Bug Shield

French taxis appear to be planning to block traffic in Paris on Monday. I bet they are more effective at blocking motor traffic than bicycles.

Europe - Paris taxis set to block traffic in Uber protests - France 24

rumrunn6

work acquaintance recently became a uber driver and he's making lots of money. it's really shaking things up. tempted to do it myself bu not really. I sit on my butt enough all day

I-Like-To-Bike

Making "lots of money" relative to what, unemployment?

Hypno Toad

Métro is gonna be packed! (and it's normally packed during rush hour)

rumrunn6

he does a variety of things so he's happy to have this additional income. I didn't ask specifically what he's making. he goes to Boston in the evenings and works 'till early morning hours and is constantly carrying a passenger. he wants to quit at 2am but there are so many fares he can't stop most mornings 'till 3am

I-Like-To-Bike

Wonder if he spends any of his additional income on additional automobile expenses or on additional car insurance; could be he is fooling himself about making "lots of money" as well as his insurance company about the nature of his private automobile use. Last laff may be on him.

acidfast7

heading over there quite shorty:


car into train, under the english channel, car out of train (30mins later)



car on train, under the sea????

I-Like-To-Bike

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/16/bu...-new-year.html

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/can-uber-survive-another-pr-disaster--001325054.html

rumrunn6

it's not going away. not here

I-Like-To-Bike

Bicycling in Paris and elsewhere may have a more solid future than "car sharing" based on the Uber model:

Ignoring existing regulations and counting on lobbyists and payoffs to regulators to ignore the company's business plan of ignoring existing consumer protection regulations and declaring them obsolete.

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/16/bu...-new-year.html

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/can-ub...001325054.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...1f7_story.html

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-m...m_term=partner


This post corrects the URL cited in the previous post.

acidfast7

Über is finished ... has been for a while.

Just a fad that won't catch on globally as it attempts to circumvent various healthy/safety/taxation measures.

The sad part about it is that it will lead to cracking down of BBS-based ridesharing programmes

like this: Carpooling & Ridesharing across Europe | Ridefinder.eu

the crackdown will be driven by insurance companies if there was evidence of financial exchange.

Darth Lefty 

To be fair, many of the regulations they are flaunting were implemented for the express purpose of protecting the taxi guild. This was brewing for a while before Uber, as town cars cut into taxi business.

acidfast7

Sure. Been brewing for a while.

But, Über will just go the way of MySpace/Facebook quite shortly.

Darth Lefty 

Only Uber is forced out and taxis take up the slack that was clearly there to allow Uber in.

IE, the average person probably doesn't care that hard if their taxi driver has a record, number of taxis suppressed, taxi union on strike...

acidfast7

All it's going to take is one national-level article and someone dying in an Übercar without proper insurance and Über is finished stateside.

I-Like-To-Bike

The so-called "average person" may not care an awful lot about any regulation being enforced if it can save them a dollar or Euro, until the lack of enforcement may affect them.

I-Like-To-Bike

I think the use of "The God View" of its customers' specific travel patterns for criminal or harassment purposes by Uber management, personnel or criminal hackers is going to do them in. Especially since Uber management has already demonstrated its willingness to mess with its customers in exactly that manner.

acidfast7

I just envision a Dateline/60 Minute episode about Über-deathtraps with adverts for the programme broadcast during NFL.

The average American doesn't care about privacy. Especially not regulation of it at a governmental level.

bmthom.gis

I really don't think Uber is any less expensive than a taxi. What it does excel at is their app to order a car or let you know one is nearby. They skyrocket the prices during peak times/special events.

I don't think Uber is going anywhere. If nothing else, the competition is good for taxi companies. They should be innovating. I don't live somewhere that offers reasonable cab fare from the city to my house (that would be a good 50 plus tip, each way), and have no idea if in my area Uber is cheaper. From what I have read in major metro areas, the price difference isn't all that much.

Anyways, it's always a good time to be in Paris.

acidfast7

Most taxi services have done that for a while (at least where I've been).

bmthom.gis

I really don't think Uber is any less expensive than a taxi. What it does excel at is their app to order a car or let you know one is nearby. They skyrocket the prices during peak times/special events.

I don't think Uber is going anywhere. If nothing else, the competition is good for taxi companies. They should be innovating. I don't live somewhere that offers reasonable cab fare from the city to my house (that would be a good 50 plus tip, each way), and have no idea if in my area Uber is cheaper. From what I have read in major metro areas, the price difference isn't all that much.

Anyways, it's always a good time to be in Paris.

EDIT: Stopped being lazy about it and checked prices. Much lower than I thought (was basing my pricing off of leaving the airport, which is the only place I have gotten a cab here). 24.25 for Yellow Checker Cab from work to home, Uber quoted at 20-26. So, I can't definitively say one is cheaper than the other. Personally, I would take the cab over Uber

bmthom.gis

All I know is drivers in Paris can be crazy. Was on a bus going back to CDG, and a little car cut in front of the bus, making the driver slow down. When that car eventually got into the next lane over (next to my window), I saw the bus driver try to teach the car a lesson by getting halfway into its lane pushing it very nearly off the road.