Everyone has been a witness of the controversy creates by Online transportations network such as Uber. Belonging to these customers that use almost every week those online transportations, I judge necessary to talk about it. Uber is a company with a free online application that provides transportation to individuals. People just need smartphones and credit cards to subscribe. But what differentiate Uber from the taxi union? Uber’s drivers are not companies’ employees and use they own personal cars. They do not have the requirements taxis can have. As the issues between Taxi and Uber have been here for several years, the past two years Uber has been facing lawsuits with many governments in the world, including the US government. The taxi union is not longer competitive compares to this online transportations. Today, I want to call to action. Uber is more than helpful for the American society, and the government should encourage those initiatives.
For my part as I said before, Online transportation are part of my everyday life since I have to use them whenever I am running late for class or meetings, and that happens every time. The government should try to find common ground with Uber and his concurrent lyft. The negotiation may lead to an employment regulation and tax collection. The government has to considerate the advantages of those mobile apps before taking drastic decisions. First of all, Uber provides employment to more than 5.000 Americans and help them fulfill their needs. A company that creates job should not be disabled. Uber has a relatively lower fare than taxis, the time between the order and the pick up are very short. People don't have to wait several minutes to be picked up and don’t have to fumble for cash. Uber drivers provide better services than taxis one. I think the government should just impose more strict rules to these companies but should not try to stop them. Our world is evolving, technologies and services should be growing with it. Dear colleagues, I would like to invite you all to vote for the Prop 1 for those companies on may 7.
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ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteResponding to Myriam’s “Transportation Networking Companies: Yes!”. I hear you, girl!
https://thegovernementtoday.blogspot.com/
Ridesharing has become a fundamental part of our everyday life. I no longer have to call a cab companies dispatch service (you know, the ones who never smile through the phone), request a cab that will take 30 minutes to an hour (with a driver who is as equally rude as its dispatcher) and question how much my terrible “costumer service” based experience is going to cost. Cab companies are notorious for ripping off their customers. My friend fell asleep in a cab one time. The driver never woke her once they reached her destination. When she did wake, the total cost was $115… for a 3-mile cab ride! He threatened to have her arrested if she didn’t pay. I have never had a good experience with cabs. I’ve had my fare rejected many times just because my destination wasn’t far enough. They do not care about customer service or safety. Once, after arriving home from a trip I walked up to the next cab in line at the airport to be taken home. The cabby was sleeping and when he woke it was clear from the stench on his breath that he was drunk. I declined his cab only to be told I had to use him because he was next in the line. They claimed it was proper cab “etiquette”. Seriously? No, thank you.
Uber and Lyft have no doubt reduced the dangers of drinking and driving in this city. The city claims this special election (which is costing millions) is all about fingerprinting drivers and keeping the city council in control of Austin’s safety. It’s bullshit. As one Austin Statesman commenter pointed out, “taxi corporations flow campaign money to the city council”. Who really gets the short end of the stick from rideshare companies? It’s not the citizens of Austin. It’s the cab companies. Their businesses are dying, fast. They are losing money left and right, and they have called upon their good friend councilwoman Ann Kitchen, who chairs on the transportation committee. Did I mention cab companies are big city council contributors? Huh, curious.
Lyft and Uber have spent $2.2 million in their “Vote FOR Prop 1!” campaign. Some view this as a large corporation misleading the community of Austin. I disagree. Don’t get me wrong, I hate when corporations have all the power. However, Uber and Lyft have made it pretty clear they WILL NOT operate in city’s that require government run fingerprinting, and for good reason. This statement is not an empty threat, nor a bullying tactic. It is gospel truth. Uber left San Antonio for a brief period when a similar ordinance was passed. Shortly after their retreat the city amended the regulations and Uber returned.
Uber and Lyft’s background checks are nationwide. The city council has issued at least 53 chauffeurs licenses to people who actually failed Uber’s background checks and were denied employment as a rideshare driver. That is crazy! The city really knows best, huh? Please.
Uber and Lyft’s regulations are firm and tedious. They offer real time GPS tracking to a rider’s friends and family to ensure their loved ones reach their destinations safely. Drivers AND riders can rate each other after trips. Uber uses these ratings to determine if a driver or rider can continue to use its services or continue employment.
Also, For Prop 1! campaign ads claim taxpayers will front the bill if prop 1 is shot down. This is actually false. The city will actually charge a fee to the companies and its drivers to pay these costs. I don’t see this as a good thing either. I see it as another way for the city to acclimate more money for their agendas. Dare I also say they may be losing a lot of jingle through the decline in DUI’S? That’s another theory, for different time. VOTE FOR PROP 1 TOMORROW! Help keep ridesharing safe and affordable!
Although I agree that, at the local level, the government has had some poor dealings with ridesharing services such as Uber and Lyft, I disagree that Uber and Lyft are entirely without fault. The city of Austin has been guilty of allowing the taxi companies to influence them into pushing anti-competitive legislation, but, even though Uber and Lyft have both left Austin as of this week, ridesharing services are here to stay. Taxi companies will have to evolve in order to become competitive, however, that does not mean that companies such as Uber and Lyft should be exempt from all of the regulations that the taxi companies have had to abide by.
ReplyDeletePerceived motive plays a big part in the way voters react to legislation, and the public perception amongst those that support ridesharing services has generally been that taxi companies are lobbying to place unreasonable regulations on companies such as Uber and Lyft in order to suppress competition. This is not an unfair assertion to make, but it is an idea that Uber and Lyft have both exploited in their $8 million campaign to pass Prop 1, the most expensive election in Austin's history. But this is not as simple as a backwards city council trying to impose excessively harsh laws on the ridesharing services to try and run them out of town: this is Uber and Lyft trying to set a precedent to allow them to regulate themselves as they see fit, and withholding their services as some sort of punishment after the people of Austin failed to vote in their favor.
Ridesharing services are a unique institution, and deserve thoughtful legislation that is focused first and foremost on safety. While it is true that the city has antagonized them and generally failed to cooperate, they have attempted to use this as leverage in order to coerce their customers to pressure the local government into allowing them to run wild. By ending operations in Austin, they have dishonestly presented a non-binary issue to the public as a binary one: as if the only options that exist are to pass Prop 1 or to lose Uber and Lyft's services. While it is well within their rights to withdraw themselves from the city, we must not forget that they have done so voluntarily. Uber and Lyft have a history of doing this, and generally the cities have cracked under public pressure and submitted to the demands of the companies. Uber and Lyft do not intend nor do they expect to lose their customer base in Austin. In fact, if enough cities call their bluff, they will be forced to adapt and accept the regulations that we as a city have decided on through an election.
I am writing upon my classmate, Myriam Cisse's post, "Transportation network companies: Yes!". In her post, she talks about the struggle to keep Uber in our city. Myriam wrote this post during the Prop 1 campaign, and now Uber is completely out of Austin. I'm sure Myriam and I are not the only ones who are shocked that Prop 1 did not conquer a win. This lost should make us ALL question our government. How can something that provided safety, jobs, and a great overall experience for all of us citizens be taken away? All of us relied on Uber/Lyft for many reasons; transportation to work, school, the airport, and Downtown; eliminate drinking and driving; convenience on time, location, and affordable expenses; job opportunities; and a 100% friendly environment satisfaction. Taxis do the complete opposite and are kinda like the "Dark Ages".
ReplyDeleteI hear you too girl!
ReplyDeleteI feel bad saying this, but let's not waste our time arguing about the quality or customer service benefits of Uber/Lyft and Taxis. That is so far from what this is about...
Uber and Lyft are great innovations of technology, we enjoy them, we rely on them, they are providing a crazy awesome amount of jobs. Lots of goodies right? So what are the negatives? They don't have an "official city provided background and fingerprint check"?? Just like Suzannah said, there are folks failing the Uber background check and then our city council is issuing them chauffeurs licenses… super crazy.
We all know that this is just Taxis vs Rideshare companies. Uber is evil. Taxis are evil. They don’t care about what would be best for us, so just leave the emotions behind. Who is paying whoever more is what this will ALWAYS boil down to.
My least favorite part about this whole thing - when we were encouraged to vote against this proposition, the main thing was that they aren’t doing these background checks on their drives, they aren’t safe, we can’t let them do this to our city. And this may sound like a really uneducated response to that. But I was always confused - if that’s our main concern… How about this, if you don't feel safe taking an Uber…..maybe….uhh….don’t?
I now understand it is a lot more complex than that. But my hope is that Uber and lyft will come back soon because I really miss them :(
We need Uber and Lyft!!!
ReplyDeletePublic transportation is an important everyday life. Many people can’t afford a car, so they rely on public transportation. Recently in Austin, a proposition of having more regulation on online transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft, require having employees to have fingerprints, background checks, and more things. On May 7, 2016, Austin’s register voter had a chance to vote yes or no for the proposal. Unfortunately, Uber and Lyft didn’t get enough votes and currently aren’t operating in Austin anymore. Many people are upset because they don’t have a transportation they used every day. In “Transportation network companies: Yes!” By Myriam Cisse, she mentions that the government should find a common ground with Uber and Lyft about negotiating employment regulation and tax collection, I agree with her statement.The Department of Transportation of the United States should be more involve in the regulation. I think it’s important doing background checks and drug testing, many employers require the new hire to go through the same process.
In the article, “By Losing Uber, Austin Is No Longer A Tech Capital” by Jared Meyer, he mentions that The FBI fingerprint database is incomplete, and the database they have and use is the local police department. So having fingerprint new hires isn’t going to be efficient. I believe lawmakers should unite and help the citizens with more public transportation like Uber and Lyft and have the same regulation in all states. Many people who travel use Uber they don’t know that in some places you have to call a taxi, having Uber and Lyft in all cities helps tourist find transportation. Companies like Uber and Lyft provide job opportunities and provide safety, especially when people have been drinking. I hope soon all states would have the same regulations and provide more public transportation.