Some of these arguments apply only to New York City.
[From article]
Uber and other ridesharing companies have been a boon to New York’s middle- and lower-income residents—expanding transit options and offering employment opportunities. Focusing his Uber attacks on Manhattan, de Blasio scants the needs of outer-borough residents, many of whom have limited transportation choices. The established taxi system does little to help; yellow cabs are so notorious for only cruising south of 96th Street that in 2013 the city instituted green taxis, which are allowed only to pick up rides north of Central Park and in the outer boroughs. This system is inefficient, though, because if a green taxi picks up a passenger who wants to go to midtown or downtown Manhattan, the cabbie has to drive an empty vehicle out of Manhattan. And yellow cab owners have fought to keep green cabs out of the busiest parts of the city. Uber has effectively expanded transportation access for all New Yorkers.
[. . .]
A report issued by Uber and Mothers Against Drunk Driving showed that people often use ridesharing services instead of trying to drive themselves home after a night out.
[. . .]
Taxi drivers’ occupational fatality rates are four times higher than the U.S. civilian average. Over three-quarters of these fatalities are homicides. In ridesharing, however, the identities of passengers and drivers are verified beforehand, and the cars’ locations are electronically tracked.
[. . .]
Threatened by this formidable new competitor, the city’s traditional taxi industry is fighting furiously to shut it down or at least slow its growth—and it expects help in this effort from de Blasio, to whom it donated more than $550,000 during the mayoral campaign. The taxi industry does have some grounds for concern. Drivers or fleet owners paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for the taxi medallions that permit them to accept street hails, and they’re seeing the return on this investment decline. Common-carrier regulation forces taxis to submit applications before they can increase their rates. Changing rates can take years, while Uber can adjust its rates to changes in demand.
[. . .]
Yellow cabs should also be able to charge pre-determined prices that depend on the time of day and amount of congestion. Anyone who has tried to hail a cab late at night or in the rain knows how hard they are to find. More cab drivers will work during these periods if they have a chance at higher pay. And in many cities, including New York, traditional taxis can already use the Uber platform to hail rides
http://www.city-journal.org/2015/eon0723jm.html
JARED MEYER
Let 100 Ubers Bloom
The rideshare company wins a temporary reprieve in New York City—but the battle is just beginning.
July 23, 2015
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[From article]
California Labor Commission [. . .] ruled that Berwick, a transsexual who previously operated a phone sex business—Linda’s Lip Service—was a full-time-equivalent employee during four months of sporadic driving for Uber. (Berwick, now a financial consultant, expressed disappointment with the money an Uber driver makes.) The decision directly threatens Uber’s business model,
[. . .]
Last week, a U.S. district judge in San Francisco allowed a group of cab companies to proceed with a false-advertising lawsuit against Uber. The same judge also greenlit a suit against Uber claiming that it spammed potential drivers with recruitment text messages.
[. . .]
Interest groups can complain, but drivers and customers continue to vote for Uber with their time and money. In a free country or a sane state, a clear market decision in favor of a business would be the end of the discussion. But Uber is increasingly under pressure to furnish evidence that its model works in theory as well as in practice
[. . .]
The median wait time for an UberX ride in L.A. neighborhoods was five minutes and 52 seconds; for a taxi ride, it was 14 minutes and 33 seconds. The maximum recorded wait time for UberX was 20 minutes; for a cab, 57 minutes. Despite Uber’s widely maligned practice of “surge pricing”—a concession to the law of supply and demand that is for some reason considered outrageous—UberX also soundly beat traditional cabs on price, with a median cost per ride of $6.28, versus $15 for taxis. Surge pricing didn’t even produce a higher maximum price. UberX’s max cost per ride was $11.68, against $22 for cabs.
http://www.city-journal.org/2015/cjc0723tc.html
TIM CAVANAUGH
California’s Uber Hunt
Golden State regulators and taxi companies want to bury the ridesharing company in paper.
July 23, 2015
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