Discussion for article #229254
Most taxi drivers are employees, with protections for safety, minimum wage, working hours, employer taxes, unemployment benefits, etc., while Uber treats its drivers as āindependent contractorsā who have no such help.
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Sharing economy = erosion of living standards - nothing more. Kill uber AND airbnb.
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It is amusing to listen to multibillion Uber get on its āupstartā soap box and pretend that it is the underdog fighting ābig taxiā.
Uber, Lyft and its clones are run by libertarian a-holes who fight any regulation whatsoever. As a result in most states their drivers are running around with invalid non-commercial insurance. Unlike their taxi counterparts, the state or local municipalites have not run criminal criminal background checks or fingerprinting on UberX drivers.
Uber claims that it conducts its own background checks but that it just more hype. In reality, they just hire drivers after an online application - sight unseen by any human.
New York City, unlike the rest of the country, actually regulates UberX and Lyft. The drivers have to get the same licenses as taxi drivers and the vehicles have to be commercially insured. So keep in mind that the five boroughs are the exception, not the rule.
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We need a more casual, yet dynamic economy if we want to keep unemployment down. As usual, it has become a turf war with fear as the main tactic. Interesting. I donāt think Uber or Airbnb are going away, unless you kill the internet. Anyway, strange bedfellows are being created as we speak.
Along with background checks, I believe taxis are inspected by the state more frequently than other vehicles.
There are reasons those regulations exist, and itās usually to protect the consumer. You might be saving money by using Uber (and Airbnb, etc), but you forgo the safety.
The Livery industry requires vehicles less then 5 years old, safety inspections, commercial insurance and such.
No way I would ever use Uber as a car service in metro, or here in the west side of LA.
I suppose to ālook hipā it makes sense after all, since David Plouffe is now a lobbyist spokes model, how could anything go wrong.
When will Uber start flying used jets and asking for gate privileges at JFK, Newark, LAX or OāHare?
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All the people taking the infestation of cabs in Manhattan must be in a vastly different economic class than me. I canāt afford Uber or cabs ā public transportation works just fine for me.
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I have decades of experience using taxies and more recently experience with Uber. To my notion if having to choose, I would select Uber because of my recent experiences in Seattle-charming, prompt drivers, many students looking for a an extra buck. However, I have never had a problem with taxies.
I could be persuaded if Uber is in fact owned by libertarians looking to squeeze money out of workers, avoiding needed government regulation. . .
Since taxi companies have been in existence for a long time, there are examples of violent crimes associated with then, although very few over a very long period of time.
Most disappointing is the negative, vicious advertising on both parts.
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Uber has been great for us in LA. The cars are clean, the drivers courteous. They drive more safely. The price is much better. Wait times are less. Thereās no rude phone dispatcher who cannot speak English clearly. The Uber app is easy to use. You can easily see how long the wait is, and track the carās approach via GPS.
Every cab I take from LAX, the taxi drivers scare the crap out of me. Lead foot, hard stops, jerk and swerve. Overpriced. Pushy about tips. āI have no change, sorry.ā
The Uber drivers are mostly young people. Several have been young women. Every last one has been courteous and polite. No cash needed. No tips allowed or expected.
On the westside of LA, Uber is much much better for us than taxis. I havenāt called a taxi in years. The only taxis I ride are from LAX, because Uber drivers are not allowed to pick up passengers there, due to pressure from Big Taxi.
not in NYC. Itās still a āpiece-workā industry. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/nyregion/new-york-taxi-drivers-unsure-they-will-see-benefits-of-a-fare-hike.html?_r=0
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There was a study in London that showed that something like 40% of non acquaintance rapes were by Gypsy cab drivers.
Uber/Lyft are Gypsy cab drivers.
QED.
40%? Sorry, I call BS. Citation or GTFO.
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Itās the same here in Honolulu. If you call for a cab from home, the drivers are fine. But get one from the airport, where thereās a weird monopoly that doles out rides to whichever driver comes in at the time, and you inevitably get a disgusting car with a driver who doesnāt know how to go anywhere except the tourist areas, barely understands English, and drives like heās still in Bangkok. Havenāt had a problem about tips but theyāre completely unfamiliar with the concept of a āreceiptā (I often travel for work and need to get reimbursed), so theyāll usually just hand you a scrap of paper and tell you to fill it out yourself.
http://www.popcenter.org/library/awards/goldstein/2006/06-49(W).pdf
Here is the cite.
Note that in the overwhelming number of rapes, the perp knows the victim, and I should have added the qualifier āreportedā to ānon acquaintance rape.ā
Nothing in there makes the 40% claim; it just says āa substantial numberā. 2001-2 is the peak year shown, where they say there were 212 assaults and 54 rapes; the same year there were a total of 7,446 assaults and 2,498 rapes (http://maps.met.police.uk/tables.htm). Itās not broken down by acquaintance/stranger, and Iām aware that the large majority are by acquaintances, but I have a hard time believing that itās 93%.
if by āinnovationā, ms. Pelton means āwe only follow rules and regulations that we absolutely, positively canāt get out of.ā, then yes, Uber/Lyft are āinnovativeā. itās the difference between having the kid down the street mow your lawn, and having a licensed/bonded/commercial quality equipment lawn care company do it. the latter will cost you more, but I can almost guarantee theyāll do a better, nicer looking job of it.
granted, not all cab companies/cars/drivers are the same, but the top ones stand out for the consistent quality of the vehicles and the ride. again, they cost a little more, but you get what you pay for.
I donāt know about where you live, but In South Carolina the taxi companies try and treat all their cab drivers like independent contractors. I say try, because Workers Compensation claims treat them as employees and piercing the corporate veil is very easy for standard tort and contractual claims. Even with the rage of everyone incorporating as an LLC, it is still easy enough to pierce the corporate veil because the State, through the Workers Compensation laws, treats the drivers as employees, thereby opening the door to claiming that the LLC exists only for the purpose of a charade to avoid the liability of employees. You can form an LLC for the GENERAL reason of avoiding personal liability, but you canāt pick and choose which personal liabilities you are trying to avoid. If it becomes a choice between making the company liable are accepting personal liability, 9 out of 10 times the owner is going to choose to make the company liable.
āGropingā is NOT ārapeā.
wow. well, iāll say that if the taxis were run better in boston, Uber wouldnāt have been able to come in and sweep up the market.
i feel much safer with Uber. first of all, I can get it almost anywhere, am no longer stranded - which was the case so often in the boston area where you mostly canāt hail cabs from the street, have to call them in, wait long times for them to arrive, and they wonāt take you between Boston and Cambridge, etc. Now pretty much no matter where I am, no matter how late at night, there is an uber driver within 10 minutes who can rescue me.
More importantly, the information of the uber driver is known to me and the company. If anything goes down, they know who did it. I think this fact plays an important role in safety, one that taxi drivers certainly canāt claim. Furthermore - itās mutual safety. The passengerās name is also known to the company immediately, which protects the driver from anonymous violent attacks by passengers.
I also like that the drivers make more money - they get to keep around 70% of the fare.
oops time for work ā¦ better call an uber ā¦
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