OK - prior to Uber breaking onto the scene, which cab company in Chicago:
1. Provided universally clean cabs.
2. Provided an app that allowed me to easily acquire a cab without having to jump through hoops, as well as gave me real-time info on where the cab was at.
3. Provided an easy method for me to provide feedback on my driver so that they could weed out troublesome drivers.
4. allowed me to pay them without having to go through the trouble of carrying cash.
You know, all the reasons the new services are winning. The fact medallion owners provided a shitty experience is ENTIRELY RELEVANT. There NEVER WOULD'VE BEEN A MARKET FOR UBER, if the taxi companies were holding up their end of the bargain. Beginning and end of story.
Dude, what are you talking about? I don't disagree with any of your bullet points.
I like Uber, I'm a heavy user, and I'm glad they exist. None of that changes the fact that the gov't had bad policy for twenty years and then screwed over the people who decided to operate within the policy regime. I've provided ample examples above: you can't decide that every taxi operator and medallion-holder deserves getting screwed by dishonest gov't without deciding that the same is true of every doctor and homeowner in the country. Hell, you'd be hard-pressed to find an industry _is_ run fully optimally, so you're basically throwing the entire concept of a stable regulatory environment out the window, which is just ludicrous.
OK - prior to Uber breaking onto the scene, which cab company in Chicago: 1. Provided universally clean cabs.
2. Provided an app that allowed me to easily acquire a cab without having to jump through hoops, as well as gave me real-time info on where the cab was at.
3. Provided an easy method for me to provide feedback on my driver so that they could weed out troublesome drivers.
4. allowed me to pay them without having to go through the trouble of carrying cash.
You know, all the reasons the new services are winning. The fact medallion owners provided a shitty experience is ENTIRELY RELEVANT. There NEVER WOULD'VE BEEN A MARKET FOR UBER, if the taxi companies were holding up their end of the bargain. Beginning and end of story.