Ride-hailing in Metro Vancouver: Uber, Lyft, Sidecar - emerging technologies

[st7860]

https://www.fcpp.org/posts/taxis-far...ence-to-800000
Gary Tarantino owns arguably the most valuable taxi in Vancouver, in an industry already known for its breathtakingly high licence values. Tarantino's Licence 70384 could easily command more than $1 million in a business where the average Vancouver taxi costs $800,000. That's because he is the last holdout of independent taxi owners in an industry where all of the other 687 licences are held by the city's four taxi companies.

[Tetsuo]

Uber should purchase his license at an absurd price just for kicks

[SpongeG]

uber is having some problem, portland got rid of it recently and more places don't seem to want it.

From Australia To France, Another Bad Day For Uber

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/...d-day-for-uber

The Broken Windows of Uber

http://www.theatlantic.com/technolog...f-uber/383746/

[kylemacmac]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

uber is having some problem, portland got rid of it recently and more places don't seem to want it.

From Australia To France, Another Bad Day For Uber

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/...d-day-for-uber

The Broken Windows of Uber

http://www.theatlantic.com/technolog...f-uber/383746/

Sure, the taxi mafias are powerful - most of all here in Vancouver if you can believe it. Make no mistake, regular people don't want these services banned AT ALL, it's collusion between taxi permit holders and gov't under the guise of safety. And I'm pretty sure automakers and oil companies are fuelling the anti-Uber PR fire as well, because the implications of widespread ridehsare adoption will lead to us needing far fewer vehicles.

Think about that for a second:
If more people sell their cars and switch to using Uber/Lyft and other rideshare services, who loses?
It's not really the taxi companies - it's the auto/oil sector due to reduced sales of vehicles and fuel.
Now ask yourself this: Do you think the auto/oil companies have a bit of cash to spend on anti-rideshare PR and lobbying?

I strongly urge you to question WHY taxis/gov't etc wants these services banned. And don't fall for the safety red herring.


_____________________
Download/Read/Share: “Assessing and Reforming Vancouver's Taxi Regulations“ by Benn Proctor

[SOSS]

Fear of the unknown and fear of loosing control.

[cornholio]

At the end of the day it comes down to efficiency. What is more efficient?

The taxi industry will change and many other industries as well. Walk in clinics. Doctors spend their time writing out procedures. It makes it easy for developers to replace them. It makes it easy for developers to replace taxis. It makes it easy to replace many things. I went of topic but lets go back to taxis. They represent a insignificant percentage of vehicles on the road, they are inefficient because by them existing they prevent all the other 99.5% of vehicles from being utilized to do the same job (just a fraction of them has to). Taxis can be replaced tomorrow, all that is required is good developers, and new regulations. Just a matter of time.

Also people should add to their post if they have a IT back ground or not :-). Makes a difference regarding the outlook on these things....

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

uber is having some problem, portland got rid of it recently and more places don't seem to want it.

From Australia To France, Another Bad Day For Uber

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/...d-day-for-uber

The Broken Windows of Uber

http://www.theatlantic.com/technolog...f-uber/383746/

Uber's jacking up of rates in Sydney during a traumatic hostage crisis was stupid. Bragging about it on social media was even dumber.

[Conrad Yablonski]

If a driver is sitting somewhere waiting for a fare then he's in no way participating in a 'ride share' programme the idea is either-

1-laughable

2-a damned lie

Given the horrific record of local taxi companies re:lying through their teeth day & night do we really need more mendacity in public transportation?

Uber in particular has a horrific record for nasty behaviour toward the media and shady tracking of customer's travel habits.

So maybe they'd fit right in and maybe that's why we don't need them what we need is transparency & honesty.

[kylemacmac]

Originally Posted by Conrad Yablonski

So maybe they'd fit right in and maybe that's why we don't need them what we need is transparency & honesty.

What we need is the ability to legally make available the empty seats in our cars where we can charge customers for rides while not voiding vehicle insurance.

The vision of Lyft and Uber is somewhat akin to being the Airbnb for transportation. Smartphone GPS tech and peer reviews enable this.

The implications of future customer choice in P2P vehicular transport are mind-boggling.

[whatnext]

Uber and Lyft coming to BC by Christmas, finally:
http://www.news1130.com/2017/03/07/b...ces-christmas/

[WarrenC12]

Election promise, zero details, taxi industry already promising to go to court. LOL.

Uber will benefit consumers at the expense of the taxpayer at large (via ICBC expense, regulation expense, lack of reporting income taxes, etc.).

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Uber will benefit consumers at the expense of the taxpayer at large (via ICBC expense, regulation expense, lack of reporting income taxes, etc.).

Have you never been in a taxi? Lack of reporting income taxes... yes the taxi drivers are so honest about that.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Pinion

Have you never been in a taxi? Lack of reporting income taxes... yes the taxi drivers are so honest about that.

I do and always pay by credit card.

I'm not going to defend taxis, but Uber is not the answer.

[phesto]

Finally!

Long overdue. The $1M commitment to help the failing taxi industry with a new "app" is comical, but just shows how strong the taxi lobby is that the Province had to throw them a bone.

[cairnstone]

oh dont forget lower icbc fees taxi cab insurance to drop 25 percent.

[casper]

Originally Posted by cairnstone

oh dont forget lower icbc fees taxi cab insurance to drop 25 percent.

There is a simple answer, the province takes away taxi regulation from the cities. We have a BC wide taxi license and the only criteria as safety and insurance related. No trying to artificially limit the number of taxis on the road or limited which municipality they can operate in. Once you do force uber to use licensed vehicles and your done.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Election promise, zero details, taxi industry already promising to go to court. LOL.

Uber will benefit consumers at the expense of the taxpayer at large (via ICBC expense, regulation expense, lack of reporting income taxes, etc.).

Things I don't care about include what the taxi industry thinks about the decision. They can go to court, they can spend more money trying to bribe Meggs or they can figure out their taxi licenses are now worthless.

And with the new crash-prevention software for taxis be sure to fine them each time they speed in the city.

[Reecemartin]

[Deleted]

[mezzanine]

I dunno about this. I like using uber when I travel but i'm now more aware of uber, at least, trying to gain market share in the US by acting like a pirate of late, falsely advertising pay rates to potential drivers, making money off onerous leases from their drivers and using app software to try to evade regulation where they are operating.

If this ever gets off the ground we'll see how this gets regulated. with the introduction of uber, I'm glad BC wasn't first within canada.

[jlousa]

I agree, like the concept of Uber more then I like Uber itself. They certainly have gotten a lot deserved bad press as of late. Think a tighter regulated version of what Uber is now is needed in our market. Looking forward to reading what is going to be proposed.