Uber Faces Backlash From the New Luddites
Americans have become so accustomed to regulations, we’ve ceased to see how freedom might operate.
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GoogleSACRAMENTO — Many people are familiar with "Luddites," those early 19th century British textile workers who vandalized modern looms and other innovative, time-saving machinery that they feared would put them out of business – or reduce the value of their work.
I’m not the first writer to notice the resemblance between the original Luddite behavior and the actions of angry Parisian taxicab drivers, who earlier this year vandalized a car owned by a driver for Uber, the innovative ride-share service founded in San Francisco. One Salon writer expressed concern about the rise of such competition and even quoted a Marxist professor defending Luddism.
But the rest of us know it’s hard to halt competitors with a crowbar. Uber, and other companies such as Lyft (the one with pink mustaches on cars) and Sidecar, are not exactly cabs. If they were, they would face an array of restrictions. Taxicabs are tightly controlled by the government, which is why it can cost $1 million in New York to get a "medallion" that authorizes a cab to roam the city’s streets.
I tried Uber recently outside San Francisco. (It operates in 34 countries and many U.S. cities, including San Diego.) A friend indicated on his app that he wanted a ride. Within moments, he had a text confirmation and was given the license plate of the car and a contact number for the driver. It was stress-free and the car arrived promptly.
The driver was friendly; the car was new. The fee and tip were deducted from my friend’s on-file credit card, so there was no fumbling with cash or card readers. Going back, we took Uber Black and rode in a Town Car. It was nice.
Basically, these "ride-sharing" services do an end-run around the taxicab cartel and their arrays of rules and limits, but American Luddites haven’t attacked cars. They have lobbied governments to limit the competition, which is designed to achieve the same result.
The cabbies’ mantra is safety – something that has gained ground after, sadly, an Uber driver killed a girl in San Francisco, although he didn't have a customer at the time. The CEO of an Atlanta cab company argued that tragedy was an example of "the obvious and overwhelming risks to public safety" as he advocated a Georgia law to regulate these ride services. But one need only search on Google, "taxicab" and "fatal crash," to see that accidents are not limited to "unregulated" ride services.
Actually, it’s wrong to use the word "unregulated." Uber and others are examples of how a market more deftly regulates things than bureaucrats. Note recent news about how federal safety regulators for years ignored dozens of reports about a potentially fatal flaw in some General Motors ignition switches. It took a few months after the tragedy for these ride services to institute new insurance "gap" rules covering drivers who might not be on assignment.
I’ve met nice cabbies with nice cars over the years, but that’s not always the case. You pay your money, leave the cab smelling like an air freshener and forget about it. Ride services require drivers to have nice, newer cars. They fire drivers whose online ratings fall below a certain level – and that inspires a high level of customer service.
Some riders have complained about Uber’s surge pricing. Isn’t it better to pay more during rush hour in a rain storm and actually get a ride than have a theoretically low price while standing in a puddle trying to flag a cab? Americans have become so accustomed to having everything regulated that they’ve ceased to see how freedom might operate – how a company eager to make money by pleasing customers can achieve better results. And if you don’t like Uber, use a competitor’s service or take a cab.
California gets a bad rap for its zeal to regulate. But our regulators have been reasonable with these new ride-share companies. After clamping down in 2012, the California Public Utilities Commission later voted unanimously to recognize them and has focused mainly on legitimate insurance issues.
But other states and cities have been less friendly. Seattle just capped the number of cars that these services can use. And in France, Uber drivers must wait 15 minutes before answering a call, which is a good reminder that these laws aren’t about protecting public safety but about hobbling the competition. The Luddites would be proud of the French, but, then again, I don’t know many people who still wear hand-sewn garments.
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OT: Salon is concerned about the mental health of billionaires
“Collectivists” in government, Koch writes – “those who stand for government control of the means of production and how people live their lives,” i.e. Democrats — “strive to discredit and intimidate opponents.” It gets worse: “They engage in character assassination. (I should know, as the almost daily target of their attacks.)”
I’m worried about Charles Koch. For one thing, with all his billions, he couldn’t find a better ghost writer? His silly op-ed, with its alarmist Marxist clichés and fusty Schopenhauer references, would have been dismissed as an April Fool’s joke if published just one day sooner.Except that those complaints sound...accurate.
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"Some riders have complained about Uber’s surge pricing"
These people are idiots. Because the answer your question: "Isn’t it better to pay more during rush hour in a rain storm and actually get a ride than have a theoretically low price while standing in a puddle trying to flag a cab?" with Yes, absolutely.
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Besides, if you can't afford an Uber ride during surge pricing, you'll simply have to wait for the alternative; a traditional taxi service. But people who can't afford premium pricing don't think it's fair. And in modern America, everything must be fair.
Maybe instead of using the phrase "surge pricing" they should use "VIP service"? People understand that concept better.
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Yeah, they could stop bitching about it and not use a service they don't like the price as set. If enough people avoid using them, I suspect the price would go down....supply and somethingoranother.
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What people fail to realize is that those who pay more and buy more expensive services free up cheaper services for people who need it. If people were barred from buying expensive services, everybody would have to compete for the cheaper services, making them less accessible.
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Americans have become so accustomed to having everything regulated that they’ve ceased to see how freedom might operate
Good line -
A lot of people just assume freedom will lead to injustice.
I wonder if part of that is tied a view of government as law-giver, and the law as being the only thing standing between us and injustice.
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The real problem with Uber and its ilk is the same problem that causes these transportation services to be regulated in the first place. Unregulated taxi service always ends up being a nuisance and a hazard to the public, the companies involved, and the drivers. We are starting to see this already with Uber drivers circling airports and the like. In its effort to destroy all competition, Uber has lowered net pay for its drivers in many markets to ridiculous levels. They are weeding out drivers who can do basic math in favor of those who are oblivious to the fact that there are costs and risks involved with driving their car into the ground for pennies per mile. This is typical behavior in the unregulated taxi world and is often seen in third world countries where regulation is lax. I have made over 500 trips as an Uber driver, so I actually know how this works in the real world. It will end badly.
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Who are you?
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Ding Bingbong. Can't you read?
Oh I see what you meant. He is just some schlump that decided since *he* didn't like working for Uber, that they were a bad company and cut into the profits of the taxi cartels around the country. Therefore they (Uber) are bad and must be slandered at all times.
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Uber drivers circling airports and the like
Which hurts people how, exactly?
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Like, they're putting out all this carbon and such.
/ditz
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OK, when was the last time you left an airport via the taxi/bus pick up? During high volume periods it tends to be full of drivers cutting corners "just a little" in order to get that one more fare that will put them in the black for the day. Since such areas tend to be designed by people with very little idea of how chaotic this can get, it becomes somewhat dangerous.
Not saying that there's enough danger to justify the buttinskis, but you asked who it was hurting.
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I get your point of view. If left alone, do you think Uber will run out of good drivers and be left with folks willing to work for peanuts? Will that hurt quality? Thus reducing Uber to a "last resort" option?
I kind of think the free market will either elminate Uber in favor of those companies who value the driver and quality or the whole industry will have to undergo some sort of reset.
I still don't see the need for Government here.
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Unregulated taxi service always ends up being a nuisance and a hazard to the public, the companies involved, and the drivers.
Citation needed.
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I am an UberTaxi driver in Chicago. Here is a behind the wheel look at Uber's practices.
1)#UberFraud: ALL & ANY claims involving UberX are FIRST filed with the driver's PERSONAL CAR INSURANCE which EXCLUDES RIDE-SHARING. This is because the UberX drivers insr is the PRIMARY insr, & the insr that UberX touts as covering the riders is SECONDARY! In doing so UberX is inducing and perpetuating mass INSURANCE FRAUD!
2)#UberFarce: Uber's Rating System is a SHAM, for PR and feel-good purposes only! UberX is spending upto $1,500/drvr in referral & bonus fees. It takes all comers, doesn't monitor their conduct, and DOES NOT fire drivers based on their ratings.
3)#UberGreed: Uber gets 20% comm. for UberX fares vs. a flat $1.25/UberTaxi fares. AND it can Surge Price UberX at will, which it CAN'T with UberTaxi as taxi fares are regulated. So Uber has strategically engaged in undermining the reliability of UberTaxi, without ANY thought of riders' interests! The No.1 complaint of the riders is the problem of UberTaxi drivers. When these complaints are voiced, Uber just uses that as an opportunity to bash UberTaxi, and recommend UberX instead!
4)#UberFraud: There's willful FRAUD occurring on the Uber platform every minute. UberTaxis DON'T show up as available if ETA7 mins. But UberX/Black DO show up as available even if ETA20 mins. PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. Twitter @chi1cabby
www.facebook.com/justus.aguy. -
UberX is inducing and perpetuating mass INSURANCE FRAUD!
Then they should be brought to court, right?
It takes all comers, doesn't monitor their conduct, and DOES NOT fire drivers based on their ratings
Don't know about the rating system, but it sort of implies that customers can choose drivers based on their ratings. If that isn't sufficient, customers won't user Uber, right?
without ANY thought of riders' interests
Then I guess their riders will choose other services, right?
I am an UberTaxi driver in Chicago
It sounds like you really hate Uber. So why do you work for them?
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In Uber's own words "No driver works for Uber. And Uber is not liable for the drivers' conduct". I am a licensed Chicago Cabbie and I fill cab requests that come via Uber, Hailo, TaxiMagic, and my cab company's dispatch system.
I keep on filing orders that come through Uber to keep myself upto date on Uber's practices.
Please click on my username and get a better understanding of what I'm saying. Thanx! -
So you don't like Uber. If enough people agree with you and your opinions are valid, they'll change their ways or go out of business. So why do you advocate using violence against them? Is it because you're weak, unthinking, immoral, and a thug ...perhaps?
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"UberTaxis DON'T show up as available if ETA7 mins. But UberX/Black DO show up as available even if ETA20 mins."
THAT'S RACIST!
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OK, let's remember that the Luddites were high value skilled workers (weavers) outraged that they were being replaced by machines. Yes, the industrial revolution ended up being a new general benefit, but it DID put the hand-weavers out of work.
I bring this up because A) I come from a family of historians, so its important to ME, and B) because I think there might be parallels with the cab drivers.Granted, the drivers may not be skilled in the same sense, but they have been in a protected position and want to keep it (a perfectly understandable position).
The people I have NO sympathy for are the medallion owners who are NOT drivers.
