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What does TNC stand for Uber and Lyft?
Posted 6 years, 9 months ago
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The Guru Take
Transportation Network Company (TNC)
TNC is a new term being used by government entities to refer to rideshare companies such as Uber and Lyft. You may have seen it at airports, as they are starting to label the designated pickup areas (or waiting areas for drivers) with these signs.
They are often marked as "App Rides" or "TNCs".
Sometimes known as TNEs for Transportation Network Entities and MSPs for Mobility Service Providers.
At Airports:
The "TNC" is becoming more and more popular in public places to encompass all rides that aren't taxis or limos. Check these signs at airports.
ippei
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Uber Driver, CEO of TaxiFareFinder and Unleashed, LLC
Comments
Why is the term "rideshare companies" used?
"Rideshare" is a historical misnomer that always rankles me because it's so nondescriptive. When Uber was new, it wasn't meant to be a taxi service; it was meant to be a carpool service. If you were headed somewhere in your car, you could use the app to find someone else who wanted to go to the same place and give the person a ride, sharing the cost. The founders probably thought that as a taxi service, it wouldn't be any cheaper for a passenger than a traditional taxi. (And we still don't know that it is; rides are subsidized by speculative investors today).
If you want a term that is both descriptive and understood, I'd go with "ride hailing company."
Great point on this. Frankly it seems like pretty clear that rides are being sold well below cost now. Maybe taxis had it pretty much priced right all along, even if there were shady people skimming off the top.
BTW wasn't Uber just black cars at the beginning? Basically what Uber Black is now. I believe Lyft did start as a carpool sharing idea though like you said.
Because the traditional taxi industry is competitive, they must have been giving rides at cost. If Yellow Cab drivers, executives, or even stockholders were getting rich, greedy businessmen at Checker Cab would undercut their price, advertise their service as cheaper, and put Yellow Cab out of business. The only way taxi service could be overpriced is if the noncompetitive part of it - the government - were skimming off the top or needlessly increasing cost. Taxi drivers and dispatch companies have alleged that and claimed that the government doesn't do the same for Uber and Lyft, but aren't governments moving toward equalizing that now?
You're probably right about the origins of Uber and I just misremembered who was first with the "rideshare" label.
Because if you use "TNC" people get confused and ask "what the hell is a TNC?" Even the term rideshare company confuses people. You often need to further simplify it for them to a single word... "UBER," before their eyes light up in acknowledgement.
Yeah, people use "uber" as a verb now. Everything is an uber. In fact, we were arguing between friends whether 1) we will eventually abandon the word, "taxi" and let "uber" take over, or 2) we will all go back to calling them "taxis" again.
I was in the camp hat we will all call them Taxis but my friends think otherwise. Like how Uber will take over and enter the routine vernacular of Xerox, Kleenex, Google.
Itll be interesting to see what people in the US will start saying when there's more competition. Say when Didi and Ola come on shore.
Transportation Network company
Can uber pick people up in Rochester New Hampshire.
Yes, UberX has expanded technically to the entire state of New Hampshire, meaning the service is available anywhere as long as there is driver availability.
For example, try running an estimate on RideGuru from Rochester to Dover.
Rochester is near UNH, right? I am pretty sure there are drivers around!
I always thought TNC was for taxis only...
You are thinking of TLC - Taxi & Limo Commission of big cities like New York and Chicago.
TNC was purposefully defined to mean cars other than TLC cars.