An Alternative to Uber

In China, nearly nation-wide, there are many apps for taxi services. The two major players are çš„çš„ (Dee Dee) and å¿«çš„ (Kuai Dee). As a passenger, you enter the destination and pick-up location to request a taxi service. All nearby drivers receive the request and bid to get the business, with the dexterity of their fingers. There is a standard “reward” of several RMBs for the winner, in addition to the fare. This reward may change by market condition. The passenger, however, always pays just the metered fare.

As my cab waited on the last light before the destination, the driver started to pay attention to the dashboard mounted cell phone. A request would flash by every 2 seconds or so. He had his finger ready to pounce, but did not. I became curious on why not. “Oh, these are not good fares and those are too far away from me.” As he pulled onto the curb to let me out, he bid and lost a deal. “No matter, plenty of businesses here.”

Uber is an adversary to the existing taxi industry. That forced challenges at legal, political, and economic levels. This “China model” co-exists harmonically. I have little reason to think that Uber will thrive here.

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