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terryjohnson16 t1_iwqlwnm wrote

Im not a fan of yellow cabs. Some of them discriminate by not stopping for you, unless you have a certain skin color. Plus if they stop and ask where you are going, and say anything other than the airports or outside of manhattan, they play dumb and take a long traffic route to jump the fare up, or wont go at all.

One drove off cause we said the bronx.

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kjuneja t1_iwrdq4z wrote

I'm not a fan of not knowing how much I'm going to pay before I enter the cab.

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Eastern-Lemon-4760 t1_iws1f2f wrote

That’s why I love curb, can book yellow cans through that and it’s always 30-40pc cheaper than Uber/Lyft (I guess prior to this increase)

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Miga_05 t1_iws55ly wrote

Curb is good for when Uber’s are surcharging other than that Ubers have a better price point every other time.

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MinefieldFly t1_iwsn0vt wrote

That hasn’t been true for at least a year and a half

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Bushwick_Hipster t1_iwu2bpx wrote

Currently (wont last forever) the blue Revel Teslas are pretty cheap, but I’m sure its just a marketing growth strategy.

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upnflames t1_iwt4pom wrote

It's a little weird not knowing exactly, I get that. But over the past 5-6 years yellow cabs have been cheaper every single time I've compared them to Uber. Like, no exaggeration. Every single time, sometimes literally half the price.

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specialcommenter t1_iwuj8rr wrote

Yellow isn’t really for broke people. It’s for people living in Manhattan who need a quick ride from the curb to their destination.

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ELONGATEDSNAIL t1_iwuyvmd wrote

If the destination is in Manhattan...

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specialcommenter t1_iwv0o51 wrote

Which is 98% of the time for regular yellow cab riders. Yellow riders spend on average $150/day on yellow cabs. School run, work, errands, appointments & dinner all in Manhattan. A rando one time taxi rider complaining on Reddit is not the business case for a yellow.

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kjuneja t1_iwyt77x wrote

>Yellow riders spend on average $150/day on yellow cabs.

Citation?

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specialcommenter t1_ix01gtw wrote

Just go to one of those doorman buildings on Park Ave between 59 & 96th streets and ask them. Regular yellow taxi riders don’t have the time to get on Reddit and complain about yellow taxis. They just need their yellow taxis.

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P0stNutClarity t1_iwqsfxs wrote

When I first started as a real estate agent a decade ago the only yellow cab drivers that would stop for me were African drivers. I made a note to count, got to about 9 before a driver who I presume to be Arab stopped for me. Didn't count the ones that straight up passed me by even though they had their availability lights on smfh. Was embarrassing having clients standing on the sidewalk while I stand in the street getting passed left and right. Uber was a godsend.

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TonyzTone t1_iwqzlh7 wrote

Man, I remember one night I was out super late/early morning. Trains were garbage going back to Queens but completely worthless once I got to Queensboro Plaza; just not running to Ditmars at all.

I got out of the station and hopped into a cab on Crescent like a block up from the entrance into the 59 Street Bridge. "Going to XX in Astoria, please." You could tell dude was not happy with having to go back and miss the rush hour in Manhattan.

He basically ignored my request and proceeded to get onto the bridge. I told him to stop fucking around, let me out, and I had to walk alongside the on-ramp for the bridge and find another cab willing to take me to Astoria.

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palaminocamino t1_iwswm0f wrote

I hope you reported that guy. These people are all under super strict rules enforced by the taxi, limousine, commission. My relate was a nyc judge for tlc, you’re input absolutely has ramifications for these guys — just so everyone knows.

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unlimitedshredsticks t1_iwudd4e wrote

I have an open TLC complaint about an overcharge thats been open since august despite them telling me I’d hear back within a month. So im not confident

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palaminocamino t1_iwukurm wrote

I can’t speak for all of them, but I was always called back in a few weeks. It’s a big system, who knows what’s happened with your case, sorry to hear though.

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TonyzTone t1_iwtfvlp wrote

No, it was like 4:30 in the morning.

EDIT: …and so I wasn’t focused on trying to get this driver’s info.

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heptothejive t1_iwtxe0o wrote

That’s really neither here nor there. Naturally you’d report this during business hours.

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TonyzTone t1_iwusxj2 wrote

The point being I was more focused on getting home than taking down the cab number and info.

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BiblioPhil t1_iwqojm6 wrote

Uber drivers routinely accept my rides and then spend 10-20 minutes driving in circles as the ETA keeps getting pushed later and later. Also, there's no reason an Uber driver cant just ignore requests from "certain people," is there?

Add in the absurd cost relative to yellow cabs, the history of misconduct by Uber drivers, and the generally shitty exploitative labor and Wal-Mart-esque business practices of Uber/Lyft, and yellow cabs are the clear winner.

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TonyzTone t1_iwqzsrc wrote

I don't think Ubers see passenger information before accepting the ride so, it's harder to discriminate against race. They might see you're going to a typically minority neighborhood and decide not to take the trip, but the way yellow cabs will simply ignore minorities trying to flag them down is not quite the case.

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specialcommenter t1_iwuld31 wrote

Yes, when they read certain names from certain neighborhoods in the boroughs, they very much cancel. I stumbled upon that discussion on an online forum when googling something related to Uber.

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Exavion t1_iwr2old wrote

Anecdotally in my experience with dozens of yellow cabs and hundreds of lyfts and ubers, yellow cabs have delivered a worse experience to me as a rider 99% of the time. They were more expensive, got into MULTIPLE car accidents driving recklessly (and once tried to intimidate us into defending them to the police) less clean, more rude, and refused our rides a few times. A couple even flat out scammed us by having “meter” issues.

The technology and experience that Uber and Lyft use is rider-first, so while im glad yellow cabs are getting paid, they won’t be getting my business unless I’m forced to.

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marscout6 t1_iwrplx3 wrote

Totally agree. Also, who makes the money from those God awful tv sets? That alone should be making them good money. If not, they should remove them.

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PhillyFreezer_ t1_iwrh396 wrote

All of this is true, but with the increase in volume/demand coupled with how expensive the ride sharing apps are now, Yellow cabs look more and more doable for me. Wait times and these drivers completing other trips first is a huge deferent. Honestly cabs now are a lot cleaner than they used to be, probably because it’s a main point of contention for those who chose Uber.

I think they each serve a purpose, but I’m finding myself wanting to just get in a car and start driving rather than spending time waiting for an Uber. Neither are good options and I’ll walk/bike/subway it instead.

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sayheykid24 t1_iwu3m6w wrote

You’ve taken “dozens” of yellow cabs trips and gotten into multiple car accidents? Lol okay. Yellow cabs are now much cheaper too.

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Exavion t1_iwu8i1g wrote

Yes, one major (stopped traffic on FDR, we luckily weren’t hurt) and two minor (fenders)

Not to say Ubers are without incident. One Uber driver memorably got confused about his GPS and stopped in the space adjacent to the offramp on a BQE exit during fast evening traffic, which was very unsafe. Had a couple others simply go the wrong way- twice we crossed a borough bridge when we were not supposed to leave the borough.

TBH I didn’t know the price swapped so aggressively. I hadn’t thought offpeak rideshares were more expensive than what i assumed cabs would cost for the same ride

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specialcommenter t1_iwuly6j wrote

I find this hard to believe. I use yellow a lot. I also know that their business case is mainly for Manhattan residents. Most of the drivers drive confidently and know exactly where to go. Every single Uber X I used was an incompetent driver constantly using Waze.

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aia124 t1_iwunrqr wrote

This is the #1 for me. For the most part (less and less these days), cab drivers know what's up. I've been on too many Uber rides where the route simply was nonsensical and ended up doubling my trip (despite there being no meter to run up the fare).

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BiblioPhil t1_iwr5a12 wrote

I've been in one accident with an Uber as well, in addition to the fuckery I mentioned. I've also had bad experiences with cabs, just not enough to justify 2x the cost, a non-zero amount of fuckery, and support for a business that fundamentally depends on eliminating competition by leveraging economies of scale, operating at a loss for years, then jacking up the price once their competitors leave the market.

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drpvn t1_iwvqf4a wrote

I hope you support requiring Uber to bear the full costs of congestion pricing.

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TurbulentArea69 t1_iwrl11j wrote

I recently had a guy not want to let me out of his car because he wanted me to pay him in cash. I legit didn’t have cash on me but he didn’t believe me. I wasn’t locked in the car or anything he was just really pressuring me. It was sad, he seemed desperate.

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terryjohnson16 t1_iwrlf27 wrote

I would have called the cops if he locked you in. They dont want card cause its a paper trail.

You could have used the curb app too

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TurbulentArea69 t1_iwrlrb5 wrote

I wasn’t locked in and didn’t really feel threatened. It was a “normal” nyc shakedown that we all experience from time to time. I mostly just felt bad for him because he was clearly on hard times.

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specialcommenter t1_iwukoj0 wrote

I don’t think he was on hard times. These guys are averaging $300-$400/day. They just like good ‘ol cash. I take yellow a lot and most of them say they make that amount after gas. Some of them say business sucks but I can tell they’re new drivers by the way they drive.

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Pennwisedom t1_iwus889 wrote

$300-$400 a day probably in Gross. But how much are they paying for the medallion?

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specialcommenter t1_iwuswky wrote

I’m talking about the guys that lease the cabs from the garages. $110/day for the car + another $20ish/day in gas. Most of them say they take home $300-$400 “clean” after all that.

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specialcommenter t1_iwuk93f wrote

I give my yellow drivers cash if it’s a short ride. I tell them not to turn on the meter and hand them a $10.

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sulaymanf t1_iwrn637 wrote

It’s gotten much better over the years. The TLC routinely does undercover stings to catch discrimination and tickets drivers.

If anyone refuses to give you a ride in the 5 Boros, call 311 and report their taxi medallion number on the roof. There’s a $300 fine for the first offense.

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RecommendationOld525 t1_iwspcky wrote

A cabbie refused me service after a Mets game because (I suspect) I wasn’t going far enough for them to get a high fare. 🙄 (I would’ve taken the subway, but I was with my dad, and he was in substantial pain due to his sciatica so going up the stairs since there’s no freaking elevator at Mets Willets Point would have been murder. We took an Uber instead.)

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nathan1653 t1_iwr57i9 wrote

Biggest issue for me is cabs won’t use GPS. They take insane slow routes. I don’t think it’s tok drive up the fair I think they just are not looking at traffic data. Many do not know the city well and won’t use GPS to help.

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specialcommenter t1_iwumyfl wrote

Every yellow I take either knows the city very well or uses Waze. Yellow is for wealthy Manhattan residents unfortunately. I’m not saying I’m a wealthy Manhattan resident but that’s the true business case for Yellow. Rides for people who spend about $150/day using yellow cabs.

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B0yW0nd3r t1_iwu8dl7 wrote

When this happens you report them to 311. They don’t play around with this stuff. It became illegal like over a decade ago.

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adk_nlg t1_iwugw9f wrote

I do not miss getting in fights arguing “You have to take me to Brooklyn now!”

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specialcommenter t1_iwuhsq6 wrote

Why would they take a long route these days? Everyone’s phone has map apps installed. Every yellow I’ve gotten into asked me to punch in the address in Waze when I would take it into Queens. Unfortunately it is true, during rush hour 4pm-7pm, they don’t like going to the Bronx because they won’t get a fare up in the Bronx. I wouldn’t take a cab to the Bronx during those hours anyway because a train will take the same amount of time and $45 less due to traffic.

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SoulfulYam t1_iws0adh wrote

I'm with you there bro. They nickel and dime their passengers and treat them and everyone on the road like absolute garbage. I hope this runs them out of business.

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specialcommenter t1_iwumz6t wrote

Every yellow I take either knows the city very well or uses Waze. Yellow is for wealthy Manhattan residents unfortunately. I’m not saying I’m a wealthy Manhattan resident but that’s the true business case for Yellow. Rides for people who spend about $150/day using yellow cabs.

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