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There is NO shortage of cabs in Vancouver. As with any business, the peak times are gong to be busy.
Didn't someone mention here that cabs were roaming around polluting looking for business? Would having a few hundred more doing just that waiting for the clubs to close be wasteful?
There are options for clubbers....night buses.
shortage means no being able to meet demand. When people can't find cabs during rush hours, that means there is a "shortage".
It is like the subway. you design its capacity by peak hour demand, not for 2pm Saturday, right? When the capacity can't meet that, it is under built.
And you proved my point - those cabs are wandering aimlessly during off peak hours but one can't find a cab during rush hour. That's exactly what's wrong with the current cab system and there is no cure for that. If you increase the number to meet rush demand, there will be more idling cars during other hours, which doesn't seem to make sense either.
And that's the beauty of Uber, because those drivers don't drive around when there are no customers. They don't need to waste gas during those hours. On the other hand, when demand is high at 5pm on a raining day, passengers wanting to take a cab are much more likely to find a Uber driver nearby than waiting eternally for a taxi to pass, miraculously available for hail.
Night buses for clubbers ... OK, that only shows that's not your lifestyle (not mine either) and you don't care about their well being at all (instead of trying to find a solution). Those clubbers need a quick and hopefully inexpensive way to get home, and Uber meets that demand. Why do you have a problem with it? They don't want to wait for 25 minutes for a slow night bus, which may not even stop anywhere close to their home.
You still don't understand its advantage? Or you are just arguing for the sake of it (because you can't accept agreeing with me)?
I am a bit frustrated. There is a market demand for Uber. People love it. And you are like "I don't care, they should just call a regular cab like I do, or take the night bus". How stubborn can you be?
shortage means no being able to meet demand. When people can't find cabs during rush hours, that means there is a "shortage".
It is like the subway. you design its capacity by peak hour demand, not for 2pm Saturday, right? When the capacity can't meet that, it is under built.
And you proved my point - those cabs are wandering aimlessly during off peak hours but one can't find a cab during rush hour. That's exactly what's wrong with the current cab system and there is no cure for that. If you increase the number to meet rush demand, there will be more idling cars during other hours, which doesn't seem to make sense either.
And that's the beauty of Uber, because those drivers don't drive around when there are no customers. They don't need to waste gas during those hours. On the other hand, when demand is high at 5pm on a raining day, passengers wanting to take a cab are much more likely to find a Uber driver nearby than waiting eternally for a taxi to pass, miraculously available for hail.
Night buses for clubbers ... OK, that only shows that's not your lifestyle (not mine either) and you don't care about their well being at all (instead of trying to find a solution). Those clubbers need a quick and hopefully inexpensive way to get home, and Uber meets that demand. Why do you have a problem with it? They don't want to wait for 25 minutes for a slow night bus, which may not even stop anywhere close to their home.
You still don't understand its advantage? Or you are just arguing for the sake of it (because you can't accept agreeing with me)?
I am a bit frustrated. There is a market demand for Uber. People love it. And you are like "I don't care, they should just call a regular cab like I do, or take the night bus". How stubborn can you be?
You can find cabs easily during normal rush hours. Granville Street downtown is where a concentration of bars are. You suddenly get a few thousand people on the street, many looking for cabs...and this is only on weekends.
Since you blocked Bostonkid123 and can't read his posts, here is part of his argument, which I agree with.
..."Uber claims that it is a tech company, not a commercial transportation company, and therefore it is exempt from all local transport laws. What kind of BS argument is this? You come into the market pretending that existing transport laws don't apply to you - no wonder Uber has outstanding litigations right now with almost every municipal government on the face of this planet. FYI, Uber is the only ride-sharing app company that is openly and knowingly breaking municipal by-laws. Many other prominent ride-sharing apps like Lyft are doing the opposite - consulting with local governments on changes to existing by-laws before they enter a new market. That's why Lyft hasn't entered Toronto yet because they don't want their first splash in the Canada to be that of an arrogant startup from Bay Area.
Thirdly, insurance and safety will not become an issue until that one fatal accident when an UberX driver makes a headline, when that injured passenger realizes that cheap UberX ride has no commercial vehicle registration or insurance and that insurance companies will not pay out for any damages in the case when a private vehicle is used for commercial purposes. If Uber has a problem what that, they should be discussing terms with each the big insurance companies instead of falsely claiming their vehicles are "non-commercial operations" - no insurance company would buy that argument when you are clearly making a profit off each ride.
Fourthly, municipal taxis can in fact be easily hailed on the Uber app, and taxi drivers can in fact be rated by the app as well. Whenever I go to the airport, I use open the Uber app to order a Toronto taxi instead of Uber's own UberX service - why? Because 1) there will always be more taxis around than UberX vehicles 2) from my experience taxi drivers are just better at getting to my destination faster - they know the roads well and can navigate a traffic jam on 427 much more adeptly than your average UberX driver. I have used UberX more than five times in the past to get to Pearson - some drivers are very good and knowledgeable, while others don't even know the proper route to the departure terminal and would need GPS directions. I don't like either service - taxi and UberX - but if I had to pick one, I'd rather order a taxi via the Uber app (best of both worlds) to get to my destination safely and expediently with an experienced driver."
You can find cabs easily during normal rush hours. Granville Street downtown is where a concentration of bars are. You suddenly get a few thousand people on the street, many looking for cabs...and this is only on weekends.
Yeah, apparently as a retiree you catch a cab during rush hours all the time.
As usual, to you, Vancouver has absolutely no issue. I hope someday you can realize your stubborn bias. I obviously don't need to argue further, because apparently you have a position to depend no matter what, irrespective of facts and reason.
Yeah, apparently as a retiree you catch a cab during rush hours all the time.
As usual, to you, Vancouver has absolutely no issue. I hope someday you can realize your stubborn bias. I obviously don't need to argue further, because apparently you have a position to depend no matter what, irrespective of facts and reason.
Not sure what being retired has to do with catching cabs during rush hour. I do have a life you know, and do need to grab a cab occasionally and quit often during rush hour.
I also used to book cabs for early morning rush hour trips to the airport. That was before the Canada Line was built...a station is just two short blocks from me.
I know in your world Bottie nothing is ever good enough.
Then you should not order pizza delivery either because pizza companies do exactly the same thing.
Typical slippery slope argument - asserting that some event must inevitably follow from another without any rational argument or demonstrable relation between the two events.
How is pizza delivery in anyway comparable to urban passenger transportation?
At the worst, in your example, you end up with a defective pizza order and you don't get your pizza. In a unlicensed commercial vehicle without adequate commercial liability insurance in the locality it is operating in, an accident occurs and you get either seriously injured or killed, and end up with absolutely no insurance compensation or legal mechanism to protect you as a passenger.
Uber covers passengers up to $1 million. It is the drivers who are not protected just like pizza drivers because personal insurance might not pay for anything if the insurance company finds out drivers used their cars for work, so the drivers might end up paying a lot of money if they cause an accident.
Wow, the obstinacy of the anti-Uber crowd (all 4 of them) is laughable. Millions of happy customers globally. It's 2015 Vancouver, time to step up against the special interest protectionists.
Wow, the obstinacy of the anti-Uber crowd (all 4 of them) is laughable. Millions of happy customers globally. It's 2015 Vancouver, time to step up against the special interest protectionists.
Uber is hardly the only ride sharing company, but they have made themselves the laughing stock of the industry because of their anti-regulatory attitude and obscene arrogance. I wonder why Uber is the only ride sharing company in the world that has ongoing litigations with almost every municipal government and transport authority on this planet? Somehow, companies like Lyft and DiDi (which has customer base in Asia several times that of Uber) seem to have no problem attracting happy customers AND abiding by local laws.
You are right: it's 2015, why can't a company like Uber get commercial insurance for their vehicles instead of cheaping out on their customers and drivers?
Progress always brings a new set of challenges and of course naysayers. There's no question in my mind there would be a huge acceptance on behalf of both customers and drivers. If that's arrogance I want a piece of it.
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