Current Events #9 (MP2 #5)

     Transportation, especially in major cities such as New York or London, has gotten more diverse in recent years. Your choices aren't limited to subway or bus; now you can ride a bike, share a cab with others, take a cab and track where it is, and even rent a smart car for the day. With greater choices in transportation has come more competition among different transportation firms and technology is a key factor in the 'Taxi Wars'. In the UK a firm called Autocab hopes to compete with Uber's ever growing influence in the taxi industry. Uber allows users to download an app that they can use to call a taxi and track where it is. This use of technology gave Uber an advantage over many of the UK's local taxi firm that had no such app until now. Autocab has developed an app called Streetcars which allows the user to essentially do what they would be able to do with Uber but with local taxi firms accross the UK. The app uses an iGo network which allows it to be downloaded anywhere and used with the area's local taxi firms. This helps these firms deal with the massive advantage Uber had over them, allowing for competition to be possible.
     Another part of the story is money. Autocab got its start 20 years before Uber, however, Uber has pulled out the more dominant firm in the UK. The reason behind this is Uber's financial backing. Wall Street invested more than $13 billion into Uber, which allowed the company to develop a good working app and network but also allowed it to subsidise rides, give discounts, and gain an advantage in the market. Autocab did not receive the same backing so it has taken more time for it to make a name for itself. 
     My personal reflection is that technology is fueling competition within industries like it always has been doing. Often times the first company to tap into a new technology or a way to utilize it will have an advantage over its competitors for a time. Uber was very innovative with getting smartphones involed with the taxi riding experience and allowed for more things to be done, such as tracking your taxi as it comes and reviewing the driver, than other taxi firms where you can only call a cab over phone and wait. Consumers obviously started using Uber more than other taxi firms since there were many more conveniences but as the technology Uber uses for its system becomes available and used by other firms we can see Uber not be so dominant anymore as apps do things Uber doesn't such as usability with multiple taxi firms. The companies making these apps will probably be competing more in the future, improving features of their apps, but it proves that technology is a driving force of competition in markets.

Works Cited:

Jones, Rory Cellan "Tech Tent: The taxi wars" 9 Nov 2018. Web 12 Nov 2018

<https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-46151994>

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