Mr. Mayor, don’t blame Uber for your claims of congestion on the streets of Manhattan, the app-based taxi service said Tuesday.
Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.nydailynews.com
It appears that there is dissension in the Big Apple, where I experienced my one and only scary gypsy cab ride. I wonder how many of them are in NYC, while they complain about Uber. Anyway, Yellow Cabs have been an institution since Johnny was a baby, well maybe not quite, but the cars weren’t that far behind the railroad.
The Yellow Cabs, have been an institution, but the thing Uber brings is the service and the knowledge they are there because of the app.
I once started walking from Battery Park back to my hotel in Manhattan via Chinatown on a real hot day. After about 3 miles having headed off the main roads, do you think I could find a yellow cab anywhere?
Actually I saw a couple of them but they had passengers and ignored my frantic semaphore waving, they wouldn’t even stop to let me ask them to call another ca for me. It was a really interesting walk and I probably did about 7 miles by the time I got there. did I mention it was a scorching hot day?
If I had Uber, I would have jumped at the chance to have a nice drive, perhaps talk to someone who was actually from NYC and ease my weary legs.
So here’s my argument. Uber is redefining a transport mode. It’s providing levels of service that are perceived as better than many taxi companies offer. The app lets you see where your car is and lets them see where you are, also useful in a strange town, especially if like me, you enjoy random exploration of a city.
When a business is mature, it tends to focus on business as usual or BAU. That’s how we roll.
I predicted the demise of Borders in New Zealand long before they disappeared. If they had been more nimble they could still be here, successfully competing with Amazon in my humble opinion. https://luigicappel.wordpress.com/2011/05/22/ideas-for-retailers-including-borders-and-whitcoulls/
If taxi’s really don’t want Uber around, perhaps they should emulate them. Offer similar services such as an app where they can see the location of the cab, negotiate the fare in advance, take payment via the app, rate the driver and the customer. Offer loyalty programs, with taxi miles.
They could even copy the airlines and have their own budget car network as a sub brand using a similar system.
Let’s face it, Yellow Cabs must have an amazing historical database and know exactly what traffic is likely to be like on any given day. Not moving (sorry little joke). They could easily beat Uber at their own game. I offer this advice to all cab companies. If you don’t keep up with the times you will end up on one of those Facebook pages, or whatever it’s equivalent is in 10 years and people will be saying remember when you knew you were in NYC, with all those yellow cabs? Here’s a picture of one, remember them?
See on Scoop.it – Location Is Everywhere
SoLoMo Consulting 