When Is a Taxi Not a Taxi? Uber fights to change Taxi industry perception forever

When Is a Taxi Not a Taxi?

The new car service company Uber exposes the idiocy of American cities’ cab regulations.

Uber is a company that’s exciting, innovative, useful, and arguably shouldn’t exist at all. It is a solution to a ridiculous problem created by cartels and overregulation.

“I wanted to be able to press a button and get a classy ride,” explained CEO Travis Kalanick when I asked him to describe Uber’s origin story to me at a launch event for its D.C. branch on Wednesday. So last year Kalanick, Oscar Salazar, and Garrett Camp founded a company originally known as UberCab in San Francisco.

The original name made perfect sense, since at root what Uber provides is a taxi service. Just about every major city in America has, in addition to its heavily regulated cab drivers, a largish fleet of private sedan drivers who do things like take businessmen on pre-arranged drives to and from airports. These limo services generally feature nicer cars, higher prices, and—crucially—different moments of peak demand. Car services get a lot of business weekday mornings, and to a lesser extent in the afternoon rush hour. But very few business travelers need a ride from the airport late on a Friday or Saturday night, which is the time lots of drunk young people want a ride home or maybe to a different bar.

These are two fairly distinct market segments. Airplanes take off and land at defined.........

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P.s.

Warning to Uber and Lyft drivers

"Uber Destroyed My Life

I was looking for a way to generate some extra income to supplement my veteran pension, give me something to do with my spare time, and most importantly help make the $409/month payments on my 2013 Chrysler 300. I saw an ad from Uber guaranteeing a very lucrative job as well as great working conditions and a secure future. I hired on as an Uber driver and at first everything they claimed seemed to be mostly true. I was earning decent money (though not as much as their ads promised) and was getting plenty of work. All was good until one day I became involved in an accident. It was only then that I discovered that my personal liability insurance did not cover me because my car was being used for commercial purposes. Uber’s mythical “1 million dollar liability coverage” only covered Uber, not me or my car. I am now being sued by the other driver’s insurance company for thousands of dollars and my smashed Chrysler 300 sits in a junk yard racking up storage fees. On top of all of this, no traditional taxi companies will touch me now because of the accident on my driving record.
I was only trying to earn an honest extra income and now I have no car, just the $409/month payments and a huge pending lawsuit. None of this would have happened if I had been working for a legitimate taxi company that is required by law to provide both a car and commercial insurance for their drivers. If only I had known then what I know now. Uber is a lying, dishonest company that does not give a damn about their drivers and is only out to make a dishonest buck.DO NOT WORK FOR UBER OR THIS MAY HAPPEN TO YOU LIKE IT DID TO ME! "

What is the best car to use for a taxi?

What is the best car to use for a taxi?

By Eric Edwards

When answering the question “What is the best car to use for a taxi?”, one must first consider the intended market that the taxi will be driven in. A car that would be advantageous for short trips with light loads may not be appropriate for a market that includes mainly long trips with large loads. Each market presents a different scenario, and each will be best suited by a different type of car. These scenarios differ in many aspects, including road conditions, terrain, fuel availability and prices, as well as the load size and trip length requirements previously mentioned. In this article I will describe 5 different scenarios, or markets:

Markets

USA – 

In the USA, taxis are most often used for short trips and carry small loads, and are used primarily in
the larger cities and to carry passengers to/from airports. Passenger comfort and mechanical longevity are the most important areas to consider in this market. The relatively low fuel prices in most parts of the US make a larger taxi, like the Ford Crown Victoria, a viable option. Many taxi’s in the USA have a partition between the front and rear seat, so the prospective buyer must factor this space requirement into their purchasing decision.

UK – 

The high cost of fuel and relatively light distance and load requirements make fuel performance  and physical size the primary factors in choosing a car for use in a market like the UK. Another important factor is the size and maneuverability of the car;the taxi needs to be able to navigate the crowded narrow streets one encounters in the big cities of the UK.
India – In India the initial cost of the car and the cost of operation are the most

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Services

Unlike traditional dispatch system providers where you purchase or lease all the equipment and train the staff to use it, CCSi offers full-service, turnkey reservation, dispatch and back office services by providing computer hardware, software and personnel.  A typical CCSi client takes advantage of the following services:

Call Taking – CCSi staff handles all incoming telephone calls, enters new reservations and looks up information about existing reservations using CCSi’s own best in class, Microsoft Windows based, VB.NET software.  CCSi’s software is fully integrated with its telephone switch.  The result is 100% guarantee that the fleet that owns the telephone number called by the customer receives the reservation.  Using customer’s telephone number, CCSi software displays the customer’s address and any special instructions if the customer has called us before.  The software alerts the CSA if a reservation has been entered from the same address or telephone number within the past hour to prevent duplicate trips and also to expedite callback handling by displaying the map showing the customer’s pickup address, the location of the vehicle assigned to the customer and the distance between the two points.  It is not unusual for CCSi customers to call back and be told by the CSA to look outside and to their amazement they see a taxi pulling up.  CCSi has developed and is currently using IVR technology to allow bars/restaurants and hotels to reserve taxis without speaking with a CSA.  Another application, called Auto CSA, intercepts customers who are on hold and have previously called CCSi and gives them a choice to place their reservation for the address their phone number is associated with without speaking with a CSA.  We also provide taxi reservation services through RideCharge web and iPhone reservations, through SMS texting from cell phone via GoFastCab.com and through CCSi’s own SMS short code (469222, www.4MyCab.com) and smart phone apps.

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Mobile Knowledge has been innovating and delivering automated dispatch technologies to the For-Hire industry for more than 30 years. Our team of approximately 50 engineers, business analysts and administrative personnel, are recognized throughout the world for the high quality of our equipment, software, and support services. Our open system approach distinguishes us from our competition and ensures that clients have the ability to tailor their overall system to meet their specific requirements.   With more than 150 systems deployed worldwide, and more than 50,000 vehicles equipped with Mobile Knowledge Mobile Data Terminals (“MDTs”), Mobile Knowledge is recognized as one of the largest and most experienced solution providers in the area of For-Hire Fleet management.  >>>The Mobile Data Solutions Company

Taxi Dispatch Systems

MTData has one of the world’s most advanced taxi dispatch    systems, used by over 29,000 taxis worldwide. Built on the latest technology platforms, the system has been designed with open architecture and extensive options allowing customers the utmost level of flexibility through self-configuration. MTData is committed to continuous improvement in order to provide the best technology as well as excellent after sales service and support. The consistent investment in research and development assures customers will always have access to tools that enable them to remain leaders in their market place.

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San Antonio Airport taxi drivers seek help beating the heat

San Antonio airport taxi drivers seek help beating the heat
Drivers want covered parking or indoor facility built

“Cab driver” does not sound like it would be on a list of the “worst jobs to have in the summer”, but try telling that to the nearly 200 drivers that work at the San Antonio International Airport.
“We're all cooking here,” said Ricardo Delvalle. “We have to stay in cars with the A/C running, the engine running. It’s a waste, as far as gas.”

Unlike airports in Austin, Dallas, and Houston, the holding area for cab drivers at San Antonio International is a large uncovered parking lot.
There are two small aluminum canopies where drivers can sit in the shade, but without a larger covered area or indoor facility, many of them have to tough it out in the extreme heat.