Originally Posted by
Mobile 155
Dude you are just being contrary. If a company was anticompetitive it would go out if business. To survive every company has to become competitive. Nothing else works.
Being 'anti-competitive' is a form of competition, but it's a dirty form. It means you get involved in your competitors' business to thwart their ability to compete with you. It's like a form of market sabotage. I.e. if there are real companies trying to provide non-automotive mobility solutions and then car companies get involved pretending to also be offering such solutions, but their real motive is to steer people toward buying cars by providing inadequate alternatives or causing problems for companies and regulators who are trying to improve access to alternative transportation, that is anti-competitive.
The companies do do not have to make alternative forms of transportation more affordable, even if they already are.
They can set their prices as high as they want, but they shouldn't interfere with others competing with them by undercutting their prices.
People right now have every opportunity to choose walking, biking, trains, buses, and even air travel as an alternative to cars.
Obviously that's not the case if there are new forms of mobility being developed and deployed and local governments and others are interfering with those emerging markets.
As as far as taxing cars compared to bicycles and scooters are you serious? Do you have any clue how much people pay to have a car in taxes and fees? Are cyclists and scooter riders required to pay higher taxes and fees than cars? Not even close. Are cyclists mandated a requirement to have license to operate or just a plate and registration? Is insurance mandated to operate a bike or scooter or to ride a bus or take the train?
When a local government charges a $500 annual fee per scooter for share companies to have the scooter available on the street, why aren't they charging the same fee for rental cars? Because those aren't dockless? Well then why can't share companies rent small docks to stack share bikes/scooters instead of paying $500 per unit? $500 per year is a high tax to pay to have a share scooter available.
in the argument that there is a cabal squashing alternative forms of transportation there has been no evidence presented, other than the suspicion that people unknown to the accuser are plotting late at night, that Car manufactures are conspiring against other forms of transportation. Unless offering a choice to people that they prefer is unfair?
When you deny it, it just puts you on their side, which you don't actually need to deny anyway because it's obvious.