If I were a taxi driver, there’s one question I would ask every passenger who got into my taxi: “Why aren’t you using Uber or Lyft?” This may seem like an odd question, but hear me out. I rarely use Uber or Lyft. When I travel, I walk or use mass transit as much as I can. As you might recall, I do have a taxi service I use to get to the airport, and only on rare occasions have I had anything but good experiences with this service. They charge me a flat fee that’s as good as or better than Uber/Lyft.
This past week, on my way to the airport, my taxi driver did ask me which airline I was going to, but other than that, he said nothing to me. Not one word. I noticed that he didn’t have the Uber/Lyft decals on his windshield. And then it occurred to me. Given the popularity of ridesharing services and the market share they take from taxi drivers, if I were driving a taxi, I’d be curious.
As a taxi driver in the hopes of increasing my business and certainly at the very least maintaining my income, I’d want to know why people were in my taxi rather than in an Uber/Lyft vehicle. There are many reasons people use ridesharing services, and there are reasons to use a taxi. Maybe I’m way off base here, but it got me wondering if anyone has ever had a taxi driver talk with them about Uber/Lyft or ask them about why they still choose taxis over ridesharing cars. Let me know!
I had a conversation last week with a taxi driver about this. I was using a service because I had a ton of equipment to travel with and needed to make sure the van size was adequate.
The taxi driver told me that his business has drastically decreased because of Uber/Lyft. As a vehicle for hire, he is required to have specific licenses, undergo inspections and to also charge within allowed limits. His comments left me wondering, why are ride shares allowed to bypass these requirements that a van service must adhere to?
HI Pam, Great question. I have asked Harry, our Uber insider, to reply to your question. Hopefully he’ll chime in soon. Thanks for reading!
So the legal is answer is because Uber and Lyft are regulated as Transportation Network Companies or TNCs so they have different, less stringent requirements.
But the non-legal answer is that for the most part, there is no real added benefit to the consumer for all the additional licensing/etc that taxis go through vs Uber/Lyft as evidenced by the fact that most consumers have overwhelmingly picked Uber/Lyft over taxis when given the choice.
Thanks for adding to the conversation, Harry. It’s hard for most of us looking from the outside to know what really benefits consumers of these services.
Taxis are absolutely obsolete, considering that they charge a pickup fee plus a mileage rate of $2.75 and up plus a traffic delay fee of typically $35 and up. Taxis cost more than twice as much as Lyft / Uber if you tip, so the question ANYBODY in a taxi should ask themselves is why are they in a taxi.
Taxis take much longer to pick you up also, I’ve waited almost an hour before, whereas lyft and Uber arrive in a few minutes, I never even book a ride until I’m completely ready to go because they are so quick.
Thanks for your comment, Brandon. Good that you’ve found ridesharing services work best for you.
Well this is one of the most curious question that why taxi services are still there even when ridesharing services are available. As per my analysis, It’s all about the trust, people using taxi services usually have more trust on the taxi drivers rather than Uber etc service as they are answerable to an authority about the ride & their service.
Interesting take on the taxi vs Uber service. I’d like to think of Uber as overseeing their drivers and service but I do understand your point. Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment, Berry.