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PhiladelphiaCounty t1_jcey1bu wrote

It sucks that once was a decent living in America had all its excess value sucked to VC and tech bros. On the other hand I fucking hate taxis and they price gouge like crazy at the airport so more access to ride share the better

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ell0bo t1_jcf29yc wrote

From amount of time I was told 'reader no work, you pay cash' and was driven to an ATM instead of my home, I have no sympathy for these guys. They would stop, ask where I live, and then drive away when I said 'East Falls' at the time.

Uber isn't better, agree fuck VCs, but they guys has something coming. I'm sure there's good one caught in the wash, and that sucks, but I ain't shedding a tear.

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Indiana_Jawns t1_jcfcbxm wrote

The thing about that is if a taxi denies you a ride because of where you’re going you can report them and they risk having their medallion revoked. Same with driving without a working credit card machine or taking you somewhere you didn’t ask to go.

Taxis are regulated. Meanwhile the quality of the rideshares has gone way down and are worse than taxis now

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Leviathant t1_jcghb4x wrote

I used to take the R5 into the city for work, never had much use for taxis, but a bunch of my colleagues had stories about having to call the cops over paying their taxi fare. And early on, "machine doesn't work" was the norm, not the exception. Yes, taxis are regulated. No, having to invoke that regulation on the regular was not a better experience.

You know what I haven't had to do since the rideshare revolution? Argue over how much I'm paying or how I'm paying it. I take a cab home from the airport every time I'm flying home. They're now cleaner, friendlier, and all around better. The taxi system overplayed their hand for a long time, and now everyone in their industry is worse off for it, but customers are better off.

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krissyface t1_jcgm6sw wrote

I got into a taxi at the airport headed to the Italian market. The taxi got onto 76, took me all the way out to the zoo and then headed back into center city and down to south Philly and tried to charge me close to $100. PPA didn’t care. I filed a report and never heard anything back.

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cpndff93 t1_jcf2djg wrote

What do you mean they price gouge at the airport? There’s a Center City flat rate to/from the airport, regular meter otherwise. Ive never had a problem

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sugr_magnolia t1_jcf38pa wrote

Yes, there is a flat rate. Not everyone knows this. Sometimes (especially if traffic on 95 is bad) they will try to run the meter on you despite the flat rate. I've gotten into an argument with a cab driver on more than one occasion because they've tried to pull this on me.

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Vague_Disclosure t1_jcf9549 wrote

provide garbage service for years.. act shocked and incredulous when someone innovates you out of a job

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tomyownrhythm t1_jcf8omn wrote

Or when I lived in south Philly and the flat rate was an overcharge and they would get pissy about a “short fare.” I get that my ride wasn’t the lucrative one, but asking “are you sure” when I give my home address is ludicrous. I used to carry an extra $10 to hand to drivers that didn’t try to gouge me after I expensed my max tip allowed by my company.

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sugr_magnolia t1_jcfr6h5 wrote

I live slightly south of South, so technically out of the "Center City" zone for a flat rate. Had one driver argue this point with me and said it allowed him to run the meter. I knew he was doing it because it was a high traffic time of day. I shut that down real quick by threatening to call the PPA while we were on 95. No fucking way are you charging me a higher rate for going a shorter distance than the CC zone.

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Sweaty-Inside t1_jcgxvu3 wrote

>I got into a taxi at the airport headed to the Italian market. The taxi got onto 76, took me all the way out to the zoo and then headed back into center city and down to south Philly and tried to charge me close to $100. PPA didn’t care. I filed a report and never heard anything back.

They moved the zone several years back. It goes down to Washington Ave. now.

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krissyface t1_jcgmb7p wrote

This is correct. They’ll refuse to run the flat rate. Or they’ll try to charge the flat rate if you’re not going far enough.

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mb2231 t1_jcf6xpu wrote

Taxis are a straight pain in the ass and nothing has changed in the Uber era.

People want a flat rate to go somewhere and taxi drivers are almost never honest about it (I didn't even know there was a flat rate to CC). Half the time I ask a price the drivers ask to see Lyft or Uber apps. Card readers end up not working, it's just a general hassle compared to opening my phone and ordering and Uber.

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CerealJello t1_jcf8jge wrote

I've had them do the opposite for me. They ask if I want the flat rate to South Philly because they know it'll be higher than the metered fare.

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cpndff93 t1_jcfakxk wrote

Yeah idk, i take a cab every time i land at PHL and never once had an issue. Meanwhile, my uber or lyft drivers are usually poor drivers, and the apps actually/literally gouge prices based on demand.

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Vague_Disclosure t1_jcf9bei wrote

if the card reader doesn't work and they don't tell you before the ride starts do you still need to pay? I don't ever carry cash.

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CerealJello t1_jcfe8qe wrote

They're required by law to accept card payment. Usually it's not actually broken, they just want cash.

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ILoveKittensAndCats t1_jcg55tm wrote

I live in S PHL and a driver tried to pull that “flat rate” shit with me. I had taken a cab to the airport, so I knew it wasn’t going to be $30+. I told him to run the meter. He told me to “Get out.”

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PhiladelphiaCounty t1_jcf41ct wrote

Maybe wrong word. Unreasonable probably better I live like at most 15 min drive from the airport and never paid more than $25 for an Uber but the taxis start at $35 and expect a tip on top of that

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cpndff93 t1_jcf4jg6 wrote

You’ve never paid more than $25 for an uber??! It was $35 just to get to center city from fairmount for me the other day lol

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courageous_liquid t1_jcfiqyc wrote

...why

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nnp1989 t1_jcfk3i7 wrote

Peak usage plus bad weather can result in some obscenely high rideshare prices. I'm assuming it was one or a combination of both.

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courageous_liquid t1_jcfkg6r wrote

But also like, why would you accept that? Just take a bus. They're everywhere.

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cpndff93 t1_jcfl5je wrote

I didnt do it because the price was too high. I took the bus, which is what i usually do. Thank you for the advice though!

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Leviathant t1_jcghv48 wrote

Flat rate from the airport was $28.50, post-tip was always $36 for me. They just bumped up the flat rate to $33 - first increase in decades. I'm also about 15 minutes away, and waiting 7 minutes for a Lyft or Uber to meander around the airport got old a few years ago. If I'm tightening the belt, I can wait, and if I want to be home in 15 minutes, I'll go to the line of taxis and jump right in.

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