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Comment by disgruntledphd2 | Hacker News Reader

Honestly, I'm pretty anti-Uber for a variety of reasons, but having experienced the cab services in SF a bunch of times, I completely understand why so many people there like it.

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As someone who did a fair amount of traveling Uber/Lyft/Grab (or whatever local app) is by far the best thing that has happened to tourism/travel in the last century and I'm not over exaggerating. The ability to go anywhere you point on the map at any time of the day without the fear of being ripped off _or worse_ changed everything.

Maybe that's where Uber should focus? Become an Airbnb of transportation.

Its so much better than taxis in even smaller cities. In Louisville to get a taxi took at least an hour uber made it minutes. I agree uber was investor subsidized but it was a good thing for a lot of people in smaller cities.

The real problem in SF is that it is just a fairly small city, so a lot of the big city things you'd expect from NYC/LA/Chicago just aren't there.

Additionally, the public transportation infrastructure designed to deal with the topography of the city has become nothing more than a tourist attraction, rather than a way to traverse the city.

I've taken cabs all over the world and I have to say one of the most terrifying experiences I've had was in SF in the 90s. We were absolutely flying up and down those hills with just some measly brake pads to save us (and the pedestrians).

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