Thanks for the explanations. I suppose I will download Uber and try it sometime.

When at home, I use taxis just to get to/from the airport. Radio Cab is our local co-op taxi company, they get to my house promptly, take cards, cars are clean and drivers are professional. No complaints. When traveling, I basically just take taxis from hotel to hotel, so there is no waiting or hailing involved - "doorman, I need a cab" "yes sir, here you go" - and in the cities I go to, all the cabs have touchscreen credit card readers.

So I'm not hungering for a better alternative to conventional taxis. But Uber sounds pretty interesting as a replacement for owning a car. Between ZipCar/Car2Go, Uber, bikes, and transit, it isn't clear to me that anyone really needs to own a car in Portland.

I don't have an issue with fostering competition which results in a better product for the consumer and increased profits for the service provider.

If regulations for cab companies are relaxed, (which I have no doubt they'd happily embrace,) to be on par with Uber and those cab companies fail to meet consumer expectation they will wither and die as they should.

But the playing field should be level.

Car2go is great! There's always one within about 1/3 of a mile from me. Usually less than 2 blocks.

I disagree. Innovation means taking the game to an entirely different playing field.
Is Uber less secure? Riskier? Unregulated? Let the consumers decide what they need from a transportation provider.

It's not competition if you take it to an entirely different field and claim a win because the other team is prohibited from playing.

That's what innovation is.

Yep. Tough tuna fish.

The world is full of tough tuna fish.

Without Uber, the cab companies would have zero incentive to innovate.

You've been able to hail a regular taxi with Uber for over 2 years. Why hasn't yellow cab or flash or one of the other majors come out with a simple app to do the same thing?

There's plenty of taxi hailing apps. The advantage of uber over them is the cashless transaction.

You're right. I've used a few and they don't hold a candle to Uber. And they are still third party.

"Tipping not allowed" I'm sold...never taking a taxi again.

This! Particularly where I know where I'm going and how to get there, but the cabbie wants to play tour guide.

Just posting an update now that I've used it.

Two rides this morning in Honolulu, one to breakfast, and then one to the airport. First driver had an early cayenne, second was a fairly new ford flex. Both cars were very clean, both drivers were curteous, safe drivers. The driver of the flex had pieces of astro turf for floor mate, gave it a fun feeling in the car. And best of all! It was cheaper than regular cabs!

When we got here friday, and took a regular cab to the hotel, the car was dirty, the driver was rude and talking on his phone and the ride was pricey.


Choice has been made here, we are taking uber whenever possible.

^ Not in Portland you won't. Big Cabbie has a cuphold on the city council, and über is not welcome here.

AirBNB is perfectly ok, though...go figure....

Am I the only one using TaxiMagic? Maybe it's just an LA thing. I need to go to LAX, I hail a cab from my iPhone, a yellow cab shows up within 15 minutes. Maybe Uber is great, I haven't tried it yet. But just so you know you can use a similar app for regular cabs. And I have a hunch Uber and Lyft might have been the motivators that led to TaxiMagic. If so, there's proof that taxi companies stepped up to compete.

I agree that cabs have made their own "beds" and that's probably why Über has become so popular. In MN the airport cabs get in line and you take the first one, guy is super friendly and puts your bags in the trunk and holds the door for you, once we get driving and he finds out I'm only going two miles, he stops talking and when we arrive, he pops the trunk and I have to get my own bags- guy is pissed because he didn't make much money and now has to go get in back of the line. Of course because of this I hate taking cabs, so I rarely do and the industry loses money. Drivers need to wise up and realize every rider matters, or they will keep losing market share.

Side note, I was recently in Portland and called a Radio Cab; guy was right on time, super nice, never did that thing where they tell you the story about how some guy tipped them an awesome amount, drove the direct route and didn't give me any hassle about using a credit card.

Wouldn't you know it, that's exactly how they do it in Portland. Want to guess how far I live from the airport?

SmileWavy

OMG, if it was up to some of you old farts all our carriages would still have horses! Ever heard of a buggy whip? How about an 8 track tape? Geez!

Uber rocks! Best designated driver ever!

And Holger, lololol!

Was in Miami back in April. Trying to find a cab that accepts plastic was hit or miss. I wish I had known about Uber back then. Then, I could have had the ride charged to my AMEX card.

For me it's less about the hail with phone and pay by cars thing. It's more about getting a clean vehicle with a safe driver. I've never felt more unsafe in a car than with a cabbie at the wheel, Vegas, okc, Honolulu, seems like the cars are always dirty and te cabbies unfriendly, even with fares approaching the 40$ mark.

For example, airport to our hotel was $42 with tip on Friday night. Today we go to eat and then the airport, generally the same route but a few miles out of the way and broken into two trips. $15 for the first trip, and $13 for the second trip. Both drivers were friendly, in nice modern cars that were clean, and I never felt like the driver was trying to kill me.

To me can companies have been ripe for knocking off their pedestal for a long time, uber has just bundled all the things together that make for a much much better service.

No, taxi magic has been around since iPhone has had GPS. It's fine, but a little inconsistent city to city. And it still can't hold a candle to the convenience of uber (IMO).

I live in Portland. Radio Cab is by far and away the best cab company here. Their drivers own their cars and the company is owned by the drivers, as a cooperative. The company has a long history Radio Cab - Serving Portland Since 1946 Every Radio Cab driver I've had has been professional and good with a clean, new car; they are all career cab drivers. No surly non English speaking flakes. I'd hate to see the company get hurt by Uber.

I can't say the same for cab companies and drivers in other cities I've visited and lived. In Berkeley, where I used to live, the cab are old beaters and clunkers, the drivers are all Pakistani (or so it seems), the service level is terrible. I'd love to see them swept away.

OT but when I read that, the first thing I thought was "if that doesn't have an episode of Portlandia written all over it, I don't know what does!" :D

Seems Uber does play fair:rolleyes:

Mysterious taxi no-shows blamed on Uber's dirty tactics

I never even heard about Uber until reading this thread. Used the app for the first time last Tuesday to pick up my car from the shop after work. I downloaded the app at lunch time and placed my request and the ride @ 4pm. App showed his active location, car and license plate with driver name. He was here literally in 8 minutes. 10 minute drive = $7. Guy drove a clean late model Honda and was in medical sales. He said he normally provided rides to and from his appointments.

So not much else to go on but my first experience was great. Will use them again when the need arises.

My last 'cab' ride was with yellow cab about 3 years ago. Driver was strange, drove a large window van (like super shuttle). I was his only fare and on the way from SAN airport to my work he starts putting on rubber gloves...It was late and I was really tired. Totally creepy way to end my trip. Glad to see him drive off. ;)

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I've had some really scary cab rides and I've been ripped off by cab drivers so being licensed buys you absolutely nothing. The scariest ride I've ever had was in a Yellow cab in Houston. I thought we were going to crash at least a dozen times. I don't think he was drunk and I asked if he'd been on shift for a long time and he said he just started his shift. He just couldn't drive a car. I called Yellow cab about the driver and they could care less. I've never used Uber but I would.

I use Taximagic AKA Curb...

As I understand, there is big money involved in artificially limiting the supply of taxis.

Plan lets taxi drivers transfer medallions - SFGate
"The policy, adopted unanimously Tuesday, allows medallion holders 60 and older or with disabilities to sell their permits through the agency for $300,000. Sellers get to keep $200,000, with the agency pocketing $100,000."

And can companies vet their drivers how? I've been with plenty of them that gave me the creeps.

If we are going to talk about Uber, maybe we should also talk about SilverCar?

Anyone use it? I love their slogan.

https://www.silvercar.com

Never heard of Silver Car before. Funny slogan, but weird model - they only rent Audi A4's? $89/day? I think my last rental was an Impala for $30/day, don't see why I would pay 3x for an A4. I'd go to maybe $35.

Because you don't want to drive a rental car...

I hate travelling and having to drive something worse than what I drive at home, in fact I usually like something better.