Of Taxi's and Cookies

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 So it's been a while since I log onto blogspot to make a post (just called my sister and she's complaining she hasn't seen any in a while. ) And what do I see ? A notice claiming it's ok for Google (who owns blog spot) to break the law and then blame me for it.  As in , they're collecting cookies , I can't turn it off , and by the time you see their warning message you've already been "collected"

That can't possibly be legal.

US Companies. *Snort*. 

I don't have any third party add ons (or ad-ons ? ) Go sue Google for sticking me with stuff I can't turn off.

Ok.

UBER TAXI PROBLEMS

Anti-Uber taxi drivers' protest blocks Queen and Bay for evening rush hour

After staging a protest inside city hall against ride-hailing service Uber, dozens of cab drivers moved outside to block the busy intersection at Queen and Bay Streets during the evening rush, despite pleas from the mayor and others not to impede commuters.



I hate people who can't do math.
I talked to a cab driver , well , several , here in Ottawa , I admit I'm not certain of Toronto , and I learned the following information (This was before Uber )
Rideau Center to the air port is 17 min and 15 km.
Blue Line and Capital its 2.85$ to get into the cab and 5$ for every 10 km

Uber wants 16$ for the above trip.
Blue line wants 10$ or so for the trip , assuming there's no traffic glitches (ie: you get charged for waiting at a stop light , traffic jams, etc )
So the price isn't that different.

What is different ?

Cabbies have to pay 80 000$ (yes, eighty thousand dollars) for permission to drive a cab , per year. This price is paid directly by the cab driver before he picks up his first fare. Then he gets his 15$ ,or so , for driving you from downtown to the air port.

So then , lets do the math. 17 min work gets you (15/17 = 88 cents a minute)  0.88 $
So , 40 hrs / week x 52 weeks / year * 60 min/hr =  110, 117.65 $ (a hundred and 10 thousand dollars)
Subtract your licensing fee and its 30 000$ / year. Now pay maintenance on your car , gas , etc, and it's closer to half , or less. Keep in mind you're driving this thing into the ground, 40 hrs week ,not just too and from work (10 hrs a week) so all maintenance / gas costs on a taxi start at quadriple what a regular car costs and goes up.

Basically , the only way driving a cab is worth anything is if you drive it 60 or more hours a week , and magically never get into an accident despite being exhausted all the time because of the ridiculous hours you work.

And we havn't even started in on dispatch fee's and insurance rates , which are much higher for taxis than regular cars.

Conclusion 

Taxi drivers have been enslaved , economically. They work hard, and the taxi companies and the city (who collects that 80k license) take all their money.

I favor Uber because the drivers pocket the money , not some bureaucrats who do nothing but keep track of how much money you owe them.  Heck , they don't even try and stop Uber , who isn't paying them their 80k a year. So what is a Taxi driver paying that money for anyways ?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

It's illegal to operate a cab without a license, but currently Toronto (according to the article above) is not enforcing that.