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Comment by pinaceae | Hacker News Reader

Spending a lot of time in Barcelona each year - what exactly is there to disrupt? taxi service is excellent, at all times of day. prices are reasonable, they know where to take you. cars are ok, clean.

i get it in the US, with all those shitty cabs and foreign drivers who don't know their areas, but Europe is different.

Apps like mytaxi.com are closing the payment/booking gap - backed by some powerful companies like Daimler.

Uber-like services are needed in the US where the government is unable to actually do its work due to a culture of distrust and paranoia.

There is no electronic health record, Google could not make it work. Sci Fi in the US. Austrians have had it for years now. Awesomely simple, proven. No startups needed. Also less chances for creating the next billionaires, but maybe it's ok if the rest of the population can enjoy working public services.

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That's not the experience I had in Barcelona. My friend wasn't feeling well and we tried to take a cab back to the hotel which was roughly a mile away, which apparently is too short for cab drivers to make much money. The guy at the head of the cab line refused to take us, and the second guy told us we had to take the first cab, and after arguing with the first driver he finally angrily took us, speeding around every corner and screeching his tires starting from every stop. When we got to the hotel and I started to dig out coins to pay, he yelled at us to get out of the cab and sped away without taking the money.

Worst cab experience of my life. I would have loved to have Uber available.

For Barcelona salaries, taxis are expensive, and can't compete with public transport. Uber, on the other hand, hits the sweet spot, with fares that are it competitive with metro or bus if you're sharing the ride with friends.

One trip from Gràcia to Barceloneta, 5km:

* Metro: 22 minutes, 1,03€ (with a T-10 card, which is the most expensive integrated transport option)

* Taxi: 15 minutes, 8-9€

* Uber: 15 minutes, 4-5€

Also, Barcelona cab drivers are known for driving you around if you look like a tourist. Uber drivers will never do that, since you rate them after the trip.

If there wasn't need for Uber, surely people would just hail cabs and not use the app, right?

Blaming government incompetence on a lack of public trust in government is... fallacious to put it kindly.

not at all.

you make the government the source of all evil. blame regulation, blame the people working in government, don't pay them well. what happens? public service will suck. no one qualified wants to work there. a self fulfilling prophecy.

the people get the government they are willing to pay for, they deserve.

the whole starving the beast rhetoric of the GOP, etc in the US is what ultimately makes the government dysfunctional - outside of Defense of course, the holy cow. if the DoD would be in charge of healthcare and public infrastructure, maybe then there would be progress in the US.

It's too bad you're unaware of the calculation problem and its consequences.

Also, let's reverse your argument -

"you make the free-market the source of all evil. blame a lack of regulation, blame the people working in corporations, regulate their pay as well. what happens? free-market service will suck. no one qualified wants to work there. a self fulfilling prophecy."

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