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Cab Companies Shouldn't Throw Stones At Uber Or Lyft

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This article is more than 9 years old.

There is a battle going on across the country and around the world between emerging innovation and entrenched business models when it comes to getting from Point A to Point B. Ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft have sprung up as an alternative to traditional taxicabs, and it has developed into a serious conflict in many cities. The taxi cab industry is lobbying aggressively to squash these new rivals rather than trying to compete.

I have received numerous emails from a public relations firm representing an initiative called “Who’s Driving You?”, which is backed by the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association, along with “concerned members” of the transportation industry. The group is ostensibly concerned with protecting the safety of passengers, other drivers, and pedestrians, but it really feels more like an attempt to justify and defend a business model that really just seems like shady politics, with a hint of extortion.

Yesterday I received a press release from Who’s Driving You?. The group wanted to bring to my attention a recent investigative sting operation that found an Uber driver negotiating trips for cash outside of the official app or service, and they want to make sure people realize that when that happens the trip is no longer covered by insurance.

“Ridesharing passengers involved in these cash transactions likely have no clue they are entirely uncovered by insurance during these trips,” stresses Dave Sutton, a spokesperson for Who’s Driving You? in the press release. “The dangers are very, very real. The risks are enormous.”

Well, guess what Who’s Driving You?? That behavior is not unique to Uber. I’ve had officially-licensed, politically-sanctioned taxicab drivers in Las Vegas give me their personal cell phone number and tell me to just call them directly when I am in town. They’d rather bypass that whole dispatch system nonsense, and offer me personal service off the books and under the table. I’m pretty sure the insurance companies would take issue with that scenario as well.

I’ve received other press releases from the group. They like to cherry-pick issues and incidents, and spotlight them as examples of the inherent risks of ridesharing services. When a ridesharing driver is accused of charging too much, or sexually assaulting a passenger, or “kidnapping” a passenger while evading police during a high-speed chase, Who’s Driving You? is there to keep us all informed.

Funny, though. They’ve never contacted me to share those exact same events and incidents when they occur in the officially-sanctioned taxicabs. A Yellow Cab driver in Seattle was charged with sexual assault a couple weeks ago. Who’s Driving You? is quiet on that issue. A quick search on Google for “taxi cab horror stories” will return a virtually endless array of hair-raising rides. There are stories of taxicab drivers who don’t even use the brake pedal, drop people off at the wrong location, and chase and fight with other taxi drivers.

I have my own personal story. I returned from a business trip last year, and I had to take a taxi from George Bush International airport to my home. I had not made arrangements for a limo or SuperShuttle because a family member was supposed to pick me up, but something came up, and I needed a ride. There was a taxi right there, so I took it.

I took advantage of the time in the car to try and get some work done, so I was busy using my laptop and smartphone, and not really paying attention. Suddenly it occurred to me that we were going very slow…on the highway. My driver was driving about 40mph on a highway with a 65mph speed limit, where the average speed of the actual cars is more like 75mph. As soon as I noticed, he zipped back to a more normal speed, but then I noticed the car coasting to a slower speed again, and drifting to the next lane because my driver was falling asleep at the wheel.

I yelled at him and woke him back up, and we were fine for a few minutes. There is a point on the trip to my home, though, where you have to cross a bridge about a quarter-mile long with only one lane in both directions at 45mph. My driver fell asleep again, and came within a couple inches of crashing us into the retaining wall when I screamed at him. That trip cost me more than I pay for black sedan service to or from the airport, and he almost killed me multiple times.

Tell me again about the value of using these sanctioned taxicabs, with their licensed drivers, and regulated service. Anyone who has ever gotten into a taxicab in New York knows that the ride can make an adrenaline junky piss himself, and you might have to sell a kidney to cover the fare.

I’m just not buying it. Taxicab service and taxicab drivers are prone to all of the same issues and behaviors as Uber or Lyft drivers. What if Yahoo had lobbied city, state, and federal governments to try and ban Google? What if Motorola or Nokia had somehow simply blocked the iPhone from being sold? That simply isn’t how free market capitalism works.

If the cab companies can’t compete with the innovative new rideshare services, then so be it.  Taxi cab companies will simply go extinct—like the horse and buggy.

If the taxicab companies had their way, they’d ban you from letting you drop your own grandmother off at the airport, or driving your drunk friend home from the bar too. It all cuts in to their business potential. Those rides often include an exchange of cash as well—a little money for the gas and time involved. The only real difference between getting a ride from a family member, or carpooling with neighbors or co-workers to get to your job, and using a ridesharing service is that the Uber or Lyft driver is a stranger to you…like the taxicab driver.

Oh, and the Uber or Lyft ride will generally show up faster and cost less . So, there’s that.

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