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Uber loses licence to operate in London, will still operate while appealing

(www.bbc.com)
256 points reubensutton | 5 comments | 25 Nov 19 10:19 UTC | HN request time: 0.018s | source
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thinkindie ◴[25 Nov 19 14:49 UTC] No.21628527[source]▶
have you ever wondered what makes services like Uber affordable? 1) underpaid drivers 2) VC money dropped into an otherwise unsustainable business

I'm pretty sure Uber will raise prices the moment it kills the competition

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jclos ◴[25 Nov 19 15:07 UTC] No.21628694[source]▶
The affordability is only one thing that draws people to Uber. The convenience of the app and the fact that the fare is prepaid (and therefore there is no incentive for the driver to fuck around to inflate their fare) are imho at least as important. If the fare is known in advance I can make an informed decision about whether I can afford this ride. Taking a normal taxi is just always a gamble: will they try to win me over by taking the short route? Will they try to fuck me over? Will they get far and then say that they only accept cash, thus driving me to an ATM and charging even more? Who knows!
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1. Symbiote ◴[25 Nov 19 15:41 UTC] No.21629040[source]▶
In London, for decades there have been competing services to the black cabs: minicabs. They had to be booked in advance (by phone, but that translates easily to booking by app), and the price had to be agreed in advance.

From my understanding, this might be called "limousine service" in the USA, although unless you make a special request it will just be a fairly normal car.

Mobile phones and then apps made the border between the two services fuzzier, but they are still separate things.

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2. ghaff ◴[25 Nov 19 16:04 UTC] No.21629340[source]▶
"Limo service" in the US tends to mean a more upscale black car service. (Which is how Uber actually got started.) And, outside of markets like Manhattan, it usually requires booking a day or two in advance--although there's some flexibility, especially for regular customers.
3. SilasX ◴[25 Nov 19 16:23 UTC] No.21629640[source]▶
Stupid question: did they actually translate minicabs to an easy smartphone UX before Uber got involved?
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4. Symbiote ◴[25 Nov 19 16:41 UTC] No.21629895[source]▶
I can't comment on "easy" (I never used it), but the largest company, Addison Lee, had an app in 2010, five years before Uber launched in London.

https://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240104764/iPhone-app-bo...

5. jclos ◴[25 Nov 19 21:39 UTC] No.21633105[source]▶
There are competing services. In Nottingham I use DG Cars, which is a taxi company but has an app that looks like Uber (you can see the drivers, fixed price, paid in advance by app). They just need to be more popular and maybe make it so that I don't have to have an account for all of them.