I don’t think I agree with that as entirely accurate. The fares are on the door, the cabbies ID is posted, there are often cameras, and there is a public (as opposed to waiving your rights and accepting private binding arbitration when you get in the not-a-cab) mechanism for enforcement and auditing. You don’t know to the dollar, but you know more or less. And you take responsibility for paying for traffic, as well as miles. That’s not unfair, you’d be paying for your own gas in your own car. You’re also paying for the drivers time, and the opportunity cost of a fare that isn’t going to get stuck in traffic (they make more per mile than they do waiting in traffic).
Uber is hardly the devil, but all the things you mention would work just fine if added into the cab or black car experience. Uber would cease to be profitable if they had to follow the hack regs. I don’t see the loss in a business not existing if it’s not profitable because of reasonable regulations.
DDT is cheap to make, and it’s super effective… but the nagging ‘externalities’ like bird eggs and cancer are often looked past by, well, capitalists. I like capitalists, when they are checked. I vote and act for more civilization, not less!
