http://twitchy.com/2014/06/25/d-c-cab-dr...d-c-booms/

What better way to advertise? D.C. taxi drivers decided to strike today in protest against Uber, the wildly popular mobile app startup that connects passengers with drivers of vehicles for hire and ridesharing services.

Instead of garnering sympathy, the strikers lost out big time as stranded tourists and commuters flocked to Uber.

The cab companies are trying to pass a bill to ban Uber here in Cali. I tweeted about it yesterday.

Uber contacted users and asked them to call our senator, tweet him etc.

If they ban Uber, I'm going to hire a private driver for the same rate. Fuck taxis with their disgusting cabs, overpriced fares and shitty attitudes.

If cabbies had half a brain, they would quit and work for Uber.

I won't use uber after hearing that they will up the charge during peak times. I think uber has a good idea going but I'll stick with a locked in cab rate.

Quote: (06-25-2014 07:14 PM)Snowplow Wrote:  

I won't use uber after hearing that they will up the charge during peak times. I think uber has a good idea going but I'll stick with a locked in cab rate.

I'd be surprised if Uber is cheaper than the set rates I've seen from O'hare with the regular cabs.

In my city Uber is about 1/2 to a 1/4 of the cost of traditional cabs most of the time. At peak times it's practically impossible to get a cab to come pick you up. The peak pricing model that Uber uses limits demand and increases supply so people who need rides can get them. As long as there's public transit to fall back on I have no problems with them at all.

Uber has always been cheaper than a cab, at least here in LA.

Plus I prefer my driver to speak mutherfucking english, instead of acting like they can't, which is every damn cab driver I've had in LA.

Quote: (06-25-2014 07:17 PM)Hotwheels Wrote:  

Quote: (06-25-2014 07:14 PM)Snowplow Wrote:  

I won't use uber after hearing that they will up the charge during peak times. I think uber has a good idea going but I'll stick with a locked in cab rate.

I'd be surprised if Uber is cheaper than the set rates I've seen from O'hare with the regular cabs.

I'd have to see a comparison of pricing to the same location.

Luckily for me my parents live close to O'Hare so my ride is covered there!

Cali might have better weather but I sounds NYC at least has a better cab thing going on(also trains).

In general in sounds like NYC has better logistics.

Quote: (06-25-2014 07:29 PM)soup Wrote:  

Cali might have better weather but I sounds NYC at least has a better cab thing going on(also trains).

In general in sounds like NYC has better logistics.

Besides Vegas, NYC has the best logistics in America hands down.

LA has the worst.

I've spent small fortunes on Uber after the club closes navigating logistics to pull a girl.

Better than a DUI any day though.

Quote: (06-25-2014 07:17 PM)Hotwheels Wrote:  

Quote: (06-25-2014 07:14 PM)Snowplow Wrote:  

I won't use uber after hearing that they will up the charge during peak times. I think uber has a good idea going but I'll stick with a locked in cab rate.

I'd be surprised if Uber is cheaper than the set rates I've seen from O'hare with the regular cabs.

I use a car service, I want to relax after flying all day not try to guess what I'm smelling or sitting on.

Quote: (06-25-2014 07:09 PM)Christian McQueen Wrote:  

If cabbies had half a brain, they would quit and work for Uber.

The smart ones have. These protests are not by drivers, they are organized and carried out by unions and lobbyests, as are the protests over AirBNB.

Uber is a godsend in DC. Fuck DC cab drivers. Good luck getting one to take you anywhere outside the center late at night. I got back from a trip recently and to DCA at 1 am. Cab driver would not take me home. Fucker. Am I supposed to walk? Got an Uber car and on my way.

UberX is cheaper than a taxi. Even during surge times, at 1.5x normal fares, it's barely more. There is basically no downside to using.

Uber is great here in SE Michigan. If you want to take a taxi to Detroit from the burbs.

Cost about 25% less

I fucking love Uber and Lyft. Right now they are in competition with each other to corner the market so they keep on undercutting each other here, its glorious. After tip is figured in, I'd imagine Uber/Lyft is 40-50% cheaper than a taxi and way more reliable.

The Taxi's have been putting hit pieces in the news lately. They also staged an "UberX" protest yesterday, where they hired people to pretend they were UberX Drivers. Its so damned transparent.

http://www.latimes.com/business/technolo...story.html



Do you REALLY believe these are UberX drivers, who for the most part are appreciative to make money on the side. Most of the people I've ridden with aren't cut this way, they are cool and not whiny like these Union fucks. Yeah, I'm sure that they're really concerned about "coverage gap insurance" or whatever bullshit these TEAMSTER unions are trying to do to either make money off the Ride-shares or get more money from the Taxi company interests.

TAXIs are TERRIBLE, even at LAX, if you're in the last terminals sometimes they never even have taxi drivers there, I've had to wait like 30-40 minutes in line at times to get a cab. I'm going to start walking to the In'n'Out and getting a Uber/LYFT ride from there.

The best thing about airbnb and uber is that they put the profit making potential in the hands of average people. It's also self regulatory in a lot of ways. If they get greedy and try to increase the amount of fees by too large of an amount a rival service will eventually spring up.

Hotel chains and large cab companies are essentially monopolies because they can operate as "rent seekers" by commandeering large key geographical areas and artifically set prices.

"We are no longer making the minimum wage."
If you are not making the minimum wage as an Uber driver, don't do it. It's not supposed to be a job.

Some of the biggest assholes and scammers I've met around the world are licensed taxi drivers.

I've only used Uber a few times, never had a problem.

All the people who protest against Uber and similar apps can go get fucked.

I don't understand - why wouldn't taxi drivers just switch to Uber? Because their English sucks? Because they can't afford to own a car, but they can lease a taxicab??

Although lately, Lyft and Uber have been competing so fiercely the driving wages are getting pretty low.

The type of people who use the government to keep oligopolies in control are the same type of people who underfund social programs and protest the cutting of "their" medicare benefits. The self-interested nature of these groups would be comical if it weren't so grotesque. It is a pervasiveness in society that all "wrongs" can somehow be remedied by yelling loud enough to get your own way.

They should of offerd free rides as a protest. They fell on their own sword leaving people stranded. Rookie move.

Quote: (06-25-2014 09:33 PM)Menace Wrote:  

Uber is a godsend in DC. Fuck DC cab drivers. Good luck getting one to take you anywhere outside the center late at night. I got back from a trip recently and to DCA at 1 am. Cab driver would not take me home. Fucker. Am I supposed to walk?

Most importantly, get in their car. Delay telling them the address until your ass is in the seat, tell them it's not far or around the corner. Then tell them the real destination. Threaten to report them to the taxi commission. When they go back to renew their license they'll be hit with a fine.

Refusal to haul is $250. There's lesser penalties for all the smaller rules on their passenger rights sheets too. For instance, they can't refuse to take you if they don't have change for your thick wad of benjamins.

Let them try to kick you out once you tell them you've taken down their driver and cab info.

Quote: (06-25-2014 11:21 PM)polar Wrote:  

Quote: (06-25-2014 09:33 PM)Menace Wrote:  

Uber is a godsend in DC. Fuck DC cab drivers. Good luck getting one to take you anywhere outside the center late at night. I got back from a trip recently and to DCA at 1 am. Cab driver would not take me home. Fucker. Am I supposed to walk?

Most importantly, get in their car. Delay telling them the address until your ass is in the seat, tell them it's not far or around the corner. Then tell them the real destination. Threaten to report them to the taxi commission. When they go back to renew their license they'll be hit with a fine.

Refusal to haul is $250. There's lesser penalties for all the smaller rules on their passenger rights sheets too. For instance, they can't refuse to take you if they don't have change for your thick wad of benjamins.

Let them try to kick you out once you tell them you've taken down their driver and cab info.

I live fairly close to the airport and I get sneers and attitude because its such a short ride. And the Vegas cabbies (no rideshares there) are total criminals as well, taking you on the long ways around town because of "road construction" or "there's too much traffic".

Sorry, I always side with the DC cab drivers. But for a weird reason.

The guy who used to be the unofficial spokesperson for them, Billy Ray Edwards, is one of the biggest influences in my life. He's an old black guy who used to moonlight in the '90s as a DJ and play old school soul and R&B on a local radio station. He had absolutely killer taste in music.

But beyond that, in between songs he'd often dispense Red Pill wisdom. Sometimes when I write here, I feel I'm channeling Billy Ray. Here's an example of the kind of heartbreaking obscure old soul hits he'd dig up:

Quote: (06-25-2014 11:44 PM)Days of Broken Arrows Wrote:  

Holy shit great track

Yes its cheaper and yada yada. People will like it better obviously.

You can run taxi service without permit. You can rent out the room like a motel without permit these days
How about selling a food out of your house? Dont have to rent out space and spend $$$ to get a permit. It would be cheaper. And its like home cooked meal!

Obviously this is not fair.
I was surprised how an advanced country like US would allow this....