>> The highest cost for taxis is not the cars, nor the gas, but the drivers.
Do you have any source on this?
Do you have any source on this?
Edit: Maybe I goofed, mattmcknight accurately points out that in many cities the taxi medallion is the most expensive part of the taxi equation. I'm not intimately familiar with Uber; do drivers still have to obtain medallions in their respective cities?
However, the structure was created for old style limos: I.e. fat cat or prom kid books for hours, days in advance, not competitive with a taxi.
One could reasonably argue booking an uber 1 minute before pickup for a ten minute ride is a lot more like a taxi than a limo.
Note I am not criticizing Uber, as they clearly are obeying the law! But to some it looks like they are skirting it, benefiting from a loophole.
- permit (medallion, whatever)
- labour
- write-off on the taxi
- taxes
- fuel, tires
- insurance
- inspection
- credit card processing fees
Top all of that off with a healthy profit otherwise your taxi operator goes out of business quickly.
All of these to a greater or lesser extent contribute to the costs and result in a price-per distance unit (mile/km) driven and a wait tarif.
Taxis have considerable down-time between jobs so utilization is a factor as well.
Of course, the vehicles are probably getting twice the MPG, and the drivers are getting paid more, so the number of miles is probably much higher.
Assuming you're not driving a Mercedes, is your monthly car payment + insurance more than your monthly income?
You see where I'm going.