Do you think it's fair that taxi cabs need to comply with regulations in order to operate but Uber doesn't?

NY taxi cabs have been a regulated and protected monopoly for years. Mostly politics, of course, but the city kept the number of medallions low so the taxi owners got richer and richer. Of course the drivers got screwed, not the taxi owners.

Now Uber and Lyft are showing what competition does to a monopoly. It breaks the stranglehold of the monopolists, and consumers benefit. Good for competition !!!

Yes, I am all for Uber and Lyft and anyone else who competes. I have No sympathy for the yellow cab drivers who got rich and complacent and tried to protect their monopoly.

Too bad so sad.

Well, I think the difference is that the Uber driver takes full responsibility for things, where as taxi drivers work for a company and the company is liable for things.

Seems to me you ought to be able to get a ride anyway you can get it.
Plus, my experience with cabs in NYC is that they frequently stink, are dirty, and often are driven by people who talk on the phone in another language while they drive. Who needs that?
Happy for the improved alternative.

It isn’t fair, and I don’t understand how we’ve gone for this long without some sort of equilibrium being reached. Either the regulations need to be drastically relaxed, or Uber and Lyft need to be forced to abide by the existing rules.

Personally, I’m for the former, because a taxi service with no accountability makes me feel unsafe, because it sounds like the drivers are being taken advantage of by the corporations, and because the corporations seem to want to drive taxis out of business and have no qualms about massive price hikes when they are the only game in town. People who cultivate these businesses are enjoying short-term benefits for inevitable long-term losses.