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0 pointsbena6y ago0 comments

You think that's why taxis maybe have the regulations they do?

You get in a taxi and you know the base rate and the metered rate.

And taxis can't adjust the rate either.

They don't get to argue and neither do you.

The problem I have with this isn't that negotiation is happening, is that it's happening between the wrong parties.

0 comments

Taxi prices are regulated because negotiation was too difficult in the pre-smartphone era and taxi drivers would take advantage of information asymmetry to screw people. None of that applies here.

The negotiation is happening between the drivers and passengers, which is how it should be. Uber and Lyft are acting as intermediaries, and are trying and failing to stop this negotiation.

eropple6y ago

Can you explain where you see a "negotiation" in this? (Don't get me wrong, I like the cut of your jib, it just seems to map better to a dysfunctional spread-based market.)

mikeash6y ago

The drivers are offered a certain rate. They refuse, implicitly asking for a higher rate. This repeats until the drivers get a rate they can accept, or they give up and go home.

On the other side, passengers are offered a certain rate. They can accept it, or they can refuse and implicitly ask for a lower rate.

1 more reply

eropple6y ago

There's no negotiation happening, though. You don't negotiate in a bid-ask market. "I want X for $Y." "I will give X for $Y." "Done."

(And it functionally is a bid-ask market, though I'll acknowledge that it's made a bit messier by Uber and Lyft fiddling in internal-and-undocumented ways with the prices and offers that they quote.)

icebraining6y ago

Yeah, but as Uber and Lyft will tell you, they are not taxis.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointsbena6y ago0 comments

You think that's why taxis maybe have the regulations they do?

You get in a taxi and you know the base rate and the metered rate.

And taxis can't adjust the rate either.

They don't get to argue and neither do you.

The problem I have with this isn't that negotiation is happening, is that it's happening between the wrong parties.

0 comments

mikeash6y ago

Taxi prices are regulated because negotiation was too difficult in the pre-smartphone era and taxi drivers would take advantage of information asymmetry to screw people. None of that applies here.

The negotiation is happening between the drivers and passengers, which is how it should be. Uber and Lyft are acting as intermediaries, and are trying and failing to stop this negotiation.

eropple6y ago

Can you explain where you see a "negotiation" in this? (Don't get me wrong, I like the cut of your jib, it just seems to map better to a dysfunctional spread-based market.)

mikeash6y ago

The drivers are offered a certain rate. They refuse, implicitly asking for a higher rate. This repeats until the drivers get a rate they can accept, or they give up and go home.

On the other side, passengers are offered a certain rate. They can accept it, or they can refuse and implicitly ask for a lower rate.

1 more reply

eropple6y ago

There's no negotiation happening, though. You don't negotiate in a bid-ask market. "I want X for $Y." "I will give X for $Y." "Done."

(And it functionally is a bid-ask market, though I'll acknowledge that it's made a bit messier by Uber and Lyft fiddling in internal-and-undocumented ways with the prices and offers that they quote.)

icebraining6y ago

Yeah, but as Uber and Lyft will tell you, they are not taxis.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse