Uber to Resume in Calgary December 6 2016

[Nammer403]

I'm in, site estimates 19-25 from airport to my place. It was 40 when I took the cab in July.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I would challenge that statement. My negative taxi experiences have often had the consequences of somebody deciding to drive home drunk. Not saying that taxi issues are any kind of an excuse for drunk driving, just helping to lay out why I think it is that serious.

It has come to the point that my going out for drinks ends up with some other plan being made other than relying on a taxi.

Exactly. Going out for drinks on a Saturday night in December on the assumption that you will be able to catch a cab home is about as reliable a plan as assuming you'll be able to hitch a ride with a random sober person you meet at the bar. I'm frankly surprised that nobody charged with impaired has implicated the taxi commission or the City over the chronic lack of availability of cabs on weekend evenings.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Flamenspiel

I have never had a problem with cabs and i have set taxi contacts. My only issue would the high cost, its become way too expensive. Is Uber indeed cheaper? price would be my only reason to try Uber. A ride from willow park to the airport is now around 60 including tip.

Last time I snagged a cab from the airport to home it was almost $90. Thats nuts.

Originally Posted by ken0042

I would challenge that statement. My negative taxi experiences have often had the consequences of somebody deciding to drive home drunk. Not saying that taxi issues are any kind of an excuse for drunk driving, just helping to lay out why I think it is that serious.

It has come to the point that my going out for drinks ends up with some other plan being made other than relying on a taxi.

You hit the nail on the head. Because you cant.

If you want to sum up all of the City of Calgary's issues with Taxis in one word that word would be: Unreliable.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by peter12

Honestly, I haven't had that many negative taxi experiences. I don't think most people have had really bad ones either.

I take it you don't ever try to get a cab at 12:30 am on a weekend?

[Ozy_Flame]

Just used it in Toronto a few days ago ... So so so so so much better.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Poster

Why are you all so upset about the cost of service? should the taxi drivers work for free?

I also don't understand why the Taxi drivers are so upset about Uber. I get why the taxi owners are but as a driver it should only be about "which way can I make more money" ... if Taxi works doesn't cut it, be an Uber driver. If you cant compete, then find some other form of work.

But lets stop driving everything into the toilet. Pay a fair price for fair work and stop expecting everything to be cheaper!

You can have cheap, fast and quality but only 2 at the same time. choose accordingly.

Other posters have mentioned it, but the major issue with taxis is the licensing system.

You have insanely priced licenses in extremely limited numbers. The average driver does not own their license anymore. So you have a system where driver's have to pay a fee to a rich guy, who does no actual work. All he does is finance a license, which is an entirely artificial creation.

This is why the current taxi system is flawed and archaic. The system should consist of drivers being paid for their labour, not a group of license owners getting richer at the expense of drivers and customers.

Other services provided by taxi companies, like dispatch, are equally archaic. Most taxi companies are using apps now anyways.

Currently taxi licenses cost $100,000 in Calgary, which is doable for an average person. So the above argument isn't quite so applicable. However, in Vancouver the price is about $1,000,000.

It's a similar problem across many industries in Canada: Housing, fishing, dairy, etc... For whatever reason our governments cannot control the price of anything. So we have these insane bubbles where the governments are afraid to act, as they don't want to upset the people already in the market, who are heavily invested, or cause a collapse.

[skudr248]

Many many times I have been stuck outside for hours in the cold not being able to snag a taxi. Glad Uber is in Calgary now, probably will reduce (although probably not significantly) the amount of people drinking and driving home now because a) availability of rides home b) lower cost

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Poster

Why are you all so upset about the cost of service? should the taxi drivers work for free?

I also don't understand why the Taxi drivers are so upset about Uber. I get why the taxi owners are but as a driver it should only be about "which way can I make more money" ... if Taxi works doesn't cut it, be an Uber driver. If you cant compete, then find some other form of work.

But lets stop driving everything into the toilet. Pay a fair price for fair work and stop expecting everything to be cheaper!

You can have cheap, fast and quality but only 2 at the same time. choose accordingly.

Sounds to me people like uber because it is cheap, fast and of high quality (customer service, ease of use and vehicle type/condition). Where is the drawback for customers?

[Swarly]

Originally Posted by Poster

Why are you all so upset about the cost of service? should the taxi drivers work for free?

I also don't understand why the Taxi drivers are so upset about Uber. I get why the taxi owners are but as a driver it should only be about "which way can I make more money" ... if Taxi works doesn't cut it, be an Uber driver. If you cant compete, then find some other form of work.

But lets stop driving everything into the toilet. Pay a fair price for fair work and stop expecting everything to be cheaper!

You can have cheap, fast and quality but only 2 at the same time. choose accordingly.

That's the problem, with Calgary taxi's you only get to choose one of those at most. And cheap is never one of the options.

[Poster]

Originally Posted by blankall

Other posters have mentioned it, but the major issue with taxis is the licensing system.

You have insanely priced licenses in extremely limited numbers. The average driver does not own their license anymore. So you have a system where driver's have to pay a fee to a rich guy, who does no actual work. All he does is finance a license, which is an entirely artificial creation.

This is why the current taxi system is flawed and archaic. The system should consist of drivers being paid for their labour, not a group of license owners getting richer at the expense of drivers and customers.

Other services provided by taxi companies, like dispatch, are equally archaic. Most taxi companies are using apps now anyways.

Currently taxi licenses cost $100,000 in Calgary, which is doable for an average person. So the above argument isn't quite so applicable. However, in Vancouver the price is about $1,000,000.

It's a similar problem across many industries in Canada: Housing, fishing, dairy, etc... For whatever reason our governments cannot control the price of anything. So we have these insane bubbles where the governments are afraid to act, as they don't want to upset the people already in the market, who are heavily invested, or cause a collapse.

so i get why the license owners are upset and using their political influence but taxi drivers themselves should be embracing an alternative source of income.

they can tell the taxi owners to pay fair or fruck off!

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Sounds to me people like uber because it is cheap, fast and of high quality (customer service, ease of use and vehicle type/condition). Where is the drawback for customers?

The rates and typical Uber practice of cutting rates over time don't support the vehicle type/condition and customer service long-time. It happens in pretty much every market.

[Canehdianman]

I'm fine with Uber flouting the protectionist bylaws the city has maintained to help their buddies who provide political donations

[Poster]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Sounds to me people like uber because it is cheap, fast and of high quality (customer service, ease of use and vehicle type/condition). Where is the drawback for customers?

I dont see the drawback for customers or independent drivers.

City Council is playing politics. Regulation of Taxi should be a private matter between the operator and their insurance company. City should have nothing to do with it!

[peter12]

Long-term, Uber doesn't care about their drivers, they care about market share. They are already partnering with Google to roll out autonomous cars. That is when they will make the big money. Until then, they are happy having drivers fight it out with each other to get the lowest fare.

[sa226]

The behind the scenes stuff with Uber does seem to be a bit greasy, but all I can really comment on is the experience itself. I have used it in Toronto a number of times and it has been great.

Honestly, while the price is a nice thing, I wouldn't put it at the top of a list of reasons to use uber. If the prices were a wash or uber even a couple dollars more, I would still prefer uber to the taxis. The service blows the Cab companies out of the water. Its seamless, its reliable, it fast. Its everything that cabs are not.

I have no idea how the backroom battles will go, but if the cab companies were in anyway proactive in actually fighting uber, they would first improve their service.

[polak]

I will definitely be taking advantage of this in those cold winter nights.

I really hope the days of walking around downtown in minus 30 after a night out looking for a cab are over.

[Phanuthier]

Nm

[blankall]

Originally Posted by peter12

Long-term, Uber doesn't care about their drivers, they care about market share. They are already partnering with Google to roll out autonomous cars. That is when they will make the big money. Until then, they are happy having drivers fight it out with each other to get the lowest fare.

If we have the technology for automated and safer cars, that should be future. It would make no sense for a company to hold onto live drivers just for the sake of employing them.

This is a pretty lame slag on Uber. The day that fully automated and safe cars come out, drivers will cease to exist, and any company who doesn't look into automated driving will cease to exist too.

[Frequitude]

Originally Posted by Poster

Why are you all so upset about the cost of service? should the taxi drivers work for free?

No, they should work for fair market value in a free market. Not the market value set by an artificial limit on taxi driver supply.

Originally Posted by Poster

You can have cheap, fast and quality but only 2 at the same time. choose accordingly.

I would argue that we only get one of those with regular taxis in this city - quality. Calgary taxis are hard to get (i.e. not fast) and expensive (i.e. not cheap). They are, for the most part, a high quality service in between pickup and payment though.

[PeteMoss]

FWIW - Uber has paid the fines for people here.

And a lot of taxi drivers are also Uber drivers here. They earn more money with Uber because the don't have to pay the car/taxi license holder rent/fees to drive.