Mexico City is proposing regulations that would allow Uber and other smartphone-based ride-sharing apps to operate, while requiring drivers and cars to be registered, the city's Office of Legal and Legislative Studies said Friday.
The proposed regulation also calls for such companies to pay into a fund for transportation infrastructure. The city would create an app for licensed taxis and help pay for their GPS technology.
[...] The Organized Taxi Drivers of Mexico City have pushed the city to regulate or ban Uber, saying it's unfair that its drivers avoid costly licensing and inspections that taxis must undergo to operate. On Friday, spokesman Daniel Medina emphasized that the proposal is still under construction and the organization continues to meet with city officials, including on Friday.
Uber, meanwhile, said it is not against regulation. "Regulation that allows us to continue to provide service that is quality, safe and efficient," said Luis de Uriarte, Uber spokesman for Mexico and Central America. "We don't want them putting up any obstacles."
Original Submission
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday July 06 2015, @08:28PM
I - likely many others - have contemplated writing such an app. It would enable one to schedule a pickup from any driver who had a taxi medallion.
A challenge is that many taxi companies are not hip to technology but such obstacles can be overcome.
I have other projects that I would do well to focus on. My idea is all yours.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 06 2015, @08:48PM
this has been tried and failed, i suspect only because of the entrenched taxi companies are unwilling to embrace changes of any kind.
we have a service in my city that you dial #taxi from any cell and it gets you first taxi company available, they had a similar app but it disappeared shortly after it came out
(Score: 3, Insightful) by vux984 on Monday July 06 2015, @08:57PM
this has been tried and failed,
And this has been tried and succeeded. I was in Melbourne last year, and my host summoned a cab for me on an app. Work great.
i suspect only because of the entrenched taxi companies are unwilling to embrace changes of any kind.
Doubtful. They want to cut costs and increase profits same as anyone. And if they can replace half their dispatch staff with app, improve scheduling, and fleet management they will jump on it -- in other words the app has to make them money. If it does, they'll buy-in. It's that simple.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday July 06 2015, @09:45PM
The problem comes from the fact that the cab driver is always on the phone.
So the only way to add digital dispatch is to provide a second car-mounted smart device. Car-mounted is expensive, so you need an off-the-shelf device instead.
At this point, the odds of someone getting mugged by a junkie are multiplied.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday July 06 2015, @10:12PM
I couldn't imagine that life in this world is so bad that <$6 is considered expensive [aliexpress.com]. Really?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by vux984 on Monday July 06 2015, @10:29PM
The problem comes from the fact that the cab driver is always on the phone.
Yeah, that's changing fast. (emphasis mine)
"Handheld cell phone use and texting is prohibited for all New York drivers. All cell phone use (handheld and hands-free) is prohibited for New York City taxi drivers and for novice drivers.
And similar rules are taking effect all over the place.
So the only way to add digital dispatch is to provide a second car-mounted smart device.
Which is what is happening; and given they already have gps, credit card payment, fare tracking, and fleet tracking systems installed, this is pretty much a no-brainer to add. It's going to happen.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Monday July 06 2015, @10:26PM
It is also specifically illegal in many jurisdictions in the US. Another way the Taxi Industry makes sure there is ZERO competition. In many places cabbies can get in trouble if you know them and call them personally on their private cell phone.
Want to start some trouble at a taxi waiting area such as an airport? Just walk past the first cabs in line to the third or fourth! Everyone will cuss you out in a wealth of foreign languages, especially if there aren't a lot of customers looking for cabs. (Although single women can get away with this as long as they jump in a cab with a female hack).
Cabs must not compete. Its some kind of unwritten rule it seems.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday July 07 2015, @01:13AM
All that young man wanted was to do right by his girlfriend and their son.
He leased his taxi for seventy dollars per day, which mostly worked, but he lived in fear that he might piss someone off, with the result that the dispatcher would stop sending him fares.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 4, Informative) by stormwyrm on Monday July 06 2015, @10:46PM
Already exists [grabtaxi.com]. Seems available only in Southeast Asia at the moment though. It has never worked for me here in Manila the few times I tried it, but some people I know say it works very well for them.
Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by GungnirSniper on Monday July 06 2015, @08:58PM
Funny how they don't speak against the barriers to entry that protect them, but rather want even more regulations against a competitor. Taxis have very little upside in the expanding transportation market, other than their volume presence.
Tips for better submissions to help our site grow. [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday July 06 2015, @09:54PM
The only safe way to reduce upfront regulation on cabs is to force them to carry a centrally-monitored GPS tracker and camera which get activated when they get hailed, and deactivated a few minutes after they get paid.
That would prevent them and their customers from having worries about safety, long detours, and crazy driving, reducing the need to qualify/insure/regulate.
Every cab regulation is the result of a prior problem. And because of the high barrier to entry, they are guaranteed income via scarcity, and have less incentives to resort to anticompetitive actions.
You Do Not want cabs fighting to be first when you raise your hand.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Monday July 06 2015, @10:04PM
Funny how they don't speak against the barriers to entry that protect them, but rather want even more regulations against a competitor.
No, not funny at all. And hardly surprising. But just because there is a personal interest involved does not mean that the same barriers do not also provide for public safety and consumer protection.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Monday July 06 2015, @10:35PM
Its actually amazing how little driver-crime occurs in cabs, (as opposed to crimes against drivers.)
Seems the biggest risk is never seeing your phone again if you forget it in the cab.
It either isn't a problem or it is effectively hushed up.
Pretty sure Uber drivers get as much screening as the guy from Pakistan driving cab in Seattle who didn't know where the Ferry terminal was.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by lentilla on Monday July 06 2015, @09:01PM
Did I read this correctly?
[Uber et al will] pay into a fund for transportation infrastructure. The city would create an app for licensed taxis and help pay for their GPS technology
Seems to me that licensed taxis ought to create their own app and buy their own GPS units - with their own money. It all seems a bit Robin Hood to me.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 06 2015, @10:40PM
Whose going to enforce them, the drug lords?