El Reg reports
Singapore's Land Transport Authority (LTA) has found a way to out-Uber Uber by launching a taxi-finding app of its own.
[...]Come December, the Authority will also offer a new app called "Taxi-Taxi@SG" that will "show the availability and location of taxis across the island and better match these taxis to commuters."
"Through an integrated platform map, commuters can easily locate the number of available taxis near them and broadcast their positions so taxi drivers can identify the exact locations of potential customers" the Authority says. "Similarly, taxi drivers can make use of this app to cut down the time spent on the roads looking for customers."
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(Score: 2) by RobotMonster on Monday December 01 2014, @01:26PM
We've had taxi apps in Australia for a few years now.
Much faster than the traditional method of phoning for a cab, both in time spent ordering and time spent waiting.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Monday December 01 2014, @01:36PM
We have some pretty poor ones in the UK too. The great thing about Uber is you can see exactly where the taxi is, no more phoning up for a taxi, having a "he'll be there in 5 minutes", and finding out he's actually in Timbuktu.
My office in Singapore has a taxi rank outside, which is usually OK, and the taxis are dirt cheap, however there are two issues
Uber bypasses both of those. You can book the taxi from the office, see when it's about to arrive, pop down the lift. As you've got a destination locked in, there's no wondering if the next taxi will take you or not.
(Score: 2) by RobotMonster on Monday December 01 2014, @01:44PM
The non-uber taxi app I use also shows the location of the taxi, once it has been allocated.
You also get an SMS when it's getting close to arriving (or even configure it to allow them to phone you).
You can include your destination in your order (or you can put 'as directed'), but I've never run into the "no I won't take you to X" problem, nor heard of it happening.
I'm not sure if they're even allowed to do that, unless they don't think you've got the capacity to pay or are being violent & threatening.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Monday December 01 2014, @05:13PM
The other benefit is the bidding. I live in a fairly small city in the UK. There are three taxi companies here that offer apps. None of them quote a price up front, but even if they did then trying to work out which one is cheapest (or more likely to be on time) at any given time would be quite hard if you have to check three different apps. For bigger cities there are a lot more than 3 taxi companies.
For people who travel a lot, the biggest benefit of Uber is that there's just one app. You get of a plane, and Uber will let you book a taxi (if you fly United, their app integrates with Uber directly). There's no need to work out which local company has a good reputation, contact them, or queue at a taxi rank: just use the app you're already familiar with and book the car.
sudo mod me up
(Score: 1) by josh64 on Monday December 01 2014, @09:43PM
Not in good old Perth. In fact, apparently the taxi monopoly there is scrambling to get their own taxi app together and hoping the government will stall Uber long enough for them to get it released. This is the same taxi monopoly that has started charging extra money if you want your taxi to turn up on time (e.g. if you need to be picked up at X o'clock to make it to the airport for your Y o'clock flight).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 01 2014, @02:39PM
Looks like they've been outmanubered.
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Monday December 01 2014, @03:09PM
We have this in Ireland. It is very handy.
(Score: 3, Informative) by arashi no garou on Monday December 01 2014, @03:27PM
Uber is a rider-hostile, driver-hostile disease that needs to die. Spying on their riders, threatening journalists and their families, lying to their drivers and screwing them out of money...they are far worse than the medallion-based taxi cartels they are disrupting. They're so afraid of honest competition that they tried to sabotage Lyft's operations instead of competing on their merits. They are the best example by far of the douchebag startup, making other legitimate services look bad by association.
(Score: 2) by bucc5062 on Monday December 01 2014, @05:08PM
I thought they called that capitalism
/s
The more things change, the more they look the same
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 01 2014, @08:24PM
Competition is a natural part of a MARKET.
You can have a MARKET without a single Capitalist anywhere.
Anti-competitive behavior (lying, cheating, stealing, vandalism) is simply criminal activity.
A properly operating society punishes that.
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by bucc5062 on Monday December 01 2014, @08:54PM
somehow you missed my sarcasm tag?
"properly operating society"....haven't seen one of those around here in a long time... way too long time (sigh)
The more things change, the more they look the same
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 01 2014, @11:57PM
missed my sarcasm tag
Had you said "modern business model", I would have nodded in full agreement.
I want people to realize that Capitalism is characterized by an ownership class which does no labor.
Paris Hilton sitting on her ass waiting for a check to arrive is an example of Capitalism.
For the Reactionaries and Free Marketeers in the crowd:
if any would not work, neither should he eat
2 Thessalonians 3:10 (KJV)
.
"properly operating society"
....haven't seen one of those around here in a long time
Yeah.
...yet somehow the prisons are more full than ever.
The elites' divide-and-conquer strategy is working well.
OTOH, in recent elections, several places have decriminalized weed and upped the minimum wage (with those measures out-doing the percentages of any party's candidates).
Slowly, the pendulum is beginning to swing back.
-- gewg_
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 02 2014, @04:31AM
"if any would not work, neither should he eat". Jesus said and did different though.
What could happen in the future is you have few humans working, the robots do most of the work and the Owners do most of the "eating". The poor won't work much and won't eat much.
(Score: 2) by bucc5062 on Tuesday December 02 2014, @01:26PM
Paul did more damage to the teachings of Christ than any other roman of his time. He was a control freak, insecure, and manipulative. He only used Jesus as a vehcile to set his own agenda. No wonder the early Church loved this guy, he literally wrote the book on now to control the population through religion and fear.
On topic, I get your point. My colloquial expression is Greedism, a model that does more to destroy society than any other in existence.
The more things change, the more they look the same
(Score: 1) by Buck Feta on Monday December 01 2014, @06:33PM
Perhaps if more municipalities did away with the monopolistic medallion system, Uber would die the ugly death it deserves.
- fractious political commentary goes here -
(Score: 2) by arashi no garou on Monday December 01 2014, @06:55PM
One can only hope. I do believe ride sharing is the future of the taxi industry, I just wish we had a more noble front runner.
(Score: 1) by OffTheWallSoccer on Tuesday December 02 2014, @03:22PM
So then you are okay with the concept of Uber, just not that particular implementation?
(Score: 2) by arashi no garou on Tuesday December 02 2014, @10:50PM
Yes, I like the idea of app-based ride sharing in general. And other companies who are doing it in an honest and positive way are showing how great a service it can be. I just feel that Uber's hostile business practices are ultimately giving the concept a bad name, and hurting themselves along with their competitors.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 01 2014, @03:38PM
Most European countries / cities already have this. In Tallinn, Estonia we use Taxify [taxify.eu]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 02 2014, @01:38AM
I wonder why there aren't a few companies making uber like software for cities to use. The city would use the software to manage the licensed taxis.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 02 2014, @07:32PM
nice to hear they stepped up and not just went for the cheap shot of banning uber : )