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A comment on Taxi Medallion Prices Are Plummeting, Endangering Loans. Parent comment

Re:Taxi Medallion Prices Are Plummeting, Endangering Loans by Gustomaximus on Monday January 30, 2017 @09:27PM (#13527004)
Really? Aren't Uber drivers paid a % of the ride cost. So they are not being subsided. And I know Uber are not profitable but I imagine they could be the day they want to. The cost of infrastructure they maintain would be fairly low when they move from a growth to cash-cow strategy.

Seem to me VC's are subsidising expansion within new markets and ventures, not the rides and this 60% figure is misleading.

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Re:Taxi Medallion Prices Are Plummeting, Endangering Loans by BoorishBears on Monday January 30, 2017 @11:20PM (#13527573)
The problem is the prices are artificially low, and if Uber suddenly pulled out the subsidies on rides there's no guarantee ridership wouldn't drop significantly (especially in markets where Uber and taxis are still in fierce competition).

(And by artificially low, I mean rides are being sold where the driver is paid more than the passenger paid, with VC money covering the rest)

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Re:Taxi Medallion Prices Are Plummeting, Endangering Loans by Gustomaximus on Monday January 30, 2017 @11:42PM (#13527691)
Are drivers paid more that they earn? Maybe in a couple of newer, high competition markets like china but I dont believe this is the case across the majority of the world.
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Re:Taxi Medallion Prices Are Plummeting, Endangering Loans by BoorishBears on Tuesday January 31, 2017 @08:14AM (#13530229)
Right now anyone can get something like 50$ of free rides for starting anywhere, and even after that I've taken rides where the driver told me how much they were paid and it was more than what I paid.
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