

California Regulator Issues Citations And Fines Against Uber, Lyft, And SideCar - sethbannon
http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/14/cpuc-uber-lyft-sidecar-citations/

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potatolicious
Mixed feelings about this, but ultimately I'm angrier at the government than
any of these companies.

I used sidecar a couple of times in SF and the experience was pretty mixed. It
definitely feels sketchy when someone swings by in a Corolla, and it does very
much feel like "ride sharing" in the truest sense of the word, with the
unmistakable feel of a taxi also. Bizarre.

I much prefer Uber, but the pricing speaks for itself.

I'm not going to complain about the specifics of the enforcement action - no
matter which way you slice it SideCar and Lyft most certainly _were_ diving
through loopholes. They are meant as a taxi service, no matter how hard they
avert their eyes and insist the opposite.

 _But_ , and this is a huge but. The taxi experience in San Francisco is
_horrific_ \- easily the worst out of any city I've ever lived in, and by a
wide margin to boot. MUNI is also a perennial joke of a transit system. In a
city as dense as San Francisco, dear government, with no functioning taxicab
service and no functioning public transit system, how do you _expect_ people
to get around?

Uber, Lyft, and SideCar are born from the supremely fucked-upery of SF's
transportation situation. Liability, driver training, and all of that are all
legitimate questions, but IMO are separate from the question of whether or not
these services should exist in the first place.

~~~
malandrew

      In a city as dense as San Francisco, dear government, 
      with no functioning taxicab service and no functioning
      public transit system, how do you expect people to get 
      around?
    

Bicycles. And no, I'm not trying to be facetious. SF is an good city for
bicycling and could be an excellent city for bicycling. One of the main things
holding it back is Rob Anderson, author of the District 5 Blog, who has filed
several lawsuits derailing efforts to modernize the biking infrastructure.

You can get just about anywhere in the city easily by bicycle. I live at the
top of Nob Hill and from just about anywhere in the city I can get home as
quickly as a cab. I've beaten my girlfriend on scooter or in a cab several
times. The times I've lost have only been by a small margin. People really
underestimate how quickly you can get from point A to point B by bicycle.

I used to live in São Paulo and there they do a test every year comparing
several transportation options, car, bicycle, motorcycle, bus, subway,
helicopter, etc, and bicycles win every single year.

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tlrobinson
I'm not surprised they're going after Lyft and SideCar. These services scare
me. Drivers are usually friendly, but far from the professionals I get with
Uber. Some of these services don't even provide proper insurance. It will be
interesting to see what happens when one of these drivers gets in an accident.

Uber, on the other hand, looks completely legitimate to me. They partner with
licensed and insured companies and provide an awesome experience.

~~~
bitsweet
I've been using Lyft for the last month and it has been a great product.
Though it's not as flashy as Uber, it is also considerably cheaper, even
cheaper then a taxi. I'd rather the friendly Lyft drivers over the
unprofessional taxi drivers of SF.

Lyft also has 1MM liability on each driver so nothing about them feels
sketchy. [1]

My only complaint is they don't have enough drivers and so I can't always get
a _lift._

[1] - <http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/06/lyft-1m-insurance/>

~~~
tlrobinson
Maybe I've just had back luck. I had one guy who was swearing up a storm,
which is usually fine with me, but for some reason didn't give me confidence
in him. Then there was the woman who drove like a maniac and complained about
how much her life sucked.

I agree SF's taxi drivers are usually terrible, but I've had good luck with
Uber Taxi. I'm not sure how much extra vetting Uber does but it seems to work.
Uber Taxi charges regular taxi fares + 20% gratuity + $1, which is well worth
it to me if you can get one.

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paupino_masano
Quite disappointing if they manage to enforce the fines; in my opinion it's
these services which make transport options around San Francisco bearable! I'm
not sure how many times I've called a taxi to come get me and never showing
up...

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35636
Sad to see Uber lumped together with Lyft and SideCar.

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gojomo
Can I fine the CPUC for being hopelessly out-of-date in its strategies for
protecting customers?

~~~
prentis
Why do you think that the CPUC's mission is to protect customers?

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hnriot
I read somewhere recently that 80% of all stranger rapes against women are
perpetrated by unlicensed taxi drivers.

So I am glad that these services are under a somewhat watchful eye.

~~~
Dylan16807
I can only find a bunch of sites passing around an unsourced quote about
London. Please don't gossip, can you remember at all where you saw this idea
or how reputable the author was?

