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Uber needs to be run out of town
November 19, 2014 - 4:45pm
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They think they can show up anywhere, do whatever they want, remove a lot of cash from our communities, and don't have to abide by any laws we have.
But this actually is not necessarily a bad idea, as why should there be a hands-off policy on journalists as they work for vested interests with their own agendas, don't they?
Uber exec suggests digging up dirt on journalists
http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/18/media/buzzfeed-uber-dinner-journalists/i...
I quit: Miseries of an Uber driver
A terrible GPS system and crummy hourly rate while the company reaps huge profits? No more. I’m out
http://www.salon.com/2014/11/30/i_quit_miseries_of_an_uber_driver/
While "Uber" may not exactly qualify as the poster boy for "non-taxi" transport, the basic model is here to stay. And the vested interests in the form of the existing taxi companies are going to lose. As for the rest of us, all we can do in ensure that the new model is adequately monitored/regulated.
Why does the left bother fighting battles it can't win? Especially when those battles involve protecting vested (and not particularly competant) interests? Marching to oblivion.
I don't use Uber, and they do seem to be bizarrely arrogant, but people that use cabs love them, including Matt Galloway from Toronto's Radio One.
The arguments against them are farcical - except maybe the bit about not taking disabled customers. In my own limited experience, I was heading off to do a photo shoot and the driver arbitrarily decided I was "moving", and just drove away. Another time, I called Becks to carry a visitor from Ireland back to her hotel in Mississauga. It was just off the 401. A no-brainer - up Black Creek Drive and then west on the 401. This highly trained professional went some other weird route, got lost, left her sitting in the cab while he asked the attendant at a gas station for directions - it took her two hours to get back to her hotel, and she was getting seriously worried that he may have had the wrong things on his mind. Very embarrassing for me because in Ireland, friends recommend reliable services.
And they are by-and-large horrible drivers if you ever get stuck behind one. Yeah sure, the U.K. London cabbies are in fact highy trained, but pretty much everywhere else it's just a protection racket.
Perks wrote an op-ed trashing Uber, and The Star shut down the comments because they were universally in disagreement with him.
zerocarbs,
I don't see "the left" fighting this battle. Most people know taxi companies are greedy vested interests.
Here in Metro Vancouver, taxis are widely known for bad driving and horrid customer service. Cabbies show their resentment when they have to go too far out of their way, or have to do a short trip driving a drunk home from the pub or whatever.
I don't care about Uber but the taxi companies could use a good scare.
It's not "a scare". Regardlesss of whether or not Uber, the company, survives the model will exist and it's something the existing taxi companies will have to learn to deal with.
BTW, it's probably worth looking at what the market thinks of them
http://www.theblaze.com/the-wire/29773339/uber-raises-1-2-billion-valued...
So far, the regulators have kept them from functioning here in BC.
I can see how that could change soon. Those who have the gold make the rules.
I expect it's just a matter of time before someone figures out a way around the existing regs.
CAUTION: Some potential triggers in article re violence and sexual assault.
A rape in an Uber is further proof that staying out late just isn’t safe for Delhi’s women
Are you saying that assaults in India constitute a valid reason for protecting the existing taxi firm oligarchy in Canada?
As bad as this may be, it does not constitute a reason to ban Uber in Canada. It does constitute a reason to ensure that whatever regs are in place work. [The current ones don't do a lot ...]
Agreed, but not for the reasons I suspect you think so. It's not impossible to effectively regulate companies like Uber out of the playing field (Seoul did it) but it likely won't happen on any wide scale sense this side of the world because as Basement Dweller stated, those with money basically run the show out here and it looks like companies like Uber are getting the financial advantage, which basically means they will be able to bribe, erm..I mean "lobby" (especially in the states) for favourable regulations.
Regarding the Left on this issue, let's keep in mind this is just another capitalist vs capitalist situation before we start taking sides on this. Not that I think Uber should be celebrated (far from it), but we need to be careful before we end up defending the old taxi cab companies.
Uber is about market comsolidation. It is the Walmart (or Amazon) of taxi service. It is a race to the bottom.
And Uber will be more capable of launching self-driving cars than any localtaxi company.
No - how did you get that?
I agree.
I agree.
Seems I'm agreeing with everyone.
Tirade wrote:
It's not impossible to effectively regulate companies like Uber out of the playing field (Seoul did it)
As of Nov. 18 2014, Seoul taxi drivers were still protesting the presence of Uber in the local market.
http://tinyurl.com/k5zu44l
As far as I can make out, Uber is technically in violation of local laws, but the national communications regulators have refused to ban the app.
Yeah, it seems there have been more recent developments I haven't been aware of. I'll admit I haven't kept a super close eye on this (or done in depth research), but it seems Seoul isn't letting up. And from what I can tell a bill has been submitted by a member of their ruling party in the national legislature (doesn't mean it will pass of course). Will be interesting to see how this turns out,. I stand by my original point (which maybe Seoul isn't the perfect example, yet), even if I could have apparently used better examples as apparently some other cities that have the authority to nip Uber in the bud already have, at least from what I've been reading.
Trigger warning:
This time it's closer to home.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/uber-driver-from-boston-accused-of-sexua...
I heard experts on CBC Radio state Uber is poised to be the next Amazon. That will be great for people, right? Another
I'm still of the opinion that the genie is out of the bottle and the Uber business model, or at least a variant on it, is here to stay. Uber itself may not survive but somebody else will eventually crop up in its place.
Parasitic capitalism dressed up as innovation
I remember "ride boards" from University. If you (say) attended Laurentian, but you lived in (say) Hamilton, you could either check the ride board to see if someone was driving to Hamilton for Thanksgiving, and negotiate a ride with them, or you could post that you were looking for a ride to Hamilton for Thanksgiving, and hope that someone who was driving there would connect with you.
I'm sure it didn't do any favours for Greyhound's bottom line, but I don't recall that these ride boards needed to be run out of town. If Grehound didn't like it, they were certainly free to compete, either in terms of cost, convenience, or both.
Allo Stop.
Montreal cabbies play vigilante with UberX drivers
That's not really vigilantism, but whatevs. Journos like the provocative words, I guess.
Is there a bylaw that would prohibit Uber in that jurisdiction? If not, maybe that's why police had no law under which to issue a ticket.
Didn't want to start a new thread on the topic of Uber but ...
http://www.dailydot.com/technology/safe-uber-kiosks-breathalyzers/?fb=ss...