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Comment by Cthulhu_ | Hacker News Reader

Uber should be worried, but also because they are no longer cheaper than the established competition (taxis) that already had the labour laws in place.

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Where I live taxis are generally cheaper than Uber and other ride sharing services. So I tend to avoid ride sharing. The fact that there is an app used by many taxi companies also helps.

Even if the price is the same I rather get a cab because taxi industry is heavily regulated and they have to respect a lot of rules as opposed to ride sharing. And I rather have most of the money stay in the local economy.

For me at least it’s not actually the price of the Uber but that I know what it will be up front. I wasn’t really taking cabs until uber was ubiquitous though so maybe that’s not the same for everyone.

In Denmark taxis are great and are used all the time, but I think Uber is illegal here anyway so...

Taxis are not great here in Denmark, I don't know why you'd think to state this. They are also not "used all the time", instead used sparingly because of how outrageously expensive they are. Taxis are run by cartels here who have carved up Denmark amongst themselves. Drivers wait in queues, idling, and are paid to idle, sometimes dozens of cabs at a time. As a result, taxis in Denmark are some of the most expensive in the world.

Uber was banned here in Denmark because the taxi companies saw a threat to their easy money. Drivers wanted to drive independently and for a brief period where Uber was allowed to operate, competition flourished and prices came way down.

I'm not saying Uber is a good thing but pretending or even suggesting that the taxi companies are somehow an ethical or good alternative is absurd.

hmm, ok so maybe things changed in the last 15 years as I do not go out on the weekends anymore but basically all I remember was everyone taking cabs everywhere.

My experience from other countries made me feel like hey, these Danes sure do use the cabs quite a bit.

As a general rule I find the cabs in Denmark more reliable and better maintained than UK, Italy, and any region in the U.S I've lived in.

>As a result, taxis in Denmark are some of the most expensive in the world.

Everything in Denmark is some of the most expensive of that thing in the world. Suggesting that taxis are somehow different than all the other expensive stuff in Denmark is absurd.

I guess you and your friends are rich. I can easily go out 3 nights instead of going out 1 night and taking a taxi home in sweden. I can imagine dk is worse :D

Fortunately for us customers, it seems Uber catalyzed a transition among most other taxi companies as well to improve this. A bunch of local taxi companies here have apps that have the same features as Uber, where you can pay in the app and see where the cab is on its way to you etc. There are "OEM" taxi callcenter cloud services that small taxi companies can rent to get the uber experience for their fleet without any IT knowledge, each car gets an iPad with an ODB connection and you're ready to go.

Taxis have apps now too you know. Like the experience is exactly the same as Uber. At least in european countries.

Apps yes, but still mostly metered.

In Oslo, Norway, one of the major taxi companies has an app called Taxifix. You reserve a maximum price in advance. If it ends up cheaper, you only pay the actual price. If it ends up more expensive, the taxi company covers it. You can also see where your taxi is on a map while you are waiting

I think other companies have similar apps, but I always use this company as they usually have more competent drivers and reasonable prices

That also works in göteborg.

In Ireland, where Uber has its headquarters for Europe (also support staff), unlicensed taxis have been banned since 2004 or so. They recently started doing taxi booking and payment via the app, but it's all regular taxis. All taxis also have an identical pricing structure, so you can easily tell what one will cost ahead of time.

There have been competing apps for that here for a long time.

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