I'm a veteran taxicab driver in New York City with 23 years on the road out of the past 33 years. I recently tried Hailo and found it to be disappointing on several fronts.
Most important is the matter of safety for the drivers, the passengers and the general public. I will not shut up until this issue is addressed or I drop dead, so be ready for a wild ride so to speak. At least as the app presents itself in NYC, which is where I have direct experience, it is a public safety threat. The drivers are caged into a lie at the start of each shift, that is the lie that they will only use Hailo while the car is standing. Now, I know that for many of you what an old crazy radical taxi driver says can have no merit or weight except perhaps as a joke but I am telling you loud and clear that the drivers are lying when they tap that icon. They implicate themselves in crime when they do this and so are examples of a sort of Stockholm syndrome. There they are, they've done it, they've answered the phone, input data, read a map, while in traffic - and they've lied about it - because they want to be part of the next big thing.
This shit, my friends, is not going to hold.
Most important is the matter of safety for the drivers, the passengers and the general public. I will not shut up until this issue is addressed or I drop dead, so be ready for a wild ride so to speak. At least as the app presents itself in NYC, which is where I have direct experience, it is a public safety threat. The drivers are caged into a lie at the start of each shift, that is the lie that they will only use Hailo while the car is standing. Now, I know that for many of you what an old crazy radical taxi driver says can have no merit or weight except perhaps as a joke but I am telling you loud and clear that the drivers are lying when they tap that icon. They implicate themselves in crime when they do this and so are examples of a sort of Stockholm syndrome. There they are, they've done it, they've answered the phone, input data, read a map, while in traffic - and they've lied about it - because they want to be part of the next big thing.
This shit, my friends, is not going to hold.
