Cheap cab ride? You must have missed Uber’s true cost | Evgeny Morozov | Opinion | The Guardian
►http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/31/cheap-cab-ride-uber-true-cost-google-wealth-taxation
Uber is already taking higher percentages from its drivers’ fares (this number is reported to have gone up from 20% to 30%), while also trying to pass on more costs related to background checks and safety education directly to its drivers (through the so-called safe rides fee).
The only choice here is between more precarity for drivers and more precarity for passengers, who will have to accept higher rates, with or without controversial practices like surge pricing (prices go up when demand is high).
Moreover, the company is actively trying to solidify its status as a default platform for transport. During the recent squabbles in France – where taxi drivers have been rioting to get the government to notice their plight – Uber has offered to open up its platforms to any professional taxi drivers who would like a second job.
Needless to say, such platforms – with properly administered and transparent payment, reputation and pricing systems – ought to have been established by cities a long time ago.
In Berlin gibt es das alles bereits - als Kombination aus Taxivermittlungen, Personenbeförderungsgesetz und städtischer Aufsichtsbehörde. Das ist der Grund für den begrenzten Erfolg von Uber in der Stadt.
cf. ▻http://seenthis.net/messages/456320
#Uber #disruption #platform_capitalism #silicon_valley #taxi