Comment by potatolicious | Hacker News Reader

Comment by potatolicious | Hacker News Reader

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Because NYC is bigger than just Manhattan. In fact, Manhattan is bigger than just Manhattan below 96th St ;)

In the wealthy side of Manhattan the city is swarming with cabs. In Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and even Harlem, Washington Heights, etc, cabs can be hard to come by.

UberX is also cheaper than a cab nowadays with the recent price drop.

I disagree with billmalarky below about the experience being better though. Uber's drivers are almost always considerably less experienced than cab drivers. I've lost count of the number of times I've sat in an immobile Uber while the driver futzes with some shitty GPS unit so he knows where the hell to actually go. Also lost count of how many times an Uber driver couldn't find his way to the Manhattan Bridge on-ramp. These are things that are second-nature to cab drivers.

When I get into a cab I might get a surly guy who's yakking on the phone the whole way, but I'll get to my destination quickly, and cheaply. When I get into an Uber I'm almost guaranteed to get someone who is polite, genial, and doesn't really know where they're going. I'll take the former, thanks.

> Because NYC is bigger than just Manhattan.

You know, you're right. When someone says "NYC" I pretty much only think of Manhattan (from the top of central park down). I forget how enormous the city actually is.

In my experience most Uber drivers were taxi drivers, so there is very little difference in that aspect. Sure, every now and then I get a noob that has to put the address into the GPS, but most of the time that is not the case. I have only taken a taxi once (in the bay area) in the last 2 years that I started using Uber and instantly regretted. It cost more, the condition of the car was horrendous, and the driver did not let me use his cable to charge my phone which I was using to call my friend to find the address of his place.

To be fair, the city has set up the green cab program to increase coverage outside of Manhattan. In my anecdotal experience, it's working very well.

Taxis are no longer cheaper in NYC, and I've never met an inexperienced Uber driver.

Whereabouts do you take Ubers? I rarely have problems in Manhattan, but let's be honest, if you can't navigate a perfect grid you probably shouldn't be driving passengers.

In Brooklyn and Queens though Uber has been considerably worse than cabs (green or yellow) in my experience. They just don't know the lay of the land as well as cabbies and frequently have to resort to GPS units (themselves not as good as a knowledgeable driver).

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