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0 pointsanamax1y ago0 comments

One thing that most people get wrong is that Uber doesn't offer taxi services.

In the US at least, there are two classifications for "car for hire."

One is street-hail - you wave down a car or get into one at a stand. That was heavily regulated and taxi companies had the relevant licenses.

The other is "town car". You call for a town-car and it shows up. town-car was very lightly regulated.

Yes, every taxi company offered town-car services, but there were lots of town car companies that didn't do street-hail.

Uber/lyft are town-car companies. Neither one does street-hail.

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andyjohnson01y ago· 1 in thread

The UK has a similar distinction. "Hackney carriages" (the classic "black cab") are allowed to pick-up passengers on the street, while private hire vehicles (often called "minicabs") can only be used by pre-booking. The former are more regulated than the latter. Ubers are minicabs.

(Black cabs don't have to be black, but usually are. As to why they're called "Hackney carriages" - the last person to know the reason probably died in 1863.)

fifticon1y ago

It is indeed a hackneyed term.

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