Uber/Lyft Destroyed The Taxi Industry.

[billt460]

Originally Posted by Shannow
anyone could step up to the machine and fill the scrap cans as they felt, and all would have been paid the piece rate.

Anywhere I ever worked in the trade, if you made excessive scrap you were fired. There was no, "piece rate". What are you getting at? Or trying to get at? And how do you connect any of it to taxi drivers?

 

[Mr Nice]

I always tip my Uber driver minimum $10 even for a short ride like 5 miles in Atlanta.

Lots of these drivers make peanuts.

 

[Willclark]

Lots of these drivers make peanuts.[/quote]
Originally Posted by Mr Nice
I always tip my Uber driver minimum $10 even for a short ride like 5 miles in Atlanta.
Lots of these drivers make peanuts.


Good, these Uber drivers deserve to make peanuts.They destroyed a honorable and historical profession. Also, most of them fail to tell their car insurance about what they are using their car for and are denied in accidents. Uber mostly insures the passenger only.

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted by Willclark
Lots of these drivers make peanuts.

Originally Posted by Mr Nice
I always tip my Uber driver minimum $10 even for a short ride like 5 miles in Atlanta.
Lots of these drivers make peanuts.


Good, these Uber drivers deserve to make peanuts.They destroyed a honorable and historical profession. Also, most of them fail to tell their car insurance about what they are using their car for and are denied in accidents. Uber mostly insures the passenger only.[/quote]

I used to tip my cabbie well.

I tip waitstaff, bartenders, shuttle drivers, and now, Uber drivers well.

Driving a cab may have been historic, but I don't think that the cab profession had a whole lot left that was honorable.

My experience (and I used to take a LOT of cabs) includes: long waits, late arrivals when called (nearly missing my flights on several occasions), cars in poor repair, dirty cars, smelly cars, smelly drivers and outrageous prices.

My most recent cab was in SFO. Airport to the Hilton at Union Square. $75 + a $15 tip. I was crammed into the back of a 300,000 mile Prius with vinyl seats. It clanked and clunked over the numerous potholes. Whatever shocks and bushings it had were gone. I had to ask for AC because the driver through 85 degrees was a comfortable interior temperature and his body odor was a pleasant scent. Awful experience.

The very next month, same ride, same route. Uber Black. Brand new Buick SUV. Plush seats. Cool interior. Smelled like a new car. Rode like a dream. Very pleasant experience.

Same price.

The cab was miserable. The Uber very pleasant.

Same price.

It's the competition that killed the cab. A lousy, often unreliable, product at a high price.

What did you think the consumer would do with that choice?

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted by Willclark

Good, these Uber drivers deserve to make peanuts.They destroyed a honorable and historical profession.

Cabbies deserve to make peanuts, maybe they'll drive for Uber or become a bus/UPS/FedEx Express(NOT Ground) driver. Once you get your foot in with the union(ATU/TWA for public transit, the Teamsters for UPS and maybe FedEx), you're golden.

I don't want to see my tax dollars subsidizing some family's junkets to the Middle East or someone getting killed in a salvaged Prius that was hacked together from Pick & Pull.

driving a bus or operating a train is much more honorable than driving a clapped out Prius or Vic.

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted by Astro14
...
Uber Black. Brand new Buick SUV. Plush seats. Cool interior. Smelled like a new car. Rode like a dream. Very pleasant experience.
...


If you didn't , also try UberX. Usually full-size cars.
Also, Try limo service. Sometimes they are cheaper than a cab. And much cleaner. And on time.

P.S.Most of my circle who was driving cabs, is now Uber, Lyft or Limo. Only 2 still drive cabs (Camry hybrids, pretty new and in Chicago)

 

[edhackett]

Originally Posted by Astro14

What did you think the consumer would do with that choice?

This cheap bastage would have taken BART for $9.15 and walked the 2 blocks to the Hilton.

Ed

 

[Willclark]

I don't want to see my tax dollars subsidizing some family's junkets to the Middle East or someone getting killed in a salvaged Prius that was hacked together from Pick & Pull.

Winner. I was waiting for someone to bring up a Middle Eastern comment.

 

[Willclark]

[quote=pandus13
P.S.Most of my circle who was driving cabs, is now Uber, Lyft or Limo. Only 2 still drive cabs (Camry hybrids, pretty new and in Chicago)

But what about the "wear and tear" on someones personal car who drives for Uber? I think leasing a Camry Hybrid is about $120 per shift today. Real cabbies still can make good money if they hustle and have extensive knowledge about the city.

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted by Willclark
[quote=pandus13
P.S.Most of my circle who was driving cabs, is now Uber, Lyft or Limo. Only 2 still drive cabs (Camry hybrids, pretty new and in Chicago)

But what about the "wear and tear" on someones personal car who drives for Uber? I think leasing a Camry Hybrid is about $120 per shift today. Real cabbies still can make good money if they hustle and have extensive knowledge about the city.

They have a "family"/DD car and a "work" car. Works for them. Who I am to judge?
Time on job (driving as cabbie/other) 5 to 10+ years.

Anecdote case: one DD was getting repaired, so he rented a car. It still made sense money-wise to drive for Uber.

Clarification to others reading the thread: The friends in my circle have been driving for years, know the city, driving patterns, good busy times. Also all who transitioned from Cab/Taxi to Uber/Lyft have good ratings.
So we are not talking about the typical cabbie or uber driver.

 

[PimTac]

In the end you either adapt to change or get left behind.

What happened to all the autoworkers whose jobs were taken over by robots?

What will happen to the cashiers as we are changing to a self scan or u-scan system?

Long haul truck drivers must be aware of the coming of self driving trucks.


Every job and sector has gone through changes and are still going through them. Nothing lasts forever.

 

[atikovi]

Originally Posted by Mr Nice
I always tip my Uber driver minimum $10 even for a short ride like 5 miles in Atlanta.

Lots of these drivers make peanuts.


Lots of these drivers eat peanuts...And toss the shells on the floor.

 

[02SE]

Originally Posted by Willclark
Okay, you guys win. Do you ever wonder or, a better question, even care how much the average Uber driver makes? The only thing you guys seem to care about is the price point. Of course, I'm not surprised as many of you stock up on Warren made Walmart oil. Uber drivers don't know anything about the neighborhoods they drive. Uber drivers don't know the history of where they are driving. When I was a professional driver these are things I did. And I made real money leasing my cab on the weekends. It saddens me how little these Uber drivers make. But I guess, I have to adapt and move one to a new career.


I suspected all your harping and 'concern' for the poor, disadvantaged Uber/ Lyft drivers was phony, and all an act.


Originally Posted by Wllclark
Originally Posted by Mr Nice
I always tip my Uber driver minimum $10 even for a short ride like 5 miles in Atlanta.
Lots of these drivers make peanuts.


Good, these Uber drivers deserve to make peanuts.They destroyed a honorable and historical profession. Also, most of them fail to tell their car insurance about what they are using their car for and are denied in accidents. Uber mostly insures the passenger only.


Thank you for confirming your faux concern and hypocrisy.

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted by Willclark

Winner. I was waiting for someone to bring up a Middle Eastern comment.

So? I've been picked up by many Middle Easterns, Eritreans and Hindis/Sikhs in Ubers and never had a bad experience with them - and many of them drive for Uber or Lyft on the side to help send money back home to their families.

Not like the family in Oakland who owns Friendly Cab who was swindling taxpayer money and living a flashy lifestyle - like the Taxi King of NYC and Michael Cohen.

https://www.eastbayexpress.com/Seve...t-with-37500-fine-for-defrauding-oakland

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted by edhackett
Originally Posted by Astro14

What did you think the consumer would do with that choice?

This cheap bastage would have taken BART for $9.15 and walked the 2 blocks to the Hilton.

Ed

It costs me $7 to ride BART from Downtown Oakland to OAK, the Uber/Lyft ride is only $3 more and doesn't involve transferring to the monorail between the closest BART station(Coliseum) and the terminals.

Now, I can park my car nearby for $8/day, but not having to worry about my car is better.

 

[ofelas]

I'd take this over a Chicago taxi any day of the week.

 

[SZR48207]

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by Astro14
The cab was miserable. The Uber very pleasant.

Same price.

It's the competition that killed the cab. A lousy, often unreliable, product at a high price.

What did you think the consumer would do with that choice?


No one has really mentioned that Uber isn't making any money. Those cheap Uber rides are coming from the drivers who aren't properly accounting for their expenses and Uber. They're going to have to stop losing money at some point and then the prices of rides might go up although maybe they're just burning it up trying to expand. The other thing I wonder about is that they burn through a lot of drivers, I wonder if they will eventually reach a point where they can't get any new drivers and will be forced to raise prices at which point it may make the cabs more competitive again.

Reminds me of the dot com bubble. Lots of dot com companies were just throwing money away and I remember cashing in on some great deals. The deals eventually all ended though.

 

[Willclark]

No one has really mentioned that Uber isn't making any money. Those cheap Uber rides are coming from the drivers who aren't properly accounting for their expenses and Uber. They're going to have to stop losing money at some point and then the prices of rides might go up although maybe they're just burning it up trying to expand. The other thing I wonder about is that they burn through a lot of drivers, I wonder if they will eventually reach a point where they can't get any new drivers and will be forced to raise prices at which point it may make the cabs more competitive again.

This is the best comment I have read and agree 100%. The day is coming too when they start jacking their prices up. They burn threw so many drivers because they simply don't make as much money as they thought.

 

[fdcg27]

Originally Posted by Wolf359
Originally Posted by Astro14
The cab was miserable. The Uber very pleasant.

Same price.

It's the competition that killed the cab. A lousy, often unreliable, product at a high price.

What did you think the consumer would do with that choice?


No one has really mentioned that Uber isn't making any money. Those cheap Uber rides are coming from the drivers who aren't properly accounting for their expenses and Uber. They're going to have to stop losing money at some point and then the prices of rides might go up although maybe they're just burning it up trying to expand. The other thing I wonder about is that they burn through a lot of drivers, I wonder if they will eventually reach a point where they can't get any new drivers and will be forced to raise prices at which point it may make the cabs more competitive again.
Reminds me of the dot com bubble. Lots of dot com companies were just throwing money away and I remember cashing in on some great deals. The deals eventually all ended though.


You've been thinking along the same lines as I.
Lyft lost $911M last year while Uber lost $1.8B.
This with the only costs involved being a few bladed severs with the "independent contractor" drivers supplying the labor, the rolling stock and all of the expenses involved in running the actual vehicles.
Only two possibilities that I can see:

1. The original VCs are intent on keeping things rolling until the IPO, where they can cash out with a bunch of lemming investors betting on growth even with current and past negative return on revenue.

2. Once they've run all of the traditional cab companies out of business, they can significantly raise rates and cash in, since there will no longer be any competition.

I can't see any other ways in which these business models work and both are very vulnerable to local start-ups, since the tech required to emulate this business model on a local scale is quite cheap these days.
As an aside, we take cabs everywhere from airports and have rarely had any issues. As I posted above, their rates are often fixed on a zone basis, so there's no worry about getting ripped off. In some countries, like Mexico, I can't see how one of these so-called ride sharing services would be cheaper. In most cases, I feel so badly about the fare the driver asks that I tip him more than the fare and they often act a little surprised that I do.