Taxi service whiners

[rbadun]

You people are just ignorant..... The city set up and regulates every facet of the taxi business. Did they fuck up? YEA! But they can't just abandon all the players who bought in to the system and played by the city's rules. The drivers aren't making any money, yet you all hate on them for trying. Sure , the speculators who own 10 plates maybe deserve to experience the fluctuations of plate market value, but what about the lowly driver who drove for 25 years to earn a plate. That plate is his only major asset and you want to let unregulated pirates come in and undercut him and destroy the value of his estate? The city should be sued by those poor suckers.

If you think you deserve to get rich - or grow your only major asset - when you operate as a monopoly you are doomed to fail. Eventually monopolies fail as the result excessive profits creating new alternatives (aided with the creation of new technology).

UBER has a great app. I can have a car at my house in 4 minutes max...... cabs I am lucky if I get one in 15 minutes. No need to deal with cash or fight with a cabbie to take my credit card. UBER is just simply a better alternative.

 

[james t kirk]

Technology changes everything.

Kodak used to be on the Dow Jones. They had hundreds of thousands of employees. Now they are gone. The digital world put them out of business.

Same with print media, and media in general, the digital world has been a game changer.

From buggy manufacturers to film to engineering, things change. You can fight it all you want, but in the end, you'll lose. Far better to adapt.

Same goes with taxis.

Uber (or something similar) is going to put them out of business and you won't be able to stop it.

In my case, I'm glad because the taxi industry in this town has been a piece of shit industry forever. It's time it took a bullet.

 

[onthebottom]

Why don't the taxi drivers simply use Uber, all my Uber rides in Berlin were in taxis.

 

[huckfinn]

Uber is a 50 billion dollar company. You sure they don't provide some insurance protection? The class action lawsuit against Uber in this province is about unlicensed drivers earning compensation, not about insurance.

The lawsuit will be about unlicensed drivers.

I just went to Uber's website. It states; "Need something outside the 9 to 5? As an independent contractor with Uber, you’ve got freedom and flexibility to drive whenever you have time. Set your own schedule, so you can be there for all of life’s most important moments."

The interesting part, is you are an independent contractor, meaning you probably have to carry your own liability insurance.

For me, from a personal standpoint, I will not use Uber because if I get hurt while they are taking me somewhere, I have no coverage unless the Uber driver claims s/he is using their car for business to their insurer. As a matter of fact, if you get hit by an Uber driver when they are carrying a fare, you will have to pay your own insurance deductibles, because the Uber driver's company won't cover them, essentially making them an uninsured driver to you.

Here's a good link..... http://www.rogersinsurance.ca/blog/...ter-check-your-insurance-first-/#.VhA4gvlViko

And a quote found in the link... *Minimum premium for ridesharing is estimated around $5000 meaning of course, that $5G is the approximate insurance premium to collect fares like a taxi.

 

[huckfinn]

More good articles....

http://www.kennedyinsurance.ca/uber-drivers-passengers-face-serious-legal-insurance-consequences/

http://business.financialpost.com/n...without-insurance-in-the-event-of-an-accident

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Reco...lberta+insurance+watchdog/11251950/story.html

 

[wigglee]

If you think you deserve to get rich - or grow your only major asset - when you operate as a monopoly you are doomed to fail. Eventually monopolies fail as the result excessive profits creating new alternatives (aided with the creation of new technology).

UBER has a great app. I can have a car at my house in 4 minutes max...... cabs I am lucky if I get one in 15 minutes. No need to deal with cash or fight with a cabbie to take my credit card. UBER is just simply a better alternative.

the taxi monopoly was created by the city and the city can't just throw the people who played by their rules under the bus. There will have to be compensation.... that means your tax dollars. And Uber can't continue as a pirate operation... they need regulation, insurance, training, etc (which will drive up the price anyway)

 

[fuji]

the taxi monopoly was created by the city and the city can't just throw the people who played by their rules under the bus. There will have to be compensation.... that means your tax dollars. And Uber can't continue as a pirate operation... they need regulation, insurance, training, etc (which will drive up the price anyway)

Are you in the taxi business? Everybody else would think the city govt. should do what is best for the people of Toronto. Not legislate payola for taxi tycoons.

 

[solidness]

Are you in the taxi business? Everybody else would think the city govt. should do what is best for the people of Toronto. Not legislate payola for taxi tycoons.

Like losing thousands of full time jobs? More people scaming HST? Helping a company that give nothing back to Canada, by using the Netherlands as a corporate tax shelter? So YOU can save a couple bucks on a cheaper fair? And you expect our City of Toronto Mayor and counselors to do the right thing? Foolish on your part, and short sighted! Never mind that they are running illegally, but again you save a couple of bucks, should make it all right! Who is "everyone else" you? Or maybe you are in the NDP party, and feel no one should make money? Someone pick you up from point A to point B for a metered fee, sounds like a taxi to me, and most are current or ex-taxi drivers, driving for Uber. So you save a couple of bucks on your fair sometime, if you don't get fucked by surge pricing.

 

[GPIDEAL]

The lawsuit will be about unlicensed drivers.

I just went to Uber's website. It states; "Need something outside the 9 to 5? As an independent contractor with Uber, you’ve got freedom and flexibility to drive whenever you have time. Set your own schedule, so you can be there for all of life’s most important moments."

The interesting part, is you are an independent contractor, meaning you probably have to carry your own liability insurance.

For me, from a personal standpoint, I will not use Uber because if I get hurt while they are taking me somewhere, I have no coverage unless the Uber driver claims s/he is using their car for business to their insurer. As a matter of fact, if you get hit by an Uber driver when they are carrying a fare, you will have to pay your own insurance deductibles, because the Uber driver's company won't cover them, essentially making them an uninsured driver to you.

Here's a good link..... http://www.rogersinsurance.ca/blog/...ter-check-your-insurance-first-/#.VhA4gvlViko

And a quote found in the link... *Minimum premium for ridesharing is estimated around $5000 meaning of course, that $5G is the approximate insurance premium to collect fares like a taxi.

Good research Huckfinn but do you know for a fact or are assuming that 'independent contractor' means no insurance of any kind is arranged to permit passengers?

Do passengers pay the drivers or does Uber pay them? Big difference. I thought that app users pay for their ride to Uber which connects you to a driver. Uber pays their drivers as subs. The drivers are not YOUR sub. It is convenient for Uber to treat their drivers as subs so that they need not concern themselves with payroll deductions, etc. etc.

Ordinarily, if I'm a passsenger in a vehicle, the car owner has liability insurance to cover me in case of an accident. You think Uber got to be 50 Billion dollars in size without considering the ramifications of insurability?

 

[GPIDEAL]

More good articles....

http://www.kennedyinsurance.ca/uber-drivers-passengers-face-serious-legal-insurance-consequences/

http://business.financialpost.com/n...without-insurance-in-the-event-of-an-accident

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Reco...lberta+insurance+watchdog/11251950/story.html

From reading these articles, there's no clear answer except I note:

That Kennedy Insurance article is biased in favour of insurance companies that will scare monger (Insurance companies are oligopolies; worse than the taxi industry 'monopoly'). However, the other articles advise that you should check first before you become a Uber driver which is good advice.

In the USA, Uber does provide $5 million in liability coverage and US law has recognized it to be the primary policy for coverage.

In Canada, Uber insurance is supplemental but not necessarily recognized in all jurisdictions or by every insurance company.

Uber is working with regulators and insurance companies to ensure there's coverage.

It ain't over yet.

P.S. If I'm a driver, am I not covered by my own auto insurance company as a Uber passenger involved in an accident? What about supplemental personal liability coverage?

 

[GPIDEAL]

You people are just ignorant..... The city set up and regulates every facet of the taxi business. Did they fuck up? YEA! But they can't just abandon all the players who bought in to the system and played by the city's rules. The drivers aren't making any money, yet you all hate on them for trying. Sure , the speculators who own 10 plates maybe deserve to experience the fluctuations of plate market value, but what about the lowly driver who drove for 25 years to earn a plate. That plate is his only major asset and you want to let unregulated pirates come in and undercut him and destroy the value of his estate? The city should be sued by those poor suckers.

True, true.

The city can enact by-laws to regulate Uber too I would think, just like I can't sell hot dogs on a street corner if I decide on a whim.

 

[wigglee]

Are you in the taxi business? Everybody else would think the city govt. should do what is best for the people of Toronto. Not legislate payola for taxi tycoons.

I used to drive cab part time and know all about it. The city can't make up all the rules controlling the game and then just pull the rug out. That is like stiffing civic workers on their pension , but you probably think that's ok too and Rob Ford would agree.

 

[fuji]

Like losing thousands of full time jobs? More people scaming HST? Helping a company that give nothing back to Canada, by using the Netherlands as a corporate tax shelter? So YOU can save a couple bucks on a cheaper fair? And you expect our City of Toronto Mayor and counselors to do the right thing? Foolish on your part, and short sighted! Never mind that they are running illegally, but again you save a couple of bucks, should make it all right! Who is "everyone else" you? Or maybe you are in the NDP party, and feel no one should make money? Someone pick you up from point A to point B for a metered fee, sounds like a taxi to me, and most are current or ex-taxi drivers, driving for Uber. So you save a couple of bucks on your fair sometime, if you don't get fucked by surge pricing.

Uber provides a better service at a better price. What us for the people of the city is to get the better service and the better price.

 

[fuji]

I used to drive cab part time and know all about it. The city can't make up all the rules controlling the game and then just pull the rug out. That is like stiffing civic workers on their pension , but you probably think that's ok too and Rob Ford would agree.

The city shouldn't be making such rules at all, and people who are getting rich because of a fake monopoly are parasites.

 

[SkyRider]

Uber provides a better service at a better price. What us for the people of the city is to get the better service and the better price.

That's life, isn't it? You play by the rules all your life and then a bunch of renegades show up, ignoring all the rules, and steal your business.

 

[SkyRider]

and people who are getting rich because of a fake monopoly are parasites.

Same with Canada Post letter carriers. The days of working 3 hours and getting paid for 8 hours will soon be history.

 

[huckfinn]

From reading these articles, there's no clear answer except I note:

That Kennedy Insurance article is biased in favour of insurance companies that will scare monger (Insurance companies are oligopolies; worse than the taxi industry 'monopoly'). However, the other articles advise that you should check first before you become a Uber driver which is good advice.

In the USA, Uber does provide $5 million in liability coverage and US law has recognized it to be the primary policy for coverage.

In Canada, Uber insurance is supplemental but not necessarily recognized in all jurisdictions or by every insurance company.

Uber is working with regulators and insurance companies to ensure there's coverage.

It ain't over yet.

P.S. If I'm a driver, am I not covered by my own auto insurance company as a Uber passenger involved in an accident? What about supplemental personal liability coverage?

I think the biggest message is that until it is clear, it is best to stay clear. The insurance companies will use any excuse not to pay out the insurance. I recall an accident I had during a weekday, and the insurer's first question was "Were you out on business". Had I answered yes, I would void my insurance and not be covered. Another time, I had to validate my driver's license, as it was close to being expired. Had it been, I would not have been covered.

I also agree about Uber's insurance, but in things I have read, Uber seems only willing to cover your deduction. You will note on their website they tell you to check your own insurance. Additionally, they take you on as a contractor, so they alleviate themselves of covering you. To cover everyone, the rates would be astronomical, as they would have to base it on driver's with the worst record, unless of course they check everyone individually. You can get coverage for Uber through your own insurance, but as noted from an earlier post I understand it is probably $5k+ per year.

As far as your coverage per your p.s., I think you would have to have personal insurance that covers you in the event of an accident in someone else's car in the event they are uninsured. I may be wrong, but I don't think your car insurance would cover that. If it were, what would happen to people who don't have car insurance. Under normal circumstances, the driver's liability pays for that, and if the insurance is voided due to misuse (Uber, no licence etc), the driver personally becomes liable. Of course you would have to sue them personally - and I wish anyone luck with that one.

To be clear, I am on the fence re the service, and am going to avoid it until it is straightened up, plus hope I don't get into an accident with one of them on a fare. If they can straighten it out, it is fair game for all.

 

[huckfinn]

The city shouldn't be making such rules at all, and people who are getting rich because of a fake monopoly are parasites.

Perfect.....let's do away with Health inspections in restaurants, and rules for professionals like dentists.

The prices will go down.....our health and safety will be at risk, but it will be cheaper!

 

[fuji]

Perfect.....let's do away with Health inspections in restaurants, and rules for professionals like dentists.

The prices will go down.....our health and safety will be at risk, but it will be cheaper!

Here is where I think the line should be drawn: public safety. The current taxi regime is not about public safety, it is a bunch of stupid rules to create fake monopolies. The city shouldn't be doing that AT ALL.

The role of government should be to ensure that those who drive others have clean driving records, no history of serious or violent crime, and that their vehicle is safe and properly insured for its intended use.

That's it. Most of that could be done online in a nearly automated way for a small processing fee.

The current taxi regime is NOT like restaurant inspections. It is as if the city has said there can only be a hundred restaurants in Toronto and they could only serve burgers and the price had to be $29 per order.

Nonsense!

 

[solidness]

Here is where I think the line should be drawn: public safety. The current taxi regime is not about public safety, it is a bunch of stupid rules to create fake monopolies. The city shouldn't be doing that AT ALL.

The role of government should be to ensure that those who drive others have clean driving records, no history of serious or violent crime, and that their vehicle is safe and properly insured for its intended use.

That's it. Most of that could be done online in a nearly automated way for a small processing fee.

The current taxi regime is NOT like restaurant inspections. It is as if the city has said there can only be a hundred restaurants in Toronto and they could only serve burgers and the price had to be $29 per order.

Nonsense!

Twice a year full vehicle inspection(higher standards than Ontario safety certificates issued by class A licensed mechanical shops) , spot road inspections, spot MTO inspections, vehicles 5 year max, min 2 million liability commercial insurance, safety equipment, real criminal background checks, ETC.

Uber can offer lower price simply by not following the rules! And as other markets if the are asked to comply where it make it even 10 percent fair, the will operate illegally, and tie it up in the courts!

Don't get my wrong, I wish I thought of it, but it is still running illegally, the have public opinion on there side, throw a lot of money around, and are very powerful. With all that their stealing. If they win, won't they have the monopoly? Prices going up already, very curious how it will all play out.