On the government's part, I don't think any party in power is really looking that far ahead on an issue like Uber. Instead, the mentality is probably one of getting the issue resolved, and move on to something else and not really think about this issue again (until something blows up again). In light of that mentality, a "bribe" is the perfect tool to obtain that buy-in and get the job done.

Additionally, the politicians know that the public will probably not support continual handouts to an outdated industry and business model. So if the traditional taxi industry still fails after the government handout, they have every reason to cite a lack of public support to continually propping the industry up. But if the taxi industry somehow comes out on top, they can claim credit for bolstering an industry during tough times so that it can survive. To them, this is a win-win.

For the taxi industry bosses, I can see 2 possibilities:

1) If they are idiots, they'd think that a big fat government handout can make them competitive again and put up a good fight against Uber. They may not win outright, but they'll retain enough marketshare to hang on and still turn in a profit.

2) If they are not idiots, then they'd know damn well that in the long run, they can't keep Uber out indefinitely. So they might as well take a big fat government handout now, and then decide what to do later. Perhaps they can con the next idiot to buy out their current taxi business? Or maybe they can keep milking the golden goose until it dies?

The point is, getting a handout is better than not getting any handouts no matter how you look at it.

https://uberblogapi.10upcdn.com/wp-c...9-1024x777.png

:okay:

The ice cream thing is genius on Uber's part. Another item which shows how much they understand this market space.

Sure the entire thing might end up costing them 50k or 100k.

But every single person who hears about it is going to DL the app and register and get their free icecream.

So once uber starts operating you already have their app, and you already have an account setup. No reason to not start using it right away.

Genius. Pure Genius.

RIP Cabbies.

Speaking of this entire thread, i was in San Francisco two weeks ago, and i noticed how many Lyft and Uber cabs there were.

Cant wait to see Taxis go extinct finally.

If only they stretched the range a little more south then I can get some at work lol

can you just stand at the house in the blue zone area and request an icecream?
parks? gas station? mcdonald? london drugs? shoppersmart?
town houses? apartments? school?hospital?
starbucks? tim hortons? malls?
canada place? bc place? chinatown store? rexall?

:pokerface:awwyeah::fuckyea:

it is must household address?

Probably just the area.

if it's same as getting ride on their app, you don't need to be at a address.
you could be standing in the middle of the road.

oh i totally get that. if i was the taxi industry i'd be making all sorts of promises to get the money. it's all up to the government on how they want to look at it like the way you put it

"No Ice Cream Available"

Wtf

Same here...Coal Harbour area. SwiftRage

I'm in Kits.

Gonna be a lot of pissed off hipsters if they don't deliver.

Word

Lyft it is...LUL

Logged in at 1101 and nothing fuck you

Way to fuck it up, Uber. You had one job.

Lyft FTMFW!

:troll:

Regardless of this ice cream promo shit, people are going to download Uber and start using it right away when they launch. The hype and demand for this service here is evident. At the end of the day, people just wanna Uber everywhere, pre-rolls in the VIP. skrr skrr

They ran out of ice-cream a few minutes past 11:00. Definitely not costing them that much in ice-cream

"I'm not going a step further until I get some goddamn ice cream!"

Did they have like 1 ice cream sandwhich per delivery person?

A marketing idea that ended up as a failure for the consumers. But everyone downloaded their app, so they are happy.

Another reason why Uber is a shit company, and people shouldn't be begging them to come. Lyft on the other hand...

I've only used Uber and thought it was great from an end user perspective. I haven't used Lyft so I can't comment. Can someone explain why they are better than Uber? Other than them "not being Uber"?

Thanks

As the consumer of the product i dont get why people who arent drivers get their panties in a bunch over how "bad" of a company it is or how they treat their drivers.

People choose to work for them, and as a consumer, their service works great, dont really care about the company structure if it works well for myself.

HaHa, People on twitter losing their collective shit. There's one driver and he's busy taking instagram pictures with the girls he delivers to.

As a consumer, this is why I dislike Uber. I know it's completely random whether people care about a companies shady practices or not so it likely won't affect them though.