Uber Finally Coming to Vancouver

[MarkyMark]

Originally Posted by underscore

Which makes me assume that eventually you won't even be able to drive your manually controlled car on the road, you'll have to get it automatically towed to a closed track just to drive it, or your offroader out to FSRs

We'll all be so old that we shouldn't be on the road anyways by the time that happens. Yeah the technology is coming but getting to the point where all our current cars are obsolete and banned from public roads is a long way off.

[sonick]

Bump, this topic is back up in the news lately, and also I spotted an Uber-branded car earlier today, not sure what they're doing?

[punkwax]

Mapping.

[Mr.Money]

the east indian taxi companies are gonna riot and get under-cut so god damn hard with more competition.


I'll take an Uber so i won't have to smell hot sweaty body odor

[yray]

inb4 gang war on uber

[murd0c]

fuck the EI taxi companies

[FerrariEnzo]

if the taxi drivers werent such douche with bad customer service, I would side with them.. but they are so to hell with them

[Mr.HappySilp]

Originally Posted by FerrariEnzo

if the taxi drivers werent such douche with bad customer service, I would side with them.. but they are so to hell with them

They aren't so bad. The few times I used them the driver are really nice. Even my grandma who lives in a care house use tax whenever we all go out for dinner. The taxi drivers help us with the wheelchair and make sure the ride isn't too bumpy.

[Hondaracer]

Thing is, 90% of the taxi drivers don't own their own license. I'm sure the vast majority of licenses are owned by a handful of people who have been raking in the profits under the current system.

They are the only ones going to get hurt. Your average cab driver may be better off buying a vehicle and joining uber than continuing to rent a car from a licensee owner

[ImportPsycho]

what are all those stories and reports about how uber drivers make almost nothing when everything is factored? scare tactics from taxi company?

[meme405]

Originally Posted by ImportPsycho

what are all those stories and reports about how uber drivers make almost nothing when everything is factored? scare tactics from taxi company?

I've talked to cab drivers all over the states, they have all tried uber when it came to their city, most didn't make anything compared to driving a cab, but the number of cab drivers are getting cut in a lot of cities cause uber, so they didn't know what to do.

A few basically said the difference was this: I make the same amount of money every day, but driving my cab I don't pay for insurance, I don't pay for the car or the maintenance, and I split the cost of gas with the company.

Driving for Uber all those expenses fall into his lap.

So yeah uber drivers make fuck all, unless your a short sighted nupty who doesn't see the additional wear and tear on your car, and just count the money in your pocket.

Honestly I don't give a fuck, Uber turns the system into a free market system, which means people will pay what someone is willing to drive for. This is a system I am all for, I'm sorry but driving a cab isn't skilled labor, any idiot with a license can do it, there is no need for the government to shelter people with jobs like this. Once the cabbies get butt fucked, then we can turn our attention to slashing salaries on all the bus drivers too, another overpaid government job.

[Mr.Money]

i wonder if thats before when they didn't allow drivers to collect tips,could be extra $50-80 daily in tip money.

[blkgsr]

uber is just so much more convenient with the app and knowing how many cars are close to you. plus the cars haven't been shit kicked and are in decent shape. how many times have you gotten in a taxi and are praying the brakes still work based on the sound of them.

and now the car shares like evo and car2go (unless your drunk or going out of vancouver) are also super convenient

i live in coquitlam and would love to see evo expand to include coquitlam (and burnaby) so we could dive west and dump a car where ever....then take an uber home

[iwantaskyline]

When they finally come it's going to a big boost to our night life scene. Bill Simmons always says in jest on his podcast; Uber is the direct cause of the increase in accidental babies in LA.

[Hondaracer]

if people are making peanuts working for uber, there sure are a hell of a lot of people willing to work for peanuts, and driving higher end cars in many cases.

As i said in previous posts, in Toronto we never once waited for more than 5 minutes for a ride and in two cases on fri/sat night, we paid $8 for a 15 minute ride in a brand new escalade and a brand new Tahoe.

[iwantaskyline]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

if people are making peanuts working for uber, there sure are a hell of a lot of people willing to work for peanuts, and driving higher end cars in many cases.

As i said in previous posts, in Toronto we never once waited for more than 5 minutes for a ride and in two cases on fri/sat night, we paid $8 for a 15 minute ride in a brand new escalade and a brand new Tahoe.

It's not their full time job. 99% of the drivers do it as a side gig. When I was in Orlando, not a single one of them said they do it full time and this is Orlando; tourists galore.

[meme405]

Originally Posted by iwantaskyline

It's not their full time job. 99% of the drivers do it as a side gig. When I was in Orlando, not a single one of them said they do it full time and this is Orlando; tourists galore.

Which is exactly why at 5am on a tuesday in LA I had a problem getting an uber, and had to resort to catching a regular cab. Because many of the drivers only work weekends, or preferential periods when they can quickly make a lot of trips.

Also for those saying the app is convenient, I agree, but don't forget, you are now paying 3 million of your tax dollars so that all the cab companies in Vancouver can build an app to compete... Cause their business management was too inept to adapt to a growing market trend.

I wish the government would give me 3 million dollars so that I can fix the problems I failed to identify with my business.

Fucking Retarded.

[Hondaracer]

If 3 million results in me getting uber don't really care, tax dollars are wasted on things that effect me far less than this

[fsy82]

Wasnt the NDP against UBER during the campaign? Cause I know that all taxi companies back NDP because of this

[blkgsr]

Originally Posted by meme405

Which is exactly why at 5am on a tuesday in LA I had a problem getting an uber, and had to resort to catching a regular cab. Because many of the drivers only work weekends, or preferential periods when they can quickly make a lot of trips.

Also for those saying the app is convenient, I agree, but don't forget, you are now paying 3 million of your tax dollars so that all the cab companies in Vancouver can build an app to compete... Cause their business management was too inept to adapt to a growing market trend.

I wish the government would give me 3 million dollars so that I can fix the problems I failed to identify with my business.

Fucking Retarded.

i haven't read a single article that talks about this but why the fuck does the government have to give taxis companies $3M to develop an app?

why the fuck does the government (or me and you for that matter) owe them a single fucking thing?

their lack of business foresight and the fact they sat like fat cats hoping UBER would never come is their problem

[ForbiddenX]

Looks like they'll be here tomorrow with some ice cream delivery lol

[DragonChi]

What a time we live in! At the touch of an app, I can have ice cream delivered for free.

[Traum]

Originally Posted by fsy82

Wasnt the NDP against UBER during the campaign? Cause I know that all taxi companies back NDP because of this

NDP was not openly against Uber during the campagin. They just knew a bulk of their votes are from those who are against Uber, so they pussyfooted around the issue by saying they'll sit down and evaluate the situation when the time comes.

Originally Posted by blkgsr

i haven't read a single article that talks about this but why the fuck does the government have to give taxis companies $3M to develop an app?

why the fuck does the government (or me and you for that matter) owe them a single fucking thing?

their lack of business foresight and the fact they sat like fat cats hoping UBER would never come is their problem

While I fully agree that it is the taxi industry's own damn fault for:

1) driving their licence costs super sky high, thereby putting themselves in a lot of risk when things go south

2) failing to adapt to a changing business environment

3) putting themselves into a situation where their service quality is subpar and cannot compete against Uber

I am only theoretically against giving them a handout to compete against Uber. In practice, if that's what it takes to get buy-in from them, I say we bite the bullet to go for it.

The problem is, the taxi industry knows they'll likely get fxxked and out competed against Uber, and their drivers know that at the end of the day, they'll bring home less $$$. So as a whole, they are very much against having Uber legalized in order to protect their own interests. From the government's perspective, they don't want to lose votes from the taxi industry support base, so they can't afford to just give Uber a free hand to operate. The assistance money is essentially a bribe to get the taxi industry to shut up and agree to let Uber join the playing field.

In this taxi / Uber / cars for hire case, I believe a free market approach would bring about a superior outcome for the customers. I also don't care whether it is Uber or traditional taxi that wins the race at the end. Or maybe they can find an equilibrium to co-exist and share the market somehow. At the end of the day, I just think competition can bring a better product to better serve consumers.

Spoiler!

As a side note, it is interesting how I am pro free market when it comes to taxi, but support ICBC's near monopoly when it comes to auto insurance.

[blkgsr]

a "bride" isn't going to keep their support worth shit, and the NDP would be naive to think it would. I'm sure the taxi "bosses" are floating this idea and saying "ya pay us and we'll still support you" but once the money changes hands watch the support go with it

once uber's in, why would the taxi industry have any motive to keep supporting any one government over the other?

[originalhypa]

Originally Posted by meme405

I'm sorry but driving a cab isn't skilled labor, any idiot with a license can do it

And yet I never wear my seatbelt in a cab because for some reason I trust them to keep me safe.

fuk