https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/4550102-minneapolis-just-called-ubers-bluff-other-cities-must-follow-their-lead/
It’s time to tell Uber it can no longer take us all for a ride.
This month, a group of mostly Black and immigrant Uber and Lyft drivers in Minneapolis won their fight for a minimum pay rate when the Minneapolis City Council refused to be bullied by the rideshare corporations.
For years, Uber relied on billions of dollars from venture capitalists like BlackRock and Jeff Bezos to offer low fares for riders and high pay for drivers. This allowed the corporation to undercut competition, sign up millions of customers and corner the market in major cities.
They didn't even need to do that tbh, Taxis were (and still are) so shitty they could have just charged marginally cheaper than the going local taxi rate and people would have still flocked to them lmao
I tried taking a taxi about a year ago. There was one right there and I figured, might as well give it a try, won't have to wait. It was over twice as much as a ride share. The price difference isn't even close, they'd have to raise prices a ridiculous amount before I'd take a taxi again. Fuck not knowing how much a trip is going to cost ahead of time.
I've had too many bad experiences with the "cash only", "I'm not going that way".
I put my friend in a cab in London who was too drunk. I prepaid the cabbie and then he woke my friend up after he took him back and shook him down for cash.
Yeah, no thanks to cabbies.
I was kinda mad at Uber in 2019 (I can't remember what reason it was... They have so many reasons) and needed a ride share from the airport to a conference. The bus runs every two hours on weekends apparently, a dirty ass taxi said he can take me for $15 each, if he can get three more people. So we waited and finally got four people.
The vehicle was a mess, there was coke cans on the floor, he drove like a complete asshole, and he was incredibly rude.
Taxis were always shit before Uber. But Looks like taxis are still shit.
I never take rideshare from the airport anymore. It’s nearly the same cost to take a taxi, without the wait.
Their payment systems suck though. I was in one where the default tip started at 35% and was a few steps to avoid.
It depends on where you are, but I've never saved money taking a taxi over ride share from the airport, but I've had it cost way more plenty of time. It being the same cost has been the best case scenario for me.
Depending on where you are, you don't have the option to take a ride share. It might have changed, but a few years ago when my wife and I flew into Orlando they had a ban on pickups from the airport.
That being said, we took a hotel shuttle and ordered the ride share from there because fuck taxis.
Even then, many taxi companies have apps now. They aren't trying to pay extra for dispatchers and stuff.
Curb is the only app that ever double charged me, multiple times. I had to dispute the charges with the credit card company. It took like 3-6 months to be completely done with it. They literally kept charging me every month.
Ah yes, the taxi "Bare minimum effort" apps. Seriously, most of them look like they walked right out of the 2010 era of apps. I would say that they just asked their "techy teen nephew that knows apps" to make it, but that would be an insult to techy teen nephews everywhere.
I tried an app last year just to see how things are, the book a cab button just opened my fucking dialer with a pre filled number. In 2023.
The best cab app I ever saw still looked like 2016 (but better than the others stuck in 2009-2010 I'll give them that) but that one would only give me an "estimated ride range" like fuck that. One of the best pros to a ride share app is that the price it tells you in app is the price you're getting charged (excluded driver tip) leaving very little room for the driver to introduce shenanigans, like the classic cabbie trick of "oh this guys definitely isn't local so I'll take the LONG way around"
I only ask because where I live (Silicon Valley) taxis have become very competitive with rideshare. I doubt it's true all the time, but I've had great prices leaving concerts in San Francisco.
Also! scheduling an Uber for pickup is absurdly expensive. I called a cab compay and they were a quarter of the price. Pro tip?
The taxis here are half the price of a ride share. Most large city taxi companies have an app now that will give you the price of the trip.
True. But they did that. Anyway. That is technically Anti-Trust. Thus in essense illegal. That is why uber tried shilling that they are not an employer but merely a service as to seem that they were skimming the Law that they knew they were breaking in Spirit. They aren't stupid. But know many are, so why not exploit them? If we are smart, they thought, they could drive Taxis out of business, be the big dog in the sector and surge price their way into profit. At will. It is not like this type of shit has not been attempted before.
Also, Uber simply transfered the costs of running its fleets, upkeep, maintenance, including most liability and litigation to its drivers. Not to mention that love it or hate it Taxi drivers need to pass some basic level of proficiency, for uber you could be a blatant rapist and as long as you can click on a form for 5 minutes, you are good to go.
They do actually do a background check. Whether it works or not is another question, but I think it works pretty well at keeping out most crazies. Plus the customer reviews and GPS monitoring work decently for keeping drivers on their best behavior.
Those are not present in taxis, and there's very little recourse against a creepy taxi driver. Some cities make Uber drivers get the same license as a taxi driver.
Well no they couldn’t. Uber is far less efficient and more expensive to run than a taxi company. They need the extra cash.
The whole article reads like it was written by people living in an alternate dimension. I've followed the news, the protests, the legislation and ban. I have no dog in the fight, I'm nowhere near MSP and no desire to be.
But they didn't call Uber's bluff... Uber called theirs. This is toddler level "no I am not, you are" logic. Uber said, hey if you do this we're leaving. They did it. Uber left. MSP failed.
Now of you're in the area and need to get around, you can't. Taxis are not a possible option. You can blame it on rideshare decimating them. But even in the prime of taxis, they sucked. That's why Uber took off.
People today pay MORE for an Uber in some cases because they know the cost upfront, they can see when it's coming, etc. A taxi is a gamble. And people don't like to gamble especially when it's on if they'll be late for work or the airport or an important meeting.
https://www.uber.com/us/en/r/cities/taxi/minneapolis-mn-us/
Sure looks like I can get an Uber in Minneapolis today. I can't get past the login page to see if I can actually request a ride but the web page is still there, indicating that Uber is still in Minneapolis
FWIW Minneapolis city council is already talking about back tracking on this. Maybe.