's (generally) cheaper, cleaner, more predictable, and more pleasant.

- Outside of major cities, you can order a pickup but there's no guarantee that anyone will show up. I've had taxis cancel after waiting for 40 minutes.

- Cleanliness in taxis ranges from meh to horrifying.

- Manipulative techniques like pretending that the credit-card machine stopped working to force a cash transaction.

- In Vegas taxis, there's an obnoxious screen 3 inches in front of your face.

> I don't think I've really ever had any issues with Uber/Lyft, aside from I wish I could rate drivers honestly without worrying about ending their career.

The big difference between uber and taxis is that uber drivers have a direct incentive to improve via ratings. The incentive for taxi drivers to improve is much more indirect.

In regular taxis, you will get more money if you drive the longer route i.e. there is a very strong incentive to be increasingly dishonest.

> The big difference between uber and taxis is that uber drivers have a direct incentive to improve via ratings.

I'm not sure this is true. There's a limit to how well any driver can perform their job; unless a driver is rude to me or drives unsafely, I rate them five stars every time because I can't think of any legitimate reasons to rate them lower. When minor annoyances do occur, my desire not to disrupt another person's livelihood pressures me to let it go and rate 5 stars anyway. If they went above and beyond, I'd still rate them 5 stars. For me, that means the rating system tends to homogenize all service quality ranging from average to amazing.

My impression is that the incentive is more fear-based: even a brief period of below-average performance might cost you your job.

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