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0 pointskelnos9y ago0 comments

I get what you're saying with Ryanair (a sub-standard product sold cheaply), but I don't see the link with Uber. It's cheaper than taxis, and is a much much much better product. I consider Uber/Lyft "the full thing" these days, and taxis are archaic. Unclear if Uber's pricing is long-term sustainable, but even at higher prices I'd choose it every time over a taxi.

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agumonkey9y ago

Uber is selling unorganized, uninsured, unchecked drivers. I believe no legal taxi company can do that since they're liable would anything happen to you. If Uber had to form, insure, optimize, thus manage, they'd require additional workforce, time, costs, and wouldn't give it to you for free.

The customer interface is (was? I don't know if taxi companies competes on the app side) way above and that's the value here. Better information and information model, almost no idle time.

charrondev9y ago

In Montreal there has recently been a giant upheaval of the taxi system as a result of Uber. The taxi industry here was incredibly broken and dysfunctional. They were n unchallenged monopoly, with not enough taxis to go around as the the population began growing again.

Uber came in and was very clearly illegal here, but they offered significantly better service and had more drivers available. A couple years on after fighting the government for a long time, Uber finally came to an agreement with the government and new regulation was passed. Rides sharing vehicles will now require nearly all the same regulations as a taxi, but the larger affect is more competition to traditional all taxis.

agumonkey9y ago

Pretty nice. Thanks, I didn't know the situation there.

ekanes9y ago

Interesting listen on how Uber is creating a massive consumer surplus: http://freakonomics.com/podcast/uber-economists-dream/

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0 pointskelnos9y ago0 comments

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agumonkey9y ago

The customer interface is (was? I don't know if taxi companies competes on the app side) way above and that's the value here. Better information and information model, almost no idle time.

charrondev9y ago

agumonkey9y ago

Pretty nice. Thanks, I didn't know the situation there.

ekanes9y ago

Interesting listen on how Uber is creating a massive consumer surplus: http://freakonomics.com/podcast/uber-economists-dream/

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