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Data Research Reveals When Taking a Yellow Cab Is Cheaper Than an Uber
An anonymous reader writes A team of data scientists have come up with a system to identify times when regular yellow taxis are cheaper alternatives to an Uber [in New York]. Researchers from the University of Cambridge and the University of Nanmur in Belgium have compared a broad dataset of both yellow taxi and Uber fares in New York and have discovered that for a trip costing less than $35 Uber is often the most expensive option. The data scientists were able to reach this conclusion by comparing trip and fare data for each yellow taxi ride taken in 2013 and entering it into Uber's fare query system. Prices were taken from Uber's lowest-cost service Uber X and the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission.
Or a surge pricing multiplier kicks in while you are waiting your 20 minutes for the car to pitch up, only to suddenly get a cancellation notification... I guess the driver found a better fare.
I don't take Uber (or more often: Lyft) because it's cheaper. I use these services because 1) the car actually shows up, 2) when it's supposed to, and 3) I know ahead of time how much it will cost. Even if it's a couple of bucks more, that's well worth the vastly better customer service.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
Just so folks know, UberX in NYC is unlike UberX in any other market, in that the cars are drivers are all licensed livery cars and drivers with TLC (Taxi and Limo Commission) commercial licenses and insurance. This is unlike the rest of the US, where UberX drivers and vehicles don't need commercial licenses and plates.
Only real difference between UberX and Uber Black in NYC is the quality of the car (usually Camrys or similar with UberX, and Town Cars or big SUVs with Uber Black).
What a complete and total pile of crap.
The average age of a NYC taxi is 3.3 years. They MUST be replaced after 6 years.
You can not call a yellow cab in NYC. Since you can't call one, your BS about one not showing up is false. You CAN call for a town car, which WILL show up, and has the same age limits as a regular cab, and WILL be a Lincoln Town Car or equivalent.
I don't know where you get your 'facts' from about Uber, but you sure as hell don't normally get a higher-end car or SUV. You usually get a Prius or Camry or something of that ilk.
The fare data does include tips. See bullet point #2 on the first page.
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1503.0302...
Do you actually have any idea at all what the regulations are for taxis? Here are some of the rules that 'only represent one tiny class':
Cars must be inspected 3 times a year. This includes safety and cleanliness, and accessibility.
Must have a rate card with FIXED (regulated) fares (none of this surge pricing nonsense) that the fares can see
All drivers must have valid Taxicab Drivers Licenses
Must have minimum $200,000 insurance per person
Must provide workers compensation coverage for drivers
Must operate each cab a minimum of 18 hours a day (again, none of this 'I'll only drive if the rates are high enough' crap)
Drivers must be trained for wheelchair passenger assistance (owner of the cab must pay for the training)
Must have braille and raised lettering plaques with the same info as the rate card (fares, complaint line, taxi ID)
Drivers license must be displayed in a lighted frame
Must have accurate taximeter
Must have operable air conditioning
The problem with that thinking is that nothing happens in a vacuum. You make it sound like Uber and the people who chose it have no impact on everyone else. When Uber comes in and gets to cherry-pick only profitable rides, and otherwise lower their price (by not doing all the things that regular cabs must do) that means the traditional cabs are not getting that business. They can't survive with their regulated rates and must-carry rules, time required on the road, etc. if they only get the unprofitable trips. That impacts not only the cab companies, but everyone who uses them, which is a whole lot more people than use Uber (236 million people per year in NYC).
If someone owns a factory they don't get to say 'yeah, everybody else has to obey EPA rules, etc, but those rules are really just to protect the existing factories, and my customers live somewhere else and don't care anyway, so we declare ourselves exempt from the law and will just dump waste into the rivers and air'. This is the same thing.
I do not know about New York, but if you take an Uber car and get into an accident, do not count on the driver's insurance. It was invalidated the second you got in the car, having promised to pay him.
No good deed goes unpunished...