My favorite thing about Uber is how its existence makes a subset of the left act like crazy-eyed conservatives shouting at progress.
How dare they make up a new business to give people rides around town! We thought we'd regulated this market and walled it off from competition completely!
we don't hear conservatives on the issue because they don't know what a smartphone is and are busy searching for the matlock channel
Describing uber cabs as "pirate" makes me more likely to use them.
"gypsy cabs" are the more common parlance and still pretty cool.
there is a collective of gypsy cab drivers who hang out outside of the target on W225 street in the bronx, who pester every person stepping outside with bags if they need a taxi.
SW-4158-3990-6116
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
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OnTheLastCastlelet's keep it haimish for the peripateticRegistered Userregular
That's the automated surge pricing, which as soon as a human could reasonably be expected to respond, they cancelled and made all rides free and refunded all the rides that people took at the peak surge price.
You know what a yellow cab in NYC does that FOR ANY REASON I can get his medallion taken away.
Gouging is never ok
Depends on what you mean by gouging. If we're talking overcharging for essential services during an emergency, then I agree. And so does Uber (or at least the people in charge want it to seem like the company agrees). Which is why they reacted the way they did.
But normal rate hikes, like Uber does automatically based on demand, I do not equate with gouging and I see as an essential and valuable part of their service. They get more drivers on the road and they allow me to pay more and actually get a ride if I need one that badly vs not beig able to get one at all.
If they were the only option, I might feel differently. But as things stand, the best for me as a consumer is to have it both ways.
Sometimes maybe they shouldn't be driving. Like UBER paying drivers more to drive in blizzards is likely to get someone killed.
Of course UBER doesn't give a shit because they don't give a shit about their driver's insurance anyway.
sure they try to slough liability for driver problems (just like cab companies do insofar as possible btw)
but let's not get too breathless about this. cabs operate in blizzards too, and sometimes people have legit needs to get somewhere even during bad weather.
and honestly i suspect that the chagrin at uber doesn't have much to do with their blizzard policies. at the end of the day, if uber set some policy that disallows drivers from driving under weather conditions, the people objecting to the company would continue to do so. it's just another manifestation of the anti-tech backlash adopted by some liberal-aligned groups. they don't like uber because they don't like the disruptive silicon-valley tech culture they're associated with.
and granted the tech milieu can be annoyingly self-congratulatory and so forth but on the other hand, taxi services need some disruption. they're practically a showcase for the corruption, inefficiencies and sloth of municipal governments.
uber is great.
Except a cabbie won't once it gets risky enough that the benefit isn't worth it. Uber could just says they'll pay drivers 4 times their normal prices to drive in a blizzard suddenly there's more drivers willing to take the risk.
right i mean that is the entire basis of the surge system - it creates a market dynamic to match supply with demand. it's pretty brilliant in general. lots of people need to get home when the bars close and cabbies are sometimes reluctant to work that shift because everyone is drunk and belligerent. surge pricing helps mediate that dynamic - getting cabs on the streets when needed, getting people home, getting drivers recompensated for unpleasant work, encouraging passengers to consider alternatives (going home earlier, taking public transportation, etc).
and i mean if you needed to visit your dying father in the hospital but your car was plowed under you'd be willing to pay that 4x or 8x or whatever, and some hypothetical driver would make a risk calculation as to whether it was worth it.
yeah, it's not always danger based surging. You need a ride at 12:45AM on January 1? Congratulations, so does everyone else and no one wants to work for 1x, so get fucked.
afaik uber has been sensible enough not to play the WE'RE REVOLUTIONARIES OVERTURNING THE ESTABLISHED ORDER card in promotion events in singapore
because, uh, that might not be a great idea here
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TTODewbackPuts the drawl in ya'llI think I'm in HellRegistered Userregular
I've only actually driven in a cab once.
It was pretty quiet.
Driver asked if he could turn on the radio
We listened to some phat beats as we drove around downtown Phoenix.
Bless your heart.
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Deebaseron my way to work in a suit and a tieAhhhh...come on fucking guyRegistered Userregular
Describing uber cabs as "pirate" makes me more likely to use them.
"gypsy cabs" are the more common parlance and still pretty cool.
there is a collective of gypsy cab drivers who hang out outside of the target on W225 street in the bronx, who pester every person stepping outside with bags if they need a taxi.
but at least they dont SURGE.
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Irond WillWARNING: NO HURTFUL COMMENTS, PLEASE!!!!!Cambridge. MAModeratormod
Describing uber cabs as "pirate" makes me more likely to use them.
"gypsy cabs" are the more common parlance and still pretty cool.
there is a collective of gypsy cab drivers who hang out outside of the target on W225 street in the bronx, who pester every person stepping outside with bags if they need a taxi.
yeah boston's most common gypsy cabs seem to be black dudes in escalades bombing up and down boylston + newbury looking for affluent-looking young white people to get in the party wagon after the bars close. i don't really know their endgame (i have declined the many offers) but i'll bet it would be an adventure!
That's the automated surge pricing, which as soon as a human could reasonably be expected to respond, they cancelled and made all rides free and refunded all the rides that people took at the peak surge price.
You know what a yellow cab in NYC does that FOR ANY REASON I can get his medallion taken away.
Gouging is never ok
Depends on what you mean by gouging. If we're talking overcharging for essential services during an emergency, then I agree. And so does Uber (or at least the people in charge want it to seem like the company agrees). Which is why they reacted the way they did.
But normal rate hikes, like Uber does automatically based on demand, I do not equate with gouging and I see as an essential and valuable part of their service. They get more drivers on the road and they allow me to pay more and actually get a ride if I need one that badly vs not beig able to get one at all.
If they were the only option, I might feel differently. But as things stand, the best for me as a consumer is to have it both ways.
Sometimes maybe they shouldn't be driving. Like UBER paying drivers more to drive in blizzards is likely to get someone killed.
Of course UBER doesn't give a shit because they don't give a shit about their driver's insurance anyway.
sure they try to slough liability for driver problems (just like cab companies do insofar as possible btw)
but let's not get too breathless about this. cabs operate in blizzards too, and sometimes people have legit needs to get somewhere even during bad weather.
and honestly i suspect that the chagrin at uber doesn't have much to do with their blizzard policies. at the end of the day, if uber set some policy that disallows drivers from driving under weather conditions, the people objecting to the company would continue to do so. it's just another manifestation of the anti-tech backlash adopted by some liberal-aligned groups. they don't like uber because they don't like the disruptive silicon-valley tech culture they're associated with.
and granted the tech milieu can be annoyingly self-congratulatory and so forth but on the other hand, taxi services need some disruption. they're practically a showcase for the corruption, inefficiencies and sloth of municipal governments.
uber is great.
Except a cabbie won't once it gets risky enough that the benefit isn't worth it. Uber could just says they'll pay drivers 4 times their normal prices to drive in a blizzard suddenly there's more drivers willing to take the risk.
right i mean that is the entire basis of the surge system - it creates a market dynamic to match supply with demand. it's pretty brilliant in general. lots of people need to get home when the bars close and cabbies are sometimes reluctant to work that shift because everyone is drunk and belligerent. surge pricing helps mediate that dynamic - getting cabs on the streets when needed, getting people home, getting drivers recompensated for unpleasant work, encouraging passengers to consider alternatives (going home earlier, taking public transportation, etc).
and i mean if you needed to visit your dying father in the hospital but your car was plowed under you'd be willing to pay that 4x or 8x or whatever, and some hypothetical driver would make a risk calculation as to whether it was worth it.
yeah, it's not always danger based surging. You need a ride at 12:45AM on January 1? Congratulations, so does everyone else and no one wants to work for 1x, so get fucked.
And in those cases, let there be no cap. 24x surge on Halloween in the Village? You better REALLY want that luxury ride home.
When there is a foot of snow on the ground and a sideways blizzard in progress? Maybe its best if the surge caps somewhere. Because there is no way paying 450 bucks to get home when it normally costs under 40 avoids feeling like price gouging during a disaster, even if it technically isn't.
SW-4158-3990-6116
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
Describing uber cabs as "pirate" makes me more likely to use them.
"gypsy cabs" are the more common parlance and still pretty cool.
there is a collective of gypsy cab drivers who hang out outside of the target on W225 street in the bronx, who pester every person stepping outside with bags if they need a taxi.
yeah boston's most common gypsy cabs seem to be black dudes in escalades bombing up and down boylston + newbury looking for affluent-looking young white people to get in the party wagon after the bars close. i don't really know their endgame (i have declined the many offers) but i'll bet it would be an adventure!
Yeah that's kinda why I've never understood why Uber was seen as so innovative. It was just organizing something that already existed. And those cabs are illegal for a reason, which is why Uber is a bad idea/investment (IMO). There's no reason legitimate taxis couldn't be available via app, it just gives a veneer of respectability to letting some random drive you around.
I guess I do not cab enough places to have an opinion on this but generally speaking my experiences with Uber have been mostly negative and my experiences with NYC Yellow cabs have been generally positive
I think that the medallion system is broken and is basically a modernized approach to sharecropping, but I've never had a cabbie get belligerent with me except for one guy who insisted that he knew the "correct" route to go somewhere (a drive I make at least once a month, I know the exact directions and I gave you the exact directions, guy) and then when he got lost by NOT following my directions, I made him pull over, got out, and still paid him
I feel like this is one of those things where people take it personally when their choices are criticized, but the choices we have are "participate in either of two pretty dysfunctional systems" or "walk everywhere forever, good luck with that"
my personal choice is to not use Uber when possible, but I'm not going to try to argue that I'm on the moral high ground for doing so, because I do still use yellow cabs, which are equally nefarious in certain circumstances
syndalisGetting ClassyOn the WallRegistered User, Loves Apple Productsregular
In fact, an awesome PR move would be that if the conditions are disastrous, even if they cap it at 4x, they should then start decreasing the company's cut in situations where a legit aberrant event is happening, like riots or floods or blizzards or whatever. That way the drivers are making more, but people aren't getting reamed financially.
SW-4158-3990-6116
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
Describing uber cabs as "pirate" makes me more likely to use them.
"gypsy cabs" are the more common parlance and still pretty cool.
there is a collective of gypsy cab drivers who hang out outside of the target on W225 street in the bronx, who pester every person stepping outside with bags if they need a taxi.
yeah boston's most common gypsy cabs seem to be black dudes in escalades bombing up and down boylston + newbury looking for affluent-looking young white people to get in the party wagon after the bars close. i don't really know their endgame (i have declined the many offers) but i'll bet it would be an adventure!
post-PAX karaoke adventure?
SW-4158-3990-6116
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
Film nerds should go read the instant watch thread where I have posted my love for Labyrinth and I guess you could read the write ups from other people as well if you really had to.
Describing uber cabs as "pirate" makes me more likely to use them.
"gypsy cabs" are the more common parlance and still pretty cool.
there is a collective of gypsy cab drivers who hang out outside of the target on W225 street in the bronx, who pester every person stepping outside with bags if they need a taxi.
yeah boston's most common gypsy cabs seem to be black dudes in escalades bombing up and down boylston + newbury looking for affluent-looking young white people to get in the party wagon after the bars close. i don't really know their endgame (i have declined the many offers) but i'll bet it would be an adventure!
Yeah that's kinda why I've never understood why Uber was seen as so innovative. It was just organizing something that already existed. And those cabs are illegal for a reason, which is why Uber is a bad idea/investment (IMO). There's no reason legitimate taxis couldn't be available via app, it just gives a veneer of respectability to letting some random drive you around.
The various Yellow Cabs actually do have an app. Works the same way the Uber one does. I put in where I am (or it grabs the GPS) tell it where I want to go and a cab shows up. It will show me where the cab is, and I can pay by credit card via the app.
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Irond WillWARNING: NO HURTFUL COMMENTS, PLEASE!!!!!Cambridge. MAModeratormod
now I also know how you americans feel when something from abroad seems offensive to your context
gypsy's not a cool term over heah
yeah we don't have actual gypsies in the US in any numbers (a few groups in texas who generally call themselves "travelers") so the word is generally kind of positively regarded as exotic and adventurous and whatever. more wooden wagons and fortune tellers and traveling circuses than petty thieves, extortionists and toughs in rv's
i have not had pocky in hours i am sorry my blood sugar is low
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spacekungfumanPoor and minority-filledRegistered User, __BANNED USERSregular
I took a gypsy cab from Yankee stadium to the UWS side in like 2007. It was like $50 and I'm currently dead.
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TTODewbackPuts the drawl in ya'llI think I'm in HellRegistered Userregular
Bluh, Police responded to a call at a shopping center this morning. When they arrived they were fired upon. The three male suspects then hopped into their car and took off and crashed head on with an Infiniti. People in the infiniti were find but the suspects car was like totally destroyed and they had to be sent off with life threatening injuries.
then the police find a fucking toddler in the back seat critically injured.
fuckers robbing people and shooting at people with a damned toddler in the car with them.
now I also know how you americans feel when something from abroad seems offensive to your context
gypsy's not a cool term over heah
It really isn't over here either, it's just that it never comes up enough and honest ignorance sneaks through. Very occasionally I still hear people saying they got "gypped" and a couple of people will be like "whoa, not cool" and another group of people will be like "what the hell are you talking about?", with the occasional "lol gypsies aren't real"
DiannaoChong on
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syndalisGetting ClassyOn the WallRegistered User, Loves Apple Productsregular
yup, that was in boston. That guy was super shitty!
I ended up not paying a dime for that trip and I got an apology letter from Uber, who said they would discipline him for his terrible performance.
It took me 2 minutes to get that taken care of.
I had a problem with a private car service car once that required me to call 311. 2 hours of my time telling the story to three people later, I was told they would look into it.
I never got my money back or heard if they were even punished.
And in the times I have a shitty yellow cab experience I just laugh it off because even trying to get justice for it is an exercise in futility.
syndalis on
SW-4158-3990-6116
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spacekungfumanPoor and minority-filledRegistered User, __BANNED USERSregular
now I also know how you americans feel when something from abroad seems offensive to your context
gypsy's not a cool term over heah
yeah we don't have actual gypsies in the US in any numbers (a few groups in texas who generally call themselves "travelers") so the word is generally kind of positively regarded as exotic and adventurous and whatever. more wooden wagons and fortune tellers and traveling circuses than petty thieves, extortionists and toughs in rv's
That's the automated surge pricing, which as soon as a human could reasonably be expected to respond, they cancelled and made all rides free and refunded all the rides that people took at the peak surge price.
You know what a yellow cab in NYC does that FOR ANY REASON I can get his medallion taken away.
Gouging is never ok
Depends on what you mean by gouging. If we're talking overcharging for essential services during an emergency, then I agree. And so does Uber (or at least the people in charge want it to seem like the company agrees). Which is why they reacted the way they did.
But normal rate hikes, like Uber does automatically based on demand, I do not equate with gouging and I see as an essential and valuable part of their service. They get more drivers on the road and they allow me to pay more and actually get a ride if I need one that badly vs not beig able to get one at all.
If they were the only option, I might feel differently. But as things stand, the best for me as a consumer is to have it both ways.
And the people who actually believe that services like Uber are going to drive the other cab services out of business have bought into that union's talking point hook, line and sinker.
If anything, Uber is going to make them up their game a little bit - there is too much demand for transit for uber to supplant all options, but they can in the process of making a buck make the other guys look incompetent and bad at their job, which more or less forces them into improving their product.
It's pretty easy to outdo someone when your core business philosophy involves simply ignoring laws you don't like.
the cabbing industry definitely needs to modernize but lots of those regulations are actually reasonable and protect the riders.
I mean, this obviously ends with Uber following more of the laws (at least the laws that are not being written by the livery unions and handed to politicians in order to choke out competition) and cab companies having to modernize their practices to adapt to a changing world.
I think that 12x surge pricing during a blizzard is disgusting and there should be a hard cap on where surge pricing is required to stop (telling a driver they can make 450 dollars on a 30 minute drive makes people make bad decisions), but I see that as the growing pains of a company that is doing a lot of good by ratting the cages of a universally shitty transit service.
I think there is a lot more good than bad with Uber, which is why I continue to use them. And while I know their laissez-faire attitude towards laws will eventually bite them in the ass, that day is not today and today they are a superior option.
how much of a multiple would it need to be for a driver to have an incentive to invest in a 4wd car and put on tire chains etc.
there are safe ways to drive in snow! people in flyover country do it on the regular! the reason it's a problem in urban areas is mostly because people don't know how to properly prepare for it or to do it.
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One of them supposedly has a pimped out luxury SUV and gives you free beverages and shit.
we don't hear conservatives on the issue because they don't know what a smartphone is and are busy searching for the matlock channel
pc as fuck
pirate is the term here for unlicensed "cab" driving. I think in the UK too.
there is a collective of gypsy cab drivers who hang out outside of the target on W225 street in the bronx, who pester every person stepping outside with bags if they need a taxi.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
Have you been to the SoAS gallery, off Russell Square? It is a small ethnographic art gallery, I went last week
yeah, it's not always danger based surging. You need a ride at 12:45AM on January 1? Congratulations, so does everyone else and no one wants to work for 1x, so get fucked.
because, uh, that might not be a great idea here
It was pretty quiet.
Driver asked if he could turn on the radio
We listened to some phat beats as we drove around downtown Phoenix.
but at least they dont SURGE.
yeah boston's most common gypsy cabs seem to be black dudes in escalades bombing up and down boylston + newbury looking for affluent-looking young white people to get in the party wagon after the bars close. i don't really know their endgame (i have declined the many offers) but i'll bet it would be an adventure!
This is amazing considering 50% of the ad revenue adult swim is from online colleges...
And in those cases, let there be no cap. 24x surge on Halloween in the Village? You better REALLY want that luxury ride home.
When there is a foot of snow on the ground and a sideways blizzard in progress? Maybe its best if the surge caps somewhere. Because there is no way paying 450 bucks to get home when it normally costs under 40 avoids feeling like price gouging during a disaster, even if it technically isn't.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
'black cabs' over here
I could see the Singapore goverment expressing a certain amount of displeasure at the idea. Possession of the Uber app becoming a MDP crime.
umm it is "konnichi wa" you baka gaijin gweilo
gypsy's not a cool term over heah
QEDMF xbl: PantsB G+
I think that the medallion system is broken and is basically a modernized approach to sharecropping, but I've never had a cabbie get belligerent with me except for one guy who insisted that he knew the "correct" route to go somewhere (a drive I make at least once a month, I know the exact directions and I gave you the exact directions, guy) and then when he got lost by NOT following my directions, I made him pull over, got out, and still paid him
I feel like this is one of those things where people take it personally when their choices are criticized, but the choices we have are "participate in either of two pretty dysfunctional systems" or "walk everywhere forever, good luck with that"
my personal choice is to not use Uber when possible, but I'm not going to try to argue that I'm on the moral high ground for doing so, because I do still use yellow cabs, which are equally nefarious in certain circumstances
Uncanny Magazine!
The Mad Writers Union
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
There's a few of these in Boston. I got one once and it was amazing. His car had a mini fridge under the center console.
licensed cabs don't have a spotless record when it comes to paying the taxes they should so driving pirate or black wouldn't neccessarily be the same
Anime Gooey is mean.
post-PAX karaoke adventure?
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
It was with @syndalis !
The various Yellow Cabs actually do have an app. Works the same way the Uber one does. I put in where I am (or it grabs the GPS) tell it where I want to go and a cab shows up. It will show me where the cab is, and I can pay by credit card via the app.
yeah we don't have actual gypsies in the US in any numbers (a few groups in texas who generally call themselves "travelers") so the word is generally kind of positively regarded as exotic and adventurous and whatever. more wooden wagons and fortune tellers and traveling circuses than petty thieves, extortionists and toughs in rv's
an accurate portrayal of norweigan pirate taxi
i have not had pocky in hours i am sorry my blood sugar is low
then the police find a fucking toddler in the back seat critically injured.
fuckers robbing people and shooting at people with a damned toddler in the car with them.
hargle bargle humans are terrible bah humbug.
It really isn't over here either, it's just that it never comes up enough and honest ignorance sneaks through. Very occasionally I still hear people saying they got "gypped" and a couple of people will be like "whoa, not cool" and another group of people will be like "what the hell are you talking about?", with the occasional "lol gypsies aren't real"
yup, that was in boston. That guy was super shitty!
I ended up not paying a dime for that trip and I got an apology letter from Uber, who said they would discipline him for his terrible performance.
It took me 2 minutes to get that taken care of.
I had a problem with a private car service car once that required me to call 311. 2 hours of my time telling the story to three people later, I was told they would look into it.
I never got my money back or heard if they were even punished.
And in the times I have a shitty yellow cab experience I just laugh it off because even trying to get justice for it is an exercise in futility.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
Oh no! Does anime Gooey have diabeetus? What have we wrought?
I ...
how much of a multiple would it need to be for a driver to have an incentive to invest in a 4wd car and put on tire chains etc.
there are safe ways to drive in snow! people in flyover country do it on the regular! the reason it's a problem in urban areas is mostly because people don't know how to properly prepare for it or to do it.