As an aside, he is worth following on the twitters. Very funny man.

There's a minimum in LA. Assume there would be in Vegas if they wanted one.

I do follow him and I agree.

In Brooklyn there is an $8 minimum with UberX.

I'll add, it if the cabbie failed to hit the extra button, the passenger wouldn't be paying it, per se. However the driver will eventually be paying it. Even if I didn't write it in at the end and just tried to pretend it never happened, each cab has a (I donno RF or IR) sensor in it that logs your presence at pickup area at airport and rental car center...so airport knows you picked up, they will bill it to the company, and once the company audits they will be calling me into the office for their $2. At least, that's how it works at my shop.

First of all Uber & Lyft just published their base rates for Vegas and they are basically identical to the current cab rates. The only real difference you can point to is Uber states that tips are included. But Uber drivers would dispute that of course.

As for the rest of it, let's assume all that were true for a moment. What you've described is exactly the same as what a cab driver could expect to make in this town. Only in your case, you've shifted all of the liabilities and endless costs of operating from the cab company and placed them onto yourself. None of which you have factored into your formula of course so you're already in the hole. You haven't even factored your taxes yet. Furthermore you've forgone the health insurance provided by your employer as well as the indemnification that is very useful when things inevitably go very wrong. Further still on your new platform you wont even be able to stage at any of the stands and the only way you can get business is through your app. And worse yet, for all of these concessions that you have made, you have received absolutely nothing in return. Or, you get to make your own schedule? It's nonsense...

People talk about the ingenuity of Uber like it has something to do with watching your for hire car en route to picking you up. It has nothing to do with that. That in fact, wasn't even Uber's idea. Uber's ingenuity in this is what I've described above^^. They figured out a way to do business without any of the costs associated with doing the business. They figured out how to get their employees to shoulder the burden of being an employer. This is what we should be leery of...

Re the first part, this is something Ive been pondering for a long time. Certainly there must be a law of diminishing returns aspect to this somewhere but I thought we would have crossed that threshold long ago and they are still charging on for more cabs. One thing for sure we know is the advertising revenue from all of the ad space on the cars is making money for them even if the cab never picks anyone up. Reports are muffled on how much they actually make off of them but I'll bet it's at least the costs of operating the vehicle. Secondly I've compared this before to doubling down on 12, mathematically it may be the right play but it always looks stupid.

Re the second part, Uber riders don't put in their destination for the same exact reason when I take a call over the radio they only tell me the origin not the destination, because they know **** rides will never get picked up otherwise. But I'm proud to say and Ill repeat that my prediction came true and as soon as Uber drivers learned the business now you hear complaints about drivers calling their passengers to be to find out their destination and then they cancel if they don't like it.

I think I'm all caught up here, shoot um at me if you got um. And I see there is an Uber thread on the board now? I don't dare go over there do I?

....

Just FYI for all- Uber riders may or may not enter their destination, but drivers cannot see the destination until they accept the fare