Was looking for this comment. Racism was extremely pervasive in certain areas.
The biggest reason Uber and Lyft took off is cabs sucked for the most part. Uber and Lyft aren’t great either, but people forget how bad Taxis were at that time.
Comment on Everything old is new again.
explodicle@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
I’m not sure if anyone else here has mentioned this… At least up until Uber/Lyft came out, taxis were suuuuper racist. It was really hard for black men to hail taxis.
TrueMonoxidist@lemmy.zip 6 months ago
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 6 months ago
That is true. In the 90s, Michael Moore had a TV show where he did a segment showing the actor Yaphet Kotto trying to get a cab in increasingly ridiculous ways and not getting picked up.
sunbeam60@lemmy.one 6 months ago
In every single way Ubers are more convenient than a taxi. It’s amazing to me that taxi companies can’t see all the little improvements that going by Uber brings.
dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de 6 months ago
Unless you’re the driver.
sunbeam60@lemmy.one 6 months ago
100% agreed. I’m not condoning Uber. I’m saying taxi companies should be better at copying the convenience of Uber.
CasualPenguin@reddthat.com 6 months ago
About 10 years a go I missed two flights for work because the taxi I had scheduled in advance never showed, and when I called dispatch they said 'he found a better fair, he’s allowed to do that’s
When I explained this to my neighbor who drove cabs be was still angry with me for switching to Lyft, but also agreed with the dispatch. Cabs don’t want to change, which sucks because I wish there was more competition
dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de 6 months ago
I guess it depends where you are. In my city there is a taxi company that started buying lots of smaller ones. They now have an app like Uber so you can order it and see where it is. Because they bought so many firms they’re everywhere and considerably cheaper than Uber. I guess it’s only viable in large cities.
dubyakay@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
Sure, Uber brought competition. But in certain places they got banned and the local taxi authority greatly improved on the service, learning from the gig apps’ offerings.
TwoBeeSan@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Back in the day Opie and Anthony tested this.
Patrice o Neal with a gold chain vs Anthony cumia in a nazi helmet
Cumia got more cabs.
nokturne213@sopuli.xyz 6 months ago
The fact Ant had a nazi helmet does not surprise me at all.
TwoBeeSan@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Oh yeah he was probably thrilled lol.
I still see his senility show pop up in my feed occasionally. Would unsub but not sure I’ll find out he’s dead otherwise lol
Lev_Astov@lemmy.world 6 months ago
And also super expensive. I’ve had times where it was half the price to rent a car for the day than to get one taxi from the airport.
EatATaco@lemm.ee 6 months ago
I remember one time, in Boston, I (white dude) was downstream of a black guy.
Cabbie went right by the black guy and stopped for me.
Black guy came running up and slashed his tire and then ran off.
I was like “cabby deserved it, but at the same time black guy justified it.”
MindTraveller@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
Not really a justified decision if it was the wrong one. The cabbie got his tires slashed by being a dickhead. If he’d have not been a racist, he would’ve had no problems. This is like the guy in the meme who puts a metal pole in his bike spokes. Cabbie caused his own problems.
Jarix@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Justifying is the wrong word to use but I understood what they meant. But you have to think about it in isolation for it to make sense.
Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I’m a brown dude. I have so many stories about bad taxi experiences. From Taxi drivers refusing to pick me up, to them going, “You’re lucky to be in my car”, to “I’m not driving there. Get out.”
Uber and Lyft changed it all. I have no sympathy for taxis.
PopShark@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Thanks for sharing your experience even though I know it can’t feel good typing it all out.