Uber? Should Taiwan allow Uber to operate?

Taipei has the cheapest rides on the island, strangely other parts of Taiwan can be up to twice as expensive for taxis!
Taipei equals rich mans paradise.

Uber is evil and is not about ride ‘sharing’ … it’s a taxi service, centrally controlled by software and big money.

[quote=“andyj”][quote=“goose egg”]I have been a very happy Uber user in Taipei for the past few months…
…we have noticed that Uber rides cost about 15% less than the same taxi ride. [/quote]
Are you joking dude?
Taxi rides in Taipei are so bloody cheap I don’t know how these taxi drivers even scratch together a living. For that reason I always tip for short rides.

I don’t know if I’m reading your post correctly, but if your meaning is that Taipei taxis are expensive to the point where you want to save 15%, then you have reached a whole new level of skinflinting.[/quote]
I’m not kidding. I like saving money where I can, even if it is -15% off a ride.

And I don’t ride taxis to help them out, I ride them usually to save time. In the same way, I don’t believe most taxi drivers are in the business to help me out, but because it is a way of earning a living that suits them.

I enjoy taking Uber mindful of (at least some of) the drawbacks: inexperienced drivers, no 3rd party insurance, drivers canceling on me. My experiences in Uber rides in 3 countries has been overwhelmingly positive, but there have been hiccups.

That’s my two cents (or maybe I should save those :wink:)

Argh. C’mon dude. Spare a thought for these guys?
Wages have stagnated for 10 years, the cost of living is continually increasing… And I can’t think of anyone who’d be harder hit than these poor cab drivers.

Taxis in Taipei are insanely, ridiculously cheap. They’re also a hell of a lot safer than in many countries, my own included. I don’t see how they scratch out a living wage.

I’m just not getting in some on-the-make weirdo’s uninsured car, for the same reason I don’t use Air BnB either. Safety, insurance, the whole sleazy grey-marketiness of it. I’m just don’t need that. Whether the risk is real or not, I don’t know, but it just seems dodgy and low-rent and I wouldn’t do it.

Thankyou someone here gets it

we’d have to crunch the numbers
to see if taxi drivers or über drivers get more money in their pocket. But one has to follow regulations,
and the other doesn’t, that just doesn’t seem fair and where is the consumer
protection?

For people earning double or triple the average salary, or more, taxis are cheap.

If you earn a lower salary, then you have to take the bus, not expect others to have a lower standard of living to provide you with comfort. There’s a very fine line between cheap and convenient and exploitative.

Taxis are cheap in the worldwide aspect unless you are comparing Taiwan’s taxis to Philippino motorcycle carts or rickshaws/tuktuk in various countries.

Transactions are voluntary in a market economy. No one is forcing anyone to be a driver.

Also, why should there be just one standard of taxi service in a city? And who gets to decide that, say, it is a standard only wealthy people can afford? What do poor people do when the buses stop running? Or when it is raining and you cannot afford to live near a bus stop? Or when you get elderly and too frail to survive a bus journey?

I think the competition is good for the market. There should be an Uber equivalent of a scooter dinking service that would be much cheaper than any car could provide.

Well, I guess if you accept the fact that poor people need to just accept a higher level of risk in accessing goods and service, then I guess it’s not that important in the big scheme of things. We have to just assume that they are making decisions based on informed consent.

[quote=“antarcticbeech”]Transactions are voluntary in a market economy. No one is forcing anyone to be a driver.

Also, why should there be just one standard of taxi service in a city? And who gets to decide that, say, it is a standard only wealthy people can afford? What do poor people do when the buses stop running? Or when it is raining and you cannot afford to live near a bus stop? Or when you get elderly and too frail to survive a bus journey?

I think the competition is good for the market. There should be an Uber equivalent of a scooter dinking service that would be much cheaper than any car could provide.[/quote]

Taipei and New Taipei City have a special ‘taxi’ service in place for people that are having trouble moving around by themselves. It’s just a phone call.

[quote=“antarcticbeech”]Transactions are voluntary in a market economy. No one is forcing anyone to be a driver.

Also, why should there be just one standard of taxi service in a city? And who gets to decide that, say, it is a standard only wealthy people can afford? What do poor people do when the buses stop running? Or when it is raining and you cannot afford to live near a bus stop? Or when you get elderly and too frail to survive a bus journey?

I think the competition is good for the market. There should be an Uber equivalent of a scooter dinking service that would be much cheaper than any car could provide.[/quote]

BTW, there is not just one taxi service, only the prices are fixed by the government.

Poor people usually don’t have credit cards! Needed on Uber!

Which one market, the slavery market or the low wage market? :ponder:

Which one market, the slavery market or the low wage market? :ponder:[/quote]

I don’t know how much Uber drivers make in Taiwan but no one is forcing them to drive for Uber. Why would they do it if the pay is so terrible and there are other jobs available?

Time published an article on Uber’s release of data from the United States.

[quote]Uber released a trove of data Thursday that answers pretty much every question you’ve ever had about the average Joe (or Jane) Uber driver. In a joint analysis by Princeton Professor of Economics Alan Krueger and Uber Head of Policy Research Jonathan Hall, Uber revealed its drivers’ average wages, education, race, and driving patterns. The data are based on aggregated data from Uber driving histories, schedules and earnings from 2012-2014, as well as a survey of 601 active drivers.

. . .

On average, we make $19.04 per hour, but our earnings vary widely across the country. In New York, for instance, our average wage per hour is $30.35, while in Chicago, it’s just $16.20.

Compare that to taxi driver and chauffeur hourly wages: on average nationwide, they make $12.90 per hour. So that’s about $6.14 less per hour than us Uber drivers.[/quote]

I’m guessing that the price of taxis in the US is artificially high, effectively killing demand and leaving taxi drivers idle much of the time, whereas Uber drivers spend their time, well, driving, and thus pull in more fares per hour.

Poor people usually don’t have credit cards! Needed on Uber![/quote]

Poor people almost always have credit cards.

“Construction workers are cheap in the worldwide aspect unless you are comparing Taiwan’s construction workers to Dubai’s who make 4usd per day, have their passports confiscated, and live in squalid dorms”.

“Construction workers are cheap in the worldwide aspect unless you are comparing Taiwan’s construction workers to Dubai’s who make 4usd per day, have their passports confiscated, and live in squalid dorms”.[/quote]

And your point is? Taxis are cheap here regardless of how much you make. Someone that is poor can’t afford a taxi in most countries (wealthy or 3rd world).