Re:Seoul Moves to Ban Uber, Plans Own App
by carbocation on Monday July 21, 2014 @11:08AM
(#8064036)
If I accept what you've written at face value (which I do), then it also strikes me that Seoul is one city where the emergence of Uber would have little impact on the taxi industry. But if Uber actually does have a significant impact, then it seems that the people want something that they are not currently being offered. Seems like a good experiment, not something that should be shut down.
You do have a point. I'd add that the historic pattern in Korea is to be allergic to foreign companies doing business there. Things like trade protectionism is a very political strong thing there because it keeps money inside the country. Sending <whatever percentage of a ride goes to Uber> outside of the country, when the alternative is to just update the very well done and current taxi system is a political non-starter.
I'd be highly surprised if they were ever allowed to operate. If Uber was allowed to go, I'd imagine some kind of tight regulation or high taxes on Uber service to make it less competitive than the normal service.
Yup.
Number of cabs in NYC: ~14,000 (population 8.5 mil)
Number of cabs in Seoul: ~70,000 (population 10 mil)
Uber complains about regulation all the time, but I feel like much of their market was created by the same bad policies it rallies against.
If you've never been to Korea, one thing that pops out immediately is the uniformly very high level of service quality nearly everywhere as compared to the U.S. or Europe. You can already order just about anything you can imagine to be personally delivered just about anywhere you are for next to nothing.
Taxis there are similar and the prices are so low it's a wonder that the drivers can even feed themselves. The fares barely seem to cover the cost of fuel.
I've never had a taxi show up late when I called for one, and there are so many you can usually hail one almost on demand. The taxis are always clean, unlike NYC. More importantly, the number of stories I've heard of drunk people leaving purses or phones behind, and having them returned the next day, is remarkable.
Sure you get the occasional surly driver, and language can be a problem, but that's anywhere, even with Uber drivers. And for $10-15 a ride across most of the city, Uber isn't pushing down anybody's prices.
If there's one place that can revolutionize their own taxi service and offer on-demand pickup via apps, it's going to be Seoul.
Uber's statement about Seoul is garbage. If there's an example of a modern, efficient, "smart" city, anywhere on the planet, it's there. Compared to London and D.C. at least, transport in Seoul is one of the best planned utopian paradises you can imagine and it gets remarkably better every year. The Seoul city government is right to crush it out of existence.