

Atlanta introduces bill to regulate Uber and Lyft - jaldoretta
http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2014/02/05/the-gold-dome-bill-to-regulate-uber-and-lyft-has-been-introduced-and-its-a-doozy

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JackFr
This highlights the fact that Uber and Lyft are not disrupting so much as
exploiting regulatory arbitrage. That is, for all intents and purposes they
are taxis, but they are attempting to ignore licensing, regulatory and fee
requirements

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Shivetya
well ask yourself this, how many jobs and services performed by people should
require the permission of a governing agency? Far too many such agencies only
exist now to restrict competition. Heaven forbid you try to get into the taxi
business, or worse the moving business.

As in, where does it stop or where do we begin? Florist? Movers? Hairstylist?
Nail care? Plumber?

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rayiner
How about you argue the issue at hand on its own merits instead of introducing
red herrings? Taxis aren't like nail care. In many cities, particularly
Atlanta, they serve as an important extension of the public transportation
network, and are core to tourism and commerce. Heck, taxis are the reason why
bars in the city, most of which are accessible only by car, can even pretend
that they don't cater mostly to people who drink then drive.

Taxi services aren't regulated for the sake of limiting competition. They are
given a monopoly in return for agreeing to be regulated as quasi-extensions of
cities' transportation infrastructures.

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fricken4
While the regulations were at one time created to keep shady players out of
the industry, Taxi services nowdays are most certainly regulated for the sake
of limiting competition. Consider that in Manhattan in the 1950s there were
roughly 13,000 taxi medallions. Today there are still only 13,000 medallions
available- they sell at auction for a million dollars a piece.

The Taxi companies that own these medallions have gone to court many times to
enforce the artificial scarcity that drives up the value of their golden
geese.

A taxi driver in NYC has to pay $80,000 a year over and above his insurance
and operating costs just for the right to operate a cab: that money goes
straight into the pockets of medallion owners who don't much of anything
except own medallions- until a threat like Uber comes along, wherein it's time
to deliver brown paper bags filled with bundles of unmarked bills until the
problem is solved. Both the drivers and the consumers are getting shafted.

NY is an extreme example, but the taxi industry works more or less same way in
pretty much every city in the western world. It's not uncommon for incumbent
businesses to hijack goodwill regulations as a way to stifle legitimate
competition.

Now Uber and app-based livery services do need to be regulated- but their
service is a whole different paradigm from the traditional taxi industry. In
California progressive legislation has been passed that places these services
in a completely different category than tradition taxi companies, much to the
dismay of those taxi companies.

Uber is also expanding aggressively- their revenue has grown 20% per month
over the past couple years, they started with 15 cars in 2009 and they are now
valued at nearly 4 billion dollars, and operate in 60 countries. Every city
they go into, they go into expecting a fight. They win some and they lose
some. They were shut down in both Toronto and Vancouver. Uber is a fascinating
company to watch- it's trench warfare everywhere they go- and they have
mountains of venture capital backing them.

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rayiner
New York medallion owners are definitely milking the value of their monopoly,
but it's really hard to make the consumers are getting shafted argument when
Uber is much more expensive than traditional cabs.

The solution for Uber and the like isn't progressive regulation that puts them
in a different category. Uber walks like a cab service and quacks like one,
the only difference is a more modern method of hailing. Cities should
deregulate their cab systems to increase supply, but categorize services like
Uber within the same cab regime.

Also: the population of Manhattan is 25% smaller today than it was in 1950, so
that means more medallions per person. Also, it has probably a lot more
private cars.

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frankydp
I am not sure this legislation is terrible. Requiring GPS billing be
certified, drivers be insured, drivers be licensed, and some of the other
general consumer protections seem pretty sensible. I also did not see anything
in the legislation that related to minimum rates as the article implied.

It actually does seem like a decent first draft.

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outside1234
The disallowing internet apps seems dumb. Seriously, if I could flag a regular
cab with a general purpose app that would be about 95% of the value of Uber to
me.

I'm sort of baffled why someone like Yellow Cab doesn't just put out an app.

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pmorici
It doesn't matter if it is an app or a phone call there is a culture in the
Taxi industry of just ignoring calls for a pick-up in certain areas that they
view negatively. Uber and Lyft don't discriminate like that.

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couradical
You've obviously never tried to hail an Uber from a dodgy neighborhood in
Boston then. It takes me twice as long to get picked up where I live, versus
my girlfriend, and I generally have to go through a driver switch or two.

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pmorici
Well yeah it takes a little longer because drivers aren't going to hang out in
that neighborhood. You do eventually get picked up though. My experience in
Baltimore with taxis is that no amount of calling will get them to come to a
part of town they don't like. Nothing is going to change the fact that it is a
crappy part of town but the difference between no pick-up ever and pick-up
with a small glitch is huge for a lot of people living around those areas.

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Alex3917
Fine by me, Uber is a scam company. Here is an email I got from them today.

Subject (large text): "Explore NJ this weekend with FREE uberX rides"

Body (small text): "NJLOVESuberX covers rides beginning OR ending in New
Jersey, up to $20. Believe us – at these rates, $20 will get you far."

Fine print (tiny text): "Please note that there is a $20 surcharge for trips
between New Jersey and NYC."

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ynniv
_Atlanta introduces bill to shut down Uber and Lyft_ is not an appropriate re-
titling of this article.

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polarix
Why not? That's clearly the point, and that's why it's relevant to this
community. I suppose it should probably be in the passive voice, but that's a
nit.

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atwebb
That's not clearly the point. It may be inferred but it's hardly clear. The 1k
license seems a bit excessive but some of the other points, registering,
abiding by current mileage standards, having insurance...all seem completely
valid and like places Lyft and Uber are taking advantage of missing regulation
and, to some extent, rider's ignorance of the situation they are in if there's
an accident or some other mishap.

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Major_Grooves
Hailo takes the strategy of working with existing licensed taxis so presumably
they would be ok?

