The answer to bad regulations is not necessarily no regulations. The taxi medallion system was broken and in need of an overhaul. Replacing a broken system with a ridesharing Wild West is not optimal.
I agree that there needs to be a lot more investment in mass transit but in the meantime governments shouldn't be turning a blind eye to regulating ridesharing.
Car safety = Uber knows the drivers, has real-time tracking for your entire trip, and lets you call for help quickly and silently. Taxis have none of this, and there are lots of bandit/underground cabs where you have no idea if it's legit.
Payment options/scams = Uber lets you pay however you want through the app/apple pay without any need for cash, with an upfront price. Most taxis only accept cash, have unclear pricing that you only know at the end, can easily pad the meter in various ways, and may extort you if you really need a ride.
Refusing pickups = Uber drivers don't know the destination until you get in the car, and get kicked off the network if they cancel too many rides or abuse riders. Taxis are notorious for ignoring people based on looks, destination, convenience and usually won't deal with any trip they deem is not worth their time.
The difference in service and safety is magnitudes better with ridesharing vs taxis, that's why they're so popular.
Also your Uber driver doesn't know your race when he accepts your ride or not. Which is probably why I find it a lot easier to get an Uber than a taxi.
> Also your Uber driver doesn't know your race when he accepts your ride or not. Which is probably why I find it a lot easier to get an Uber than a taxi.
Not being able to hail a cab due to racist drivers is a problem. However, in your example, the Uber driven can see your name, which is a pretty reliable proxy for your race, unless it's highly generic like John Smith or something.
Taxi drivers have to accept cash and cannot force you to pre-pay for your ride like Uber can. That at least reduces the number of drivers who would otherwise refuse to pick you up because of a perception that you wouldn't pay.
I’m no fan of unnecessary regulation, but you cannot compare externalities of driving your own car for your own purposes vs. ride share, accept in cases where people are ride share driving in the same capacity/frequency as personal driving. My opinion is that people who drive their own cars don’t do so at the same clip as people driving for money. In the former, people do so out of convenience or routine. In the latter, people do so as long as needed to meet financial obligations. Maybe I’m wrong and people are out here driving hours and hours for wages they don’t need to survive or support others.
It's the same amount of driving. The Uber drivers are giving rides to people who need to get somewhere, and who would otherwise be using their own cars or taxis.
If anything there are less total cars on the road since the same Uber driver can service many passengers (or same amount of cars delivering more people with less parking).
I agree that there needs to be a lot more investment in mass transit but in the meantime governments shouldn't be turning a blind eye to regulating ridesharing.