In most places I've been to, traditional taxis has a captive market and no effective competition due to limited licenses. Drivers were frequently rude, dangerous, and bitterly resentful if you weren't the exact type of ride they happened to look for. Cars were poorly maintained from outside to inside. Calling them would give you a "we'll be there between 5 and 45 minutes, please stay outside in the rain and wait for them" (actual situation that happened frequently in Ottawa or Toronto). They refused to take credit cards, and would cancel the meter after starting so they wouldn't be tracked. Experience was awful from start to finish.
So my sympathy toward old model is negative.
And then there's the whole medallion business in many parts of North America, which is crazy to explain to outsiders - basically, licensed which nominally cost $150 - $1500 (depending on the city), would go for upwards of 450k on secondary market. People would buy loans and invest in them as primary retirement. When city decided to open up the market, people who invested all their money in an extremely speculative irrational market took to streets... And hired thugs to trash uber hq.
So my sympathy toward previous model is negative.
That being said, I agree that exploitation of gig economy is bad. I just feel people have a lot more choice to be or not to be an uber driver for me to fully understand their plight.
So my sympathy toward old model is negative.
And then there's the whole medallion business in many parts of North America, which is crazy to explain to outsiders - basically, licensed which nominally cost $150 - $1500 (depending on the city), would go for upwards of 450k on secondary market. People would buy loans and invest in them as primary retirement. When city decided to open up the market, people who invested all their money in an extremely speculative irrational market took to streets... And hired thugs to trash uber hq.
So my sympathy toward previous model is negative.
That being said, I agree that exploitation of gig economy is bad. I just feel people have a lot more choice to be or not to be an uber driver for me to fully understand their plight.