I don't see how it has done so at all, at least in Germany. Precisely because the industry is so highly regulated I don't see how Uber offers anything that I don't get with a regular taxi.
[0] http://nypost.com/2014/02/09/cabbies-who-kill-or-maim-in-nyc...
[1] http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/14/nyc-cab-driver-on-loose...
And they're not uninsured, they're self insured, which is, again, shown in that article you linked.
Uber users like myself vote on each ride with their credit cards to keep these services going. And with that, it means that the day Uber does something poorly, we have the freedom to immediately switch to a competitor.
In Germany? Not saying that it doesn't happen, but it is illegal. (Which often is an important argument to why Taxis are protected against competition, since they are forced to provide services that are not always profitable)
Uber just launched in Romania and it's having a hard time getting off the ground. I asked a taxi driver why he wouldn't join. He said he'd be scared for his safety from other taxi drivers.
Anecdotally, getting a cab from a major hub (airport, train or bus station) in Bucharest, without calling dispatch, entails a fixed price and the meter turned off. Illegal? Surely.
The main advantage of western countries, culminating in the U.S., is that laws are enforced regularly and predictably, most of the time.
Germany is doing just that. They're old laws, sure, but they must be enforced until they get a change to revise them.
As a driving enthusiast, driving in German was a pleasure (minus the traffic). Being able to cruise at 140 mph on unrestricted sections en route to Darmstadt, and feel safe doing so, was wonderful. Then again, obtaining a driver's license in Germany is substantially more difficult, costly, and time-consuming. Vehicle maintenance requirements are likewise more stringent (e.g. mandatory winter tires). Given the different driving environment, this ruling is not surprising in light of Uber's lackadaisical approach (I say that as a fan of Uber's service in the US, not their behavior).
Whereas in much of the US, you can cruise around a parking lot with an instructor, and walk away with a drivers license. It's like the wild west by comparison. Uber is faster, safer, and cheaper than the abysmal service in most US cities; but this isn't universally true. The situation in Western Europe is mostly superior to what you'd find in the US; ditto for Japan and South Korea.
EDIT: Clarity.
But can you really use the ANY word?
That's a tall order.
I don't happen to know how much Uber drivers get paid, but I've seen comments saying that a lot of people drive Uber as a part-time thing with a car they already own to supplement their income. I think that's a more likely scenario than someone going out and buying a car specifically to drive for Uber full-time.
Also reminds me of arguments about raising minimum wage because every job in existence should pay a living wage, ignoring circumstances of why people are working various jobs (thinking particularly about teenagers and retired people).
This seems to be a common argument against private competition to government-managed services. "Well, I don't see how a private company could do this better than the government." And yet, Uber is so obviously superior to any regulated taxi service.
* Knowing where your driver is and how close, who they are, what they're driving, and what their ratings are before you even climb in.
* Payment is all handled on the back end. You call the cab and don't have to worry about it. Tips are not a thing.
* Bad ratings cause drivers to get kicked out of the program - and since they're automatically prompted for as soon as you get out of the car, they're going to be done more often (and therefore be more accurate) than a complaint-based model. It solves the problem of "Well, this driver was surly and slow, but I've got better things to do than go on the taxi commission's website and fill out a complaint form"
* MUCH cheaper rates than taxis, though that no doubt varies by area. I know in SF, it only cost me $15 to get from SFO to the wharf. (About an hour drive, IIRC) Equivalent shuttle: $34-50. I priced it.
* Random everypeople drivers, rather than career folks. I've met some pretty interesting people via Uber.
* Drivers can't arrive and then refuse to drive you - they know where they're going when the app pings them. If they don't want to drive you, one of the others surely will. Drivers are penalized for dropping rides.
None of this is specific to Germany, the topic of the story notwithstanding. These rideshare outfits face the same government interference in every single country they operate in.
After tooling around California for about a week or so, I am 100% on board with these guys. Uber was consistently awesome and less expensive, taxis were consistently more annoying and more expensive.
Prices as far as I've seen were similar to Taxi prices.
Payment: just checked, I thought the current apps already took care of that, but didn't seem so. Not yet that big of a problem, since Germany is still very cash-based anyways.
I have to admit I don't really care about the other points, since the current state of things seems mostly fine to me. So for me it is not "obviously superior", since I value the downsides higher (insurance, availability (a german taxi can't deny a route inside it's area of responsibility, which is a large part of why competition is restricted), ...)
//Edit: extended some points, spelling/grammar
If Uber isn't changing that, then it's not helping either.
As the GP points out, cash is still very common here. A _large_ supermarket over here (Kaufland) doesn't accept CCs, but does accept direct debit.
Listing 'accepting CCs' as a bonus for Uber seems.. weird in this environment.
Might be because we were able to keep the middle man (CC companies) out by having the banks cooperate on electronic cash directly - since the 80s.
Uber is just another such middle man we have no need for (and at 20% commission, they make CC companies look cheap).
Normally, I don't carry cash with me, except for a few coins for a bus ticket or a vending machine or a quick lunch. I don't even carry a wallet; I have a phone case which has pockets for driving license or ID card, and bank/credit card. Above, I said credit card, but I actually use it as a direct debit card. I pay may lunch and groceries with it, and gas and parking, and whatever.
If I make a one-day business trip to Stockholm, I don't need to make any special preparations: I can pay everything with the same debit/credit card, and I don't need to change any currency even though Sweden does not use euros.
If I make a one-day business trip to Berlin, I do need to prepare with currency to pay the taxi there. If Uber brings pressure for taxis to accept debit/credit cards, that's good.
How many accidents have you been in which required claiming against their insurance (or lack of it). What about unvetted drivers who might rape you?
After airBnB, and Uber, surely the next area ripe for "disruption" / completely ignoring the laws and regulation, is banking. Just offer higher savings rates than any bank, but ignore all that irritating regulation the big banks are subject to!
* You can get a taxi just as fast in Berlin.
* If you feel the need to use an app that has ratings, payment and stuff, there are apps such as mytaxi for that.
* Taxi drivers are professionals and you can complain about them which would eventually not end well for them.
* Payment is regulated so it's the same with every taxi and it's not that expensive, besides we have an actually working public transportation anyway, so it's not like you're going to use taxis daily.Yes, I "feel the need" to have a taxi rating system. You can claim all you want that government taxis have equivalent systems, but they obviously don't. Taxi drivers are usually assholes, and Uber drivers are usually nice.
Uber also costs the same every time, and it's usually cheaper than a government taxi.
If no, then you have not made a fair determination of what service is superior.
San Francisco's dysfunctional taxi regulation doesn't extend past the cities borders, much less the US despite Uber's best efforts to make seem as if that were the case.
Please do tell us how a taxi service with uninsured drivers is superior.
This said, good on the German government for forcing the company to actually respect their laws. Being a trendy net-based startup is not a license to flaunt all rules, especially consistent rules that exist for very good reason.
Government regulates private companies running the service. And those private companies are standing up to a shitty company that openly says that they won't comply with laws or verdicts, because they are the future. Or something like that.
I'm not introspective enough to enumerate every single reason I love Uber, but here are a few:
It's cheaper.
It's faster in less densely populated areas.
The service is better and the drivers are friendlier.
The cars are nicer.
In the US (depending on the city) taxis are often difficult to find, overpriced, rude and/or uncomfortable.