> Pretty fair that they blocked it.
Assuming taxi service regulation is fair of course. Taxis are insanely expensive in Germany.
Assuming taxi service regulation is fair of course. Taxis are insanely expensive in Germany.
What?
In Berlin from SXF to the "city center" it will run around 40€, from TXL, around 20€ to 30€ depending, and no tip. (Also both airports are served by public transport)
So, no, they are not insanely expensive compared to other places in Europe (and even elsewhere)
For someone who wants to nitpick you seem to have a funny definition of country...
And yes, taxis in SXF have a higher tariff http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxigewerbe_in_Berlin
Please don't call people out for minor mistakes that the principle of charity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity) can easily explain. Even when you're right, it usually adds more noise than signal.
It's easy to consider that omnibrain might be a non-native English speaker who isn't up on the distinctions between "country", "county", "state", "province", and the like. His or her meaning was clear, in any case.
If you do think something is important to correct, please edit out personalized language ("for someone...nitpick...you seem") from the correction. That too adds noise, plus detracts from civility.
So if they're going to say I don't know what I'm saying while providing erroneous information (Brandenburg is a state, not a country) I'm going to prove them wrong
You could also avoid the noise by saying what people should or should not do
Berlin is a City-State in Germany, entirely surrounded by the state of Brandenburg. Thus it's not too surprising that Berlin's big airport is "in another state."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States_of_Germany
This happens in the U.S. too - Cincinnati airport is actually in Kentucky, etc.
The reason TXL is cheaper is mainly because it's closer, SXF is pretty far out and BER is even further out. There's an extra airport upcharge for TXL though.
I would often take a taxi for £3 or £4 half way across a city in the UK, which would cost more like 15€ in Germany.
The average earning per km in Berlin is somewhere around or below 1,50 EUR before costs (anecdotal evidences but from a credible source). Nobody really gets rich from that - not even the cab company.
Just giving my opinion that I find taxis far more expensive in Germany than I did when living in the UK.
Here's a big list. Even allowing for the inherent unreliability of the internet (and some of those prices look a bit suspicious), just which city is it that costs three pounds to cross in a taxi?
http://www.numbeo.com/taxi-fare/country_result.jsp?country=U...
I just entered a journey I made often (home in north-west Glasgow to the central station) and that website came up with £13.50. I clearly remember paying £5 with tip for that journey from a local taxi company.
Even with the dominant black cab company, I don't remember going home from the city centre late night for as much as that.
In Paisley, which is a bit smaller, I took taxis to the airport for £3 or £4.
Like lots of other things in Europe, some things are cheaper, and some thing more expensive than in North American cities.
But to say that taxis are "insanely" expensive is not just overdrawn, but disconnected from reality.
And doesn't in the least detract from the main point: that just because Uber (or its fans on HN) perceive taxi fares as being higher in some locations than in others, doesn't give Uber the right to bust its way through local regulations. Period.
In London, black cab drivers still earn a very decent amount, able to take home £500 on a regular day afaik. http://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/18oush/how_much_do_t...