Legislature Approves Bill Authorizing Uber, Lyft in Nevada (Las Vegas: appointed, 2015)

[Tornado Baby]

Assume nothing if you need a ride from outer areas.

[beachhead]

While I've never used uber, this sounds like a great thing. Competition should be good for us consumers. The price of cab fare is absolutely insane. $3/mile? Realy? The government currently pays it's employees $.56/mile to drive on business, which is supposed to reimburse them for the immediate costs, plus wear and tear, insurance, maintenance of vehicle, etc. Since cars are cars whether they have advertising all over them or not, the costs should be similar, and certainly not six times higher for a cab ride. If uber forces this differential down to a more realistic level, how can that not be good?

[Raiderman]

Originally Posted by beachhead

While I've never used uber, this sounds like a great thing. Competition should be good for us consumers. The price of cab fare is absolutely insane. $3/mile? Realy? The government currently pays it's employees $.56/mile to drive on business, which is supposed to reimburse them for the immediate costs, plus wear and tear, insurance, maintenance of vehicle, etc. Since cars are cars whether they have advertising all over them or not, the costs should be similar, and certainly not six times higher for a cab ride. If uber forces this differential down to a more realistic level, how can that not be good?

You're forgetting that with a taxi, you have to pay the driver. The government reimburses for mileage, but not time spent driving.

[beachhead]

Originally Posted by Raiderman

You're forgetting that with a taxi, you have to pay the driver. The government reimburses for mileage, but not time spent driving.

True..but somewhere in there, I don't think it's a multiple of 5 times the cost of the transportation itself. That's what I think the competitive nature of uber will do...reduce the overall cost to a more balanced level (or at least stop future price increases until this happens). With a monopoly, there is not much pressure to keep costs aligned, and lets face it, driving a car is not exactly a high skill set, so it's not unfair to expect wages to be at or near the minimum wage scale, especially when you consider that this is a tipping industry on top of the high cost of service.

[Cyborgt800]

Driving a cab in LV keeps the mileage to around 100-150 per 12 hour shift....do you really think $50-75 is worth 12 hours of putting up with people?


I'm no fan of the cab companies but what MOST of you don't seem to understand is that it's the TA that sets all of the pricing and conditions. It's the casinos that rule the TA.

You cannot compare LV to any other city as far as cabs go because it is run VERY different and the landscape for cabs is very different as well.


I wish I could make some of you have to do that job for a year....you'd soon realize that how asinine some of your comments really are.

[BBMW]

^
I don't think people have it in so much for the drivers as much as the companies and the system in general. Uber, et al, is a disruptive technology in an industry that's in dire need of a good bit of disruption.

[UTES]

I use cabs in many cities and consider the rates in Las Vegas to be reasonable.

Bill

[Vegas_Cabbie]

Originally Posted by Cyborgt800

Driving a cab in LV keeps the mileage to around 100-150 per 12 hour shift....do you really think $50-75 is worth 12 hours of putting up with people?


I'm no fan of the cab companies but what MOST of you don't seem to understand is that it's the TA that sets all of the pricing and conditions. It's the casinos that rule the TA.

You cannot compare LV to any other city as far as cabs go because it is run VERY different and the landscape for cabs is very different as well.


I wish I could make some of you have to do that job for a year....you'd soon realize that how asinine some of your comments really are.

Great post. People think things are a cakewalk until they do the job themselves.

I'm not complaining about what I do... I love it. However, it is not an easy job. The same people commenting on the fact that any fool could do this job is a bit out of touch.

If you want to actually survive being a cabbie, you need to know A LOT about your city. Having a GPS and punching addresses in won't get you decent tips. People are going to ask what DJs are at which clubs, what the best steakhouse is, what the neighborhoods are like, what the average temperature is at any given month, what the best golf course is in town, how to get cheap show tickets, why the previous cabbie long hauled them, what to do when they lose their phone/passport... That is just the basic info and this is all aside from the fact that you cannot make a mistake on the road. You cause an accident that is your fault, you better make sure your resume is up to date because you'll be looking for new work soon.
Imagine driving in the strip/downtown areas 50 hours a week. You want to pack as many rides in as possible, but as soon as you start speeding to squeeze more rides in, you will get caught by the bike cops... And the tickets are HEFTY.
There are already 9,000 cab drivers in Vegas, so the competition for rides is high. I dont know what hotels you guys are trying to get rides from, but we drivers are waiting for the rides 19 times out of 20... Rather than the riders waiting for the drivers. The notion that riders are waiting and waiting anytime a cab is needed at a hotel is simply false or greatly exaggerated.

More bad info going around to correct... The taxis charge exactly $2.68 per mile, not $3.00

Keep in mind that Uber's prices are NOT set. They fluctuate by demand... So when the club is letting out, dont expect to pay what you would at 11am on a Wednesday.
There's the infamous story from last year when a museum in Europe was attacked by terrorists... Uber honed in on that region and took advantage by tripling their rates as people were trying to flee the area during a terrorist attack.

You stay classy, Uber.

But hey, they are already angels to the people of Vegas lol. Good for them.

[ScoopLV]

If the average Las Vegas cab driver never long-hauled tourists and would pick up locals out in the 'burbs, there wouldn't be any demand for Uber. The existing industry would suffice.

If cabbies want to know why the public is clamoring for an alternative, they should look in a mirror -- nowhere else.

[Vegas_Cabbie]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

If the average Las Vegas cab driver never long-hauled tourists and would pick up locals out in the 'burbs, there wouldn't be any demand for Uber. The existing industry would suffice.

If cabbies want to know why the public is clamoring for an alternative, they should look in a mirror -- nowhere else.

You're preaching to the choir dude... For the honest cabbies out there, you have no idea how much it sucks to be immediately judged by people before you even get a chance to put your seat belt on. Happens every day.
"What route do you plan on taking?"
"Not taking the tunnel, right?"

Their reasons for asking these things is understandable... But at the same time, you start to feel like crap having to defend yourself immediately when you yourself haven't done anything wrong. That's another part of the job that several posters im sure would never take into account.
So while I dont blame them for doing it, those questions dont come in without leaving an effect after a while. Sometimes it can be hard to stay positive when everyone is worried about you being a piece of crap right from the start.