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Comment by Fernicia | Hacker News Reader

I regularly get Uber/Lyfts from JFK and Newark without hassle. I don't know why I'd want to ride with a regular taxi.

Taxis still suffer from all the things that created the impetus for ride sharing platforms:

- Lack of price transparency. Will tourists landing in JFK know that $100 is an acceptable price for a trip into the city? Or that $150 is a scam?

- Lack of driver rating (or passenger rating)

- Maligned incentives. The taxi driver has incentives to extend the trip as long as possible via traffic or a long route. This is not the case in ride sharing apps.

- Accountability. Doesn't happen in NY, but seedier parts of the world taxis have abducted and robbed/raped their customers. Ride sharing provides centralised ride records and GPS data for passenger and driver.

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It's always better to take a taxi from JFK--if it's feasible and assuming you take a real taxi and don't get scammed by the dudes who try to hustle you when you're walking out of the airport with luggage.

As mentioned, they have pretty much set rates to go into Manhattan, and it's cheaper to go to other areas as well. I used to live in Williamsburg until very recently, and had to take Ubers from JFK occasionally when I landed at a terminal that had a bad taxi situation. The Ubers were expensive AF; over $100 total. Taxis were always sub-100, even when I used to live in Manhattan.

My main issue with taking Ubers from the airport, though, is that waiting for them takes forever and the designation pickup locations are clusterfucks. In contrast, the taxi stands have orderly lines. This is heavily terminal dependent, though; when landing at the American Airlines terminal, the taxi situation is great. The line is never too long and moves quickly. But, as mentioned, sometimes one lands at a terminal with a massive taxi line that moves like a snail. At that point, maybe one opts for an Uber--for which the wait is 10+ minutes, and may increase as time goes on and drivers are switched (!!), and the cost is extortionate.

In non-airport situations in NYC, taxis are always cheaper. Not always feasible outside of Manhattan (there aren't enough driving around in most parts of the other boroughs), but for any intra-Manhattan trip, taxis should be preferred.

I’m sure your experience was true at some point, but in my most recent experience with taxis at JFK, I would never go back to ordering Ubers or Lyfts. There’s a long line of taxis waiting, so there’s never a need to wait for a driver. They all have ample space for luggage, something I’ve had trouble with when using ride-share apps before. They had a flat price to go into Manhattan—around $70 if i recall correctly, whereas an Uber or Lyft at that time was $100+ for an XL. Surge pricing goes crazy.

> the things that created the impetus for ride sharing platforms

Ride sharing platforms weren't created to make things better for the drivers or for the customers, they were created to 'take over' an industry.

At first they will subsidize your rides to more effectively squeeze the old guys out by unfair competition.

Just you wait, if they ever do squeeze them out, and see if they don't become worse than taxis ever were.

You would never be asked to pay $100 for a trip from JFK to Manhattan--unless you're in an Uber!

NYC taxi pricing is more transparent and more predictable than Uber. Until recently the fares were printed on the cars.

Indeed, every single taxi I have ever seen has more transparent and simple pricing than uber. An initial price and then a per mile price. I can calculate it in my head, I don't have to trust that Uber's "algorithm" doesn't play price games.

Here largest riding app is grab that bought out uber in many asian countries. We can book taxi from the same grab app which I think is good

JFK doesnt't do enough to inform passengers that the city caps trips to Manhattan at around 60 dollars. Meanwhile Uber happily milks surge rates up to 150

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