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Comment by bedhead | Hacker News Reader

I agree, except the problem is that by-and-large, regulated taxi services work perfectly fine. How are they even close to dysfunctional currently? So people can't find a cab in mid-town at 5pm on a rainy day, I mean, come on. I'm pretty darn laissez faire when it comes to regulation, but honestly I think taxi service is done pretty well.

Here's what I know. If I paid (heavily) into a system of regulation that worked, only to have someone hack it and basically blow up my asset/income stream, you'd better believe I would push back hard. Aereo, anyone?

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If taxis weren't so dysfunctional, Uber wouldn't have so many happy users and drivers.

For example, it used to be a major hassle trying to get a car to pick me up in Park Slope, Brooklyn. I would call the local car service, who would always say "5 minutes". Except it often wasn't 5 minutes and sometimes they didn't come at all.

Other car services were OK but took a long time to show up. Now with Uber I can hail an NYC green taxi.

Sorry to sound like an Uber ad but it's been working really well for me.

I'm just talking about UberX, not regular old Uber that fetches a licensed taxi, which I use and love.

No, you're not. You're defending them fighting back.

> If I paid (heavily) into a system of regulation that worked, only to have someone hack it and basically blow up my asset/income stream, you'd better believe I would push back hard. Aereo, anyone?

I actually do think cabs are broken. Without a rating system after they get a medallion they're golden for at least a year.

I get into cabs where: - The driver can't speak English - Doesn't know where they're going - The cab smells - Drives dangerously - Is drunk (literally had an open bottle of wine under the handbrake) - Doesn't turn up when I book it

The list goes on, the moment I started taking uber cabs all of this stopped, I review every cab I take after a trip and the moment they drop too far they're removed from the service.

Sure, maybe within the existing system I could write an email to the cab company (who will probably ignore me on account of trying to avoid a fine), the medallion issuer (who MIGHT fine the driver if this happens often). But the reality is that this is hard, and giving someone a rating between 1-5 stars at the end of the trip is easy.

> Doesn't turn up when I book it

This is my most frequent complaint (Boston and Pittsburgh). My success rate is about 30% when I have to call for a cab.

> (literally had an open bottle of wine under the handbrake)

Get out of the cab. Pay or don't pay, it doesn't matter. Note the cab number and call the taxi company or whatever organization polices the drivers internally (in Chicago, I think 3-1-1 is sufficient). YOU saw the infraction, who else do you expect will fix it? Sometimes the taxi driver will not see anyone else from the company, only the other driver who shares the car.

To be honest, at the time I was so shocked, I heavily doubting what I was seeing.

Or 911, since this is also DUI in progress.

Here in Chicago, there are many problems. The most frequent complaint is that drivers purposely break their credit card machines so that payment via card is not possible. The reason being that drivers are forced to pay the card processing fee themselves, which is another problem.

Aside from that, cash transactions are not recorded, which in turn results in less of that Driver's income being taxed, taking money away from local municipalities. This is actually a great argument in favor of uber, as they send 1099s out to all of their drivers.

> The most frequent complaint is that drivers purposely break their credit card machines so that payment via card is not possible.

That's not a problem, because they are required to accept credit cards (read the "Passenger Rights & Responsibilities" that they are also required to display). I've never been refused with this response: "I can pay the full fare with my credit card, or I can give you the $1-5 in my wallet."

OTOH, a lot of taxi drivers will break their machines and ask to use Square instead. I hear that Square's fee is about half of the company-provided machine's fee. I don't object to that, because the convenience is the same on my part.

Where do you live? Taxis work well in some cities and terribly in others (SF!).

Chicago. Live and work in the city. Took Uber this morning (pouring rain...I normally ride bike) as a matter of fact. Uber is great...it's just the rideshares that are a problem.

When I lived in SF I was close enough to a Muni line that I almost never needed to take a taxi. The three times I did, all late at night, the taxis showed up promptly, the fares were reasonable, I felt safe, and I got where I needed to go. I'm not saying taxis in SF aren't "terrible," but it hasn't been my experience.

This disruption at least gives them quicker incentive to improve their service. Develop a decent app instead of having people wait on hold after calling, etc.

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