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Taxi Medallion Prices Are Plummeting, Endanger

MaggieD said:
Well, maybe you know something Tom doesn't know. He just quit driving his own taxi after 15 years. Did you drive? He could not pick up in the city period. Chicago to suburbs or not. Calling a suburban taxi from the airport takes usually about 15 minutes. I've never known the taxi line to be that long since the line of taxis is almost endless. Next...next...next... Plus unless you live here, you would have no idea the fare difference or who to call.

Ok, so I asked Tom to confirm what I thought I knew. He said that, depending on what cop stopped you, you might get away with it. But if the cop wanted to stick it to the driver, or if they were turning up the heat on drivers, they could ask for your Public Chauffeur's License. Few suburban drivers have one, and they are required in the city. Cab towed and impounded. Large fine.
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I drove a cab in college, and you are absolutely right here Maggie; suburban taxi drivers cannot legally pick-up in the city - period. And you are also right in that there's always Chicago taxis in line at ORD.

Now the interesting thing about Uber, is that the Uber drivers get a TNP I.D. from the city that looks like a chauffeur's license, but it's not a true chaffer's license. But they do get a tax emblem! It's paper, and both it and the I.D. are to be displayed in the driver's front window.

Also for the airports, an Uber or Lyft driver must display the blue "TNP" airport sticker in the rear window.

I'm sorry to hear about the quiting of driving a taxi, and I'm sure it's largely due to TNPs. However, many taxi drivers are doing 'Uber taxi', where the app works the same but a taxi is summoned rather than a rideshare vehicle. I have no idea if it is financially profitable, though.

Perhaps, you've seen this on private vehicles in your neighborhood?


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Threegoofs said:
I have no idea about some guy named Tom, but I can tell you that I have called for a taxi in the city from a suburban cab company in the city - from downtown, Wrigley Field, etc, and they never have a problem picking me up and bringing me home to the suburbs. If you look at the American Taxi website, its quite clear that the only thing they cant do it Chicago to Chicago rides. I supposed cops could pull anyone over and make up stuff and impound cars....

Im not sure how often you are in a taxi line to go to the city when you live in the suburbs... but Ive done both, and standing indoors waiting fora taxi is much more preferable than a long line outside.

However, Uber is much better. These days, I use them almost exclusively for non- airport related rides. I havent switched for airport transit because taxis have been amazingly reliable and always arrive much earlier than scheduled (plus... I"m not paying if its for work!).
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Hm.

Now isn't that interesting, because I don't remember suburban taxis being able to do Chicago pick-ups back in the day.

I guess I stand corrected in my post above, too.
 
Uber is losing so much money that I doubt unless 600 million on 1.8 billion in revenue if I recall correctly that I don't think they will be operating in 5 years with out paying far less or charging far more.
 
Spartacus FPV said:
How is a random cab driver less of a stranger than a rated Uber driver?
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... It's the serial killer scenario.Uber brings an immediate exposure of who the driver will be that most users prefer. If I'm taking an Uber, I will see the driver's picture and then decide whether or not I want to go with them. It's less creepy than getting a cab with what may be a deranged stranger whose face you don't really get a clear look at in the first 10-30 seconds of your interaction with them.
 
HenryChinaski said:
I'll never use Uber. Getting in a strangers car is lunacy. I'll always choose to support cab drivers. It's an old school profession and they get me where I want to go without needing to follow an app on their IPhone.
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I used to feel the same way, then I used Uber a few times.

Taxi drivers are way sketchier.
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
Uber is losing so much money that I doubt unless 600 million on 1.8 billion in revenue if I recall correctly that I don't think they will be operating in 5 years with out paying far less or charging far more.
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Yeah, it's a bizarre aspect of a lot of internet tech startups like that, where your goal is to capture most or all of the market and then figure out how to make money.
 
Deuce said:
Yeah, it's a bizarre aspect of a lot of internet tech startups like that, where your goal is to capture most or all of the market and then figure out how to make money.
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I doubt the amazon business model will work for Uber.

The start up costs for ride sharing is the development of the software, the servers and advertising for drivers and passengers.

When they either raise priced or drop driver payouts the number of passengers and drivers will drop. I doubt they will be able to corner the market. Overall the mass amounts of money invested in Uber will be counted as a loss for most investors
 
HenryChinaski said:
Eh, when I get in a cab I'm paying for peace of mind. Majority of the people that use Uber don't even tip. My best friend has been driving for them for a while and he rarely ever gets a tip, yet people are raving about how much cheaper it is. The yuppies can have Uber.
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What exactly does people tipping have to do with peace of mind about uber drivers. I think that's quite the stretch.
 
braindrain said:
What exactly does people tipping have to do with peace of mind about uber drivers. I think that's quite the stretch.
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They don't have anything to do with each other. I was just pointing out that I think that it's lame that people who use Uber don't tip, it's one of those situations where people should, same as bartenders barbers and waiters. Especially if it's so "affordable"
 
HenryChinaski said:
They don't have anything to do with each other. I was just pointing out that I think that it's lame that people who use Uber don't tip, it's one of those situations where people should, same as bartenders barbers and waiters. Especially if it's so "affordable"
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Why. Tipping is stupid. Charge me the amount you want and let's get on with it. It that mouch worse that having to tip in so many places has become expected. Provide average or even sub par service and I am supposed to still tip. Just dumb.

Not having to tip is one of the things I really like about currently not living in America.
 
braindrain said:
Why. Tipping is stupid. Charge me the amount you want and let's get on with it. It that mouch worse that having to tip in so many places has become expected. Provide average or even sub par service and I am supposed to still tip. Just dumb.

Not having to tip is one of the things I really like about currently not living in America.
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Oh you're that guy. That dude who goes to a restaurant orders a decent meal, gets waited on and doesn't even leave pocket lint on the table. Classy.
 
Chomsky said:
You really should consider Uber or Lyft, Maggie. Both are extremely active in Chicagoland. Try it, and you'll be hooked!
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A guy I work with has it and we were going down town (not Chicago). the guy shows up and has a check engine light on in his car.
as much as it is friggen at least have some standards. that is just one of a few reasons I don't trust them.
 
HenryChinaski said:
Oh you're that guy. That dude who goes to a restaurant orders a decent meal, gets waited on and doesn't even leave pocket lint on the table. Classy.
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You know why you should never talk about things you have no idea about. It almost always makes you look foolish. This is a perfect example. I have always tipped very well. Enough so that my wife complains often that I tip to much. Twenty percent is basically the minimum I ever tip at a restaurant with 25 being pretty much the norm if the service is not crappy. Just because one doesn't like a certain way of doing things doesn't mean you don't do it. In fact I never even realized how much I disliked tipping till I started going to countries where tipping isn't a real thing.

So you probably should stick to things you know about. But thank you for providing a good example of why doing so is a bad idea.

Insulting someone you know know nothing about. Classy.
 
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