UberX and similar non-taxi ride services

[The Nature Boy]

Cabbies are essential in areas with poor public transit because they're often instrumental in keeping people from driving home drunk. Extreme scenario but what do you do when your part time drivers aren't willing to show up at 3 AM to take a drunk person home?

Two observations. One is that this scenario you describe is exactly why traditional taxis will continue to operate, because there will always be a demand for that type of service.

Two is that this FEAR!!! rationale reminds me of that story I saw trying to explain why New Jersey still bans self-service gas pumps -- that untrained people fueling their cars might cause a disaster. I live in a rural area with no taxi service available and there are drunks on the road all the time, yet I don't incessantly worry about one of them running into me.

I don't worry about it either in my rural neck of the woods. There's no cost efficient way to get drunk rural citizens home, I would be more than happy to see one get developed though. Drunk driving deaths in rural areas dwarf their rural and suburban counterparts.

Something like Uber and Lyft would be a good in rural or smaller urban areas without consistent taxi service.

[Duke87]

Having a designated driver is one option. Planning to sleep within walking distance of where you drink is another. Although granted, there will be cases where neither is practical. In such circumstances the only safe option is to limit yourself to a couple drinks and stay under the limit.

[corco]

I mean, realistically getting a taxi in suburbia in most places isn't all that easy. Try to get a cab to go out to Oro Valley from downtown Tucson at 2 AM on a Saturday- it's really not easy to do at all. I know this because I used to work overnight at a resort and drunk guests were constantly trying to get back- the only real way to help them was to call a car service.

[Thing 342]

I find it interesting the way the people who run Uber seem to think they're not bound by state laws–when Virginia told them to cease operating in the Commonwealth, and when a town in Maryland (I forget which, but I think Annapolis) told them they had to abide by the regulations governing taxis, they essentially said, "We do not" and announced they would ignore the government's orders because they want to "educate" the government on their business. It doesn't work that way. The non-taxi car services are all regulated as well, even if they're not subject to the same regulations the taxis are, and there's no reason why Uber and the like ought to be subject to different rules.

Sure, there have been times in our history when ignoring the law was the principled thing to do. The Montgomery Bus Boycott readily comes to mind. But it's ludicrous to equate an operation like Uber with something like segregated seating on the buses.

Uber and Lyft are now legal in Virginia: http://wavy.com/2014/08/06/state-reaches-agreement-with-lyft-uber/

[Laura]

At least in San Francisco, taxi drivers dug their own grave. Before Uber/Lyft, if you tried to hail a cab on the street, there would be a 50% chance the cab would refuse to take you where you wanted to go, and if you called dispatch for one, you could be waiting forever - I've waited 45+ minutes for cabs that never came on multiple occasions. Also refusing to take credit cards, claiming their credit card machine is broken, but it magically works when I inform them that I have no cash. More detail about this sort of stuff here: http://sfist.com/2013/01/02/sf_cabs_often_refuse_fares_endanger.php

Absolutely. I had such an unpleasant experience with Jimmy's Cab here in Baltimore County that I will never use them again. They refused to take my credit card info and couldn't give me an estimate when they would arrive. They were rude to me on the phone and hung up on me...three times. So I hitchhiked instead.

Call 1: Hi, I'd like to reserve a cab.
What's your address?
Gave address. Can I pay by credit card?
Okay.
Started to give credit card info but got disconnected.

Called back. (Call 2): Hi, we got disconnected.
No we didn't, we were done.
Um, no, I didn't finish giving my CC info. Also, how long will it take for cab to arrive?
I don't know.
Hung up on me again.

At this point I got fed up, wasn't sure if the cab would show, so I hitched a ride. Ten minutes later, the cab company calls me back and yells at me, asking where I am. I told them that since they had terrible customer service that I had no idea if they were actually coming or not, so I got a ride elsewhere. They yelled at me that I should have called and cancelled them and then hung up on me again.

Yeah. Here's their yelp, where others have complained about their lack of customer service: http://www.yelp.com/biz/jimmys-cab-company-baltimore-county

Cab companies deserve to go under if they think it's okay to treat people this way. I never wrote a review on yelp or anywhere after it happened because I was so angry and didn't want people to disregard me as some crazy woman.

[nexus73]

Well Laura, at least you got through on the phone.  When my friend and I were in PDX, we tried to call up two different cab companies on a Saturday night and both times we got put into some sort of hold system with the wait count being in the teens.  There's no one to talk to!

We were lucky and found a cab that we could hail so we got our ride but we were sure sweating it! 

Rick

[realjd]

At least in San Francisco, taxi drivers dug their own grave. Before Uber/Lyft, if you tried to hail a cab on the street, there would be a 50% chance the cab would refuse to take you where you wanted to go, and if you called dispatch for one, you could be waiting forever - I've waited 45+ minutes for cabs that never came on multiple occasions. Also refusing to take credit cards, claiming their credit card machine is broken, but it magically works when I inform them that I have no cash. More detail about this sort of stuff here: http://sfist.com/2013/01/02/sf_cabs_often_refuse_fares_endanger.php

Absolutely. I had such an unpleasant experience with Jimmy's Cab here in Baltimore County that I will never use them again. They refused to take my credit card info and couldn't give me an estimate when they would arrive. They were rude to me on the phone and hung up on me...three times. So I hitchhiked instead.

Call 1: Hi, I'd like to reserve a cab.
What's your address?
Gave address. Can I pay by credit card?
Okay.
Started to give credit card info but got disconnected.

Called back. (Call 2): Hi, we got disconnected.
No we didn't, we were done.
Um, no, I didn't finish giving my CC info. Also, how long will it take for cab to arrive?
I don't know.
Hung up on me again.

At this point I got fed up, wasn't sure if the cab would show, so I hitched a ride. Ten minutes later, the cab company calls me back and yells at me, asking where I am. I told them that since they had terrible customer service that I had no idea if they were actually coming or not, so I got a ride elsewhere. They yelled at me that I should have called and cancelled them and then hung up on me again.

Yeah. Here's their yelp, where others have complained about their lack of customer service: http://www.yelp.com/biz/jimmys-cab-company-baltimore-county

Cab companies deserve to go under if they think it's okay to treat people this way. I never wrote a review on yelp or anywhere after it happened because I was so angry and didn't want people to disregard me as some crazy woman.

FYI, on the off chance you didn't already know, Uber serves Baltimore. Fuck cabs.

[agentsteel53]

I once had a dispatcher in Anchorage ask me where a particular address was.

"I don't know - precisely one party in this conversation lives around here, and it ain't me!"

[Laura]

At least in San Francisco, taxi drivers dug their own grave. Before Uber/Lyft, if you tried to hail a cab on the street, there would be a 50% chance the cab would refuse to take you where you wanted to go, and if you called dispatch for one, you could be waiting forever - I've waited 45+ minutes for cabs that never came on multiple occasions. Also refusing to take credit cards, claiming their credit card machine is broken, but it magically works when I inform them that I have no cash. More detail about this sort of stuff here: http://sfist.com/2013/01/02/sf_cabs_often_refuse_fares_endanger.php

Absolutely. I had such an unpleasant experience with Jimmy's Cab here in Baltimore County that I will never use them again. They refused to take my credit card info and couldn't give me an estimate when they would arrive. They were rude to me on the phone and hung up on me...three times. So I hitchhiked instead.

Call 1: Hi, I'd like to reserve a cab.
What's your address?
Gave address. Can I pay by credit card?
Okay.
Started to give credit card info but got disconnected.

Called back. (Call 2): Hi, we got disconnected.
No we didn't, we were done.
Um, no, I didn't finish giving my CC info. Also, how long will it take for cab to arrive?
I don't know.
Hung up on me again.

At this point I got fed up, wasn't sure if the cab would show, so I hitched a ride. Ten minutes later, the cab company calls me back and yells at me, asking where I am. I told them that since they had terrible customer service that I had no idea if they were actually coming or not, so I got a ride elsewhere. They yelled at me that I should have called and cancelled them and then hung up on me again.

Yeah. Here's their yelp, where others have complained about their lack of customer service: http://www.yelp.com/biz/jimmys-cab-company-baltimore-county

Cab companies deserve to go under if they think it's okay to treat people this way. I never wrote a review on yelp or anywhere after it happened because I was so angry and didn't want people to disregard me as some crazy woman.

FYI, on the off chance you didn't already know, Uber serves Baltimore. Fuck cabs.

Yep! I haven't had a chance to use them yet, but I will.


iPhone

[PColumbus73]

I drive a cab in the Myrtle Beach area.

The City of Myrtle Beach has issued tickets to Uber drivers ($1000+ I think) for operating an illegal taxi within the city limits.

While Myrtle Beach is a major tourist destination, I support the Myrtle Beach's efforts to limit the number of medallions they issue for new cabs. Currently, I feel like there are too many *legal* taxis in operation within Myrtle Beach and the surrounding areas. I believe that the city realizes this too and thus has capped the number of medallions they issue to taxis. I drive for a county cab (no medallion required), and in the area I work there are a large number of taxis in operation.

Looking at the economics of the situation; with Myrtle Beach flooded with taxis, there are not enough customers to justify the amount of cabs in operation. Now with Uber and other pseudo-taxi services trying to operate, it further reduces the customer base for drivers like myself who need this job to pay their bills in an area that is 90% seasonal employment.

In Myrtle Beach and other major cities, taxi rates are typically set by the governing city/county/etc. Example, a taxi in Myrtle Beach runs $2.80 per mile, $0.35 per minute idle, $1 for each additional passenger over 15 years. So, a 10 mile ride will run about $30 give or take.

Each cab company is very different, some companies couldn't care at all about their customers, and unfortunately it scares off first-time or generally non-taxi riders. Not every cab company is the same, not every driver is the same.

Finally, a bit of news about Uber, they don't pay their drivers as well as they advertise. ALL the Uber drivers quit after their first two weeks because their paychecks only earned them $70 (they paid for their own gas, just like us taxi drivers!) So, they may be more inclined to rip off customers to fill their own pockets. You have been warned!

[corco]

Can't the market take care of that though? If there's not enough customer base to justify that many taxis, the taxis will go away on their own. If they don't go away, there probably aren't too many taxis.

Obviously you personally would like more work, but if you're still getting enough work that you're willing to drive a taxi, that's just the free market at work. The customer won't be happy with fewer cabs, since they have to wait longer, even if it means you as the person collecting the fare spend more time with an occupied cab. That makes folks less happy with the service, requiring the price to be lowered in order for the industry to stay viable, meaning you make less money.

With the price of a cab ride already set by the government, the only variable (assuming constant demand) is the actual supply of cabs, so it should naturally reach equilibrium.

[US81]

I'm sure there are wide swings in the demand for cabs and that it must be difficult to match supply and demand. That said, while in the abstract I want all cab drivers to make a decent living, in the here and now I want enough cabs in service and available that when I call for one (especially when booked in advance) that I can reasonably expect to make my flight or whatever.

[PColumbus73]

The problem I see (at least in my area) is that a few people get excited about the money they made working under somebody and think they'll instantly double their money by buying a car/van and outfitting it as a taxi.

Yes, the market does take care of that to an extent. In Myrtle Beach, most of the independent cabs get parked during the winter because there are no tourists who need taxis. The few more established taxi companies (like where I work) have a loyal local customer base to carry them through the slow periods.

I don't think the people who sign on to drive for Uber are interested in trying to build a cab company from scratch, which is basically what they have to do. In New York City, Uber probably had no trouble at all getting started, but Myrtle Beach is too small for Uber to really take off.

If you're looking for an airport ride, you'll have no problem trying to land a cab in North Myrtle Beach. Airport rides from North Myrtle generally run about $50 flat rated (varies by cab company and location).

[hbelkins]

http://www.my9nj.com/story/26403517/hoboken-cracking-down-on-uber-car-services

Sudden thought: Wonder what Randy Hersh would have thought about this?

[algorerhythms]

I once had a dispatcher in Anchorage ask me where a particular address was.

"I don't know - precisely one party in this conversation lives around here, and it ain't me!"

If they contract out to a call center, the dispatcher might not live around there. My mom worked in a call center taking calls for the bus service in Fairfax County, Virginia. The call center was in western Maryland. If I remember correctly, after that contract ended they shipped it off to a call center in Mexico.