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Last time I was in NYC, I used Uber-for-taxis Curb app, which I found to be consistently cheaper and largely interchangeable UX-wise with Uber (upfront fares, ride tracking, driver rating, etc). In NYC at least, Uber offered me as a user no tangible upside. I think their inherent competitive advantage against taxis, at least in major metropolitan areas, has been exaggerated.

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Is it still the case that in NYC Ubers are required to have livery plates? I recall that making the price more expensive and closer to taxis than it is in many major cities where Ubers can drive with regular plates and no livery cab license, so I don't know that NYC is particularly representative of other major metropolitan areas.

I think the big advantage with Uber is you don't have to shell out for a Medallion. I know they used to go for upwards of $1M but now I heard they can be had for $150k - 300k, much cheaper than the previous $1M but that's still an overhead you wouldn't have with Uber.

Yes, I understand that. But my point was that in many cities you need neither a hackney license (i.e. a medallion) nor a livery license, whereas in New York you need a livery license. Livery licenses are much cheaper to acquire than a medallion, but they still raise the barrier to entry more than in other major cities, so I suspect that would be relevant for pricing.

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