Slashdot Mirror
Milwaukee City Council Proposal Would Pave Way For Uber, Lyft
New submitter rjune (123157) writes with some rare positive news from the online ride-sharing world, specifically from Milwaukee. "Ald. Robert Bauman is drafting a proposed ordinance that, if approved by the Common Council, would change the way public passenger vehicles are regulated and licensed. The proposal, expected to be outlined on Friday before the Common Council's Public Transportation Review Board, not only lifts the cap on taxicab vehicle perimits but accommodates new smartphone app services such as Uber and Lyft. Both Uber and Lyft are already in the marketplace." I wish that the cities I spend the most time in would do the same, but they've been busily protecting the local cartels, instead.
it would be a shame.......
Drafting a proposed ordinance = vaporware
You're job is not to inject your opinion into slashdot posts.
You are well known to be an utter moron, no one wants your opinion. Seriously, NO ONE wants your opinion.
Second, if you had half a clue, you'd know why the current implementation of Uber and Lyft is a disaster waiting to happen. I would actually appreciate it if you used them more and got into a car with someone who did you much harm, resolving two issues at once. A) Getting rid of your ignorance and lack of ability to think more than 2 seconds ahead, and B) illustrating why using random people without proper licensing is a stupid idea and why we have cab regulations like we do now.
On that same note, I think limiting the number of cabs in a city is pretty dumb and just a policy created by corruption and payola (to borrow a term from another industry). However, You (timothy) aren't bright enough to realize that Uber and Lyft can't do what they do and offer ridiculously lower rates while at the same time providing the same level of safety. If you think getting into a car with random people with no vetting or background checks is a great idea, why don't you just hitchhike with lonely truckers, all that'll cost you is a BJ or a hand job.
Again, keep your personal fucking opinion off of the articles you post and learn what you're job as an editor is supposed to be. How the fuck does someone like you stick around for so long?
Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
I see this argument all the time but for the most part there is little substance behind it. Most cities are only trying to ensure that some basic rules are being followed. Like background checks on the drivers, that the cars are maintained and insured with commercial drivers insurance and that the drivers aren't driving 18 hours a day.
I'd be willing to bet that most of the drivers for Lyft and Uber are doing so with their regular non-commercial insurance (which won't cover a damn thing once they find out they were) and are driving significantly more hours than allowed and that at least some of those drivers are able to drive so long because they are taking amphetamines (just like truckers do that drive those kind of hours).
Outside placed like New York these taxi commissions are charged with protecting the public from taxi drivers that have a dozen rape convictions, taxi's that haven't seen a mechanic in 20 years and drivers running around hopped up on speed driving 36 hours straight. The vast majority of these commissions are only interested in these public safety objectives and Uber and Lyft don't give a damn about. The few places they've been threatened with the same rules and expenses they drop the market because they can't make money, which is frankly understandable because in competitive taxi markets (ie almost anywhere outside NY and DC) the margins are razor thin and Uber/Lyft can only make money because they don't do the checks everyone else has to.
How will they regulate insurance? Professional drivers carry different (and more) insurance.
Also, has anyone given a thought to supply and demand? There was just a story that said people weren't doing this out of love or entrepreneurial, but out of desperation (thanks! 30 years of declining wages). One of the other reasons to limit the supply of cabbies is so somebody can make a living off it. I suppose it's OK that we're all working 4 jobs 16 hours a day too though...
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
Still living in an era where new and better things scare you because they make you fell that you may loose your job or not be able to follow the market ? Cry me a river and continue to support your local cartel....
Meanwhile; two words for you : "Darwin Law".... adapt or get off the train.
So I don't know if any of you live near Milwaukee... But I do... In Wisconsin an "Alderman" is the absolutely lowest elected public office there is. 3 of my neighbors have been Alderman. People just vote for whomever they know. They don't even know what their policies are... not that it matters, they have no power. An Alderman riding to work on his recumbent bike and introducing some hair brained scheme that will never even remotely be considered is about as common here as cows. How is this news?
> Those services are no better than hitchhiking since there is no vetting of the driver.
Tell you what.
Walk yourself through the process of becoming a Lyft driver. Take a note of all the information you have to put in. Visit with a mentor for the test drive, and take a note of all the information the mentor collects on you and your car.
Then come back here and tell us why what I just quoted from you isn't total bullshit.
The main reason for limited numbers of licenses is so that driver can make a living wage. I drove cab for 8 years and I could tell when too many cars were on the road. Our company rarely had all our cars on the road at the same time. There are a few problems that Uber causes to this model.
1. Gravy drivers. There will be drivers who only work the good times and do their regular jobs the rest of the time. This causes too many drivers to be available in good times and too few drivers available during off time.
2. Part time drivers. Someone who goes out a couple of hours a few times a week is not trying to make a living. They are doing it for "extra money". They don't care if they make less than a living wage because it is just mad money anyway. That have another job to pay the bills.
3. Fad. Sure there are quite a few Uber drivers right now. It is new and interesting. Wait till some drivers have to deal with obnoxious drinks puking in their car a few times. The fad will wear off and many Uber drivers will quit.
Wait till the cab companies can no longer find drivers for their cars because drivers can no longer make a living wage. Watch for cabs becoming almost unavailable during low times. People will sing a different tune when it takes a couple of hours to get a cab at 2AM.
I'd be willing to bet that most of the drivers for Lyft and Uber are doing so with their regular non-commercial insurance
Why do you think that?
The mainstay of at least Uber is the black town car, which has commercial insurance. Why would it not, when it does the rest of the time? You could already hire town cars before, Uber just made it really easy.
UberX is what uses non-commercial drivers - but there Uber provides extra insurance to cover the driver and passengers. I don't know how much but I know they give that to anyone they qualify to be a driver.
Outside placed like New York these taxi commissions are charged with protecting the public from taxi drivers that have a dozen rape convictions, taxi's that haven't seen a mechanic in 20 years and drivers running around hopped up on speed driving 36 hours straight.
Some of that can be taken up by up-front screening (which Uber does). Some of it (hopped up on speed) is taken care of swiftly by bad reviews, which means people will not choose you.
I take it you don't use cabs often? Because the experience in a cab can be HORRIFIC. It will take a long time before Uber or Lyft or the others offer an experience as bad as decades of taxi commissions have brought into being.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Wait till some drivers have to deal with obnoxious drinks puking in their car a few times.
It won't be a few times because after about two they would be booted from the service for bad reviews from drivers.
People are more likely to puke before, or outside of an Uber car because there are long-term consequences unlike with cabs.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I wish that the cities I spend the most time in would do the same, but they've been busily protecting the local cartels, instead,
And if you were in the taxi business, you'd be trying to protect your interests too. Why is this a surprise, or unexpected?
... you've never been to Milwaukee.
Yes, and cities also ask private and Uber cars to stop at red lights and stop signs. And obey the speed limit signs. And small and large companies to follow published pollution, hiring, and health & safety regulations.
If you can't make your smartphone-enabled car service make a profit while following the same public, published, long-established safety and other regulations that taxi companies have to and found a way to follow, to all our benefits, then maybe you should rethink things. At least don't whine about it.
"What do you mean, _I_ can't own a slave? You're stifling innovation! And my business model didn't account for paying salaries!"
I've lived here in Milwaukee on and off for the last decade or so, and I can tell you right now this is the right decision for our town. Milwaukee is a city whose economy is entirely based on alcohol, that being said we have had awful cab service for as long as I've lived here. All summer long drunks flood the street for this festival and that festival, and every weekend the wait for a cab is frequently over an hour, sometimes it takes 20 or 30 minutes just to get on the phone with a dispatcher. Seeing as how the underfunded and overpriced bus system stops running an hour before bar close what we end up with is a plague of drunk drivers. Our cab companies have failed to provide us with the proper service we need (presumably because of the cost of keeping up an unused fleet in the winter months) , Uber gave the city an alternative and we made sure nothing would impede the solution to our problems.
Uber and Lyft have a "select" clientele, that is, people who have smart phones and credit cards. In most cities regulators require licensed operators to transport all riders. Uber and Lyft will not be serving the people who most need transportation services. Many cities, Madison WI for example, do not limit the number of permits available, nor is there any reason for one provider to sell permits to another. Any licensed provider can buy as many permits as they like for virtually nothing compared to the price of medallions in some cities. The United States has a well documented problem with the widening gulf between haves and have-nots. Uber and Lyft exacerbate this problem rather then solve it. Almost all current taxi operations are locally owned. The money spent on the services stays in the community, with drivers and owners as members of the community. Having some folks with dumpsters full of (ad)venture capital scrape money out of local economies and send it along to their already rich shareholders is not a model for healthy communities. Taxi regulations are certainly of variable quality, but we should all respect communities trying to stay safe and economically healthy through regulation.
Protect traditional taxi does not means to ban uber, and allow app call taxi does not always means un-regular taxi services:
Why flat rate? Why a constant taxi supply while the requirement is never a constant?
All drivers that provide services must be qualify, traditional or app drivers
All cars that provide services must be qualify : with proper insurance and regular safety check
App taxi does not allow when the requirement can be fullfill by traditional taxi, i.e., they are not hurt the traditional taxi
All fair rate can be determined by market, every transactions must be recorded to be tracked and compare with by others. The app can provide distance, traffic conditions to all parties.
In a internet of things world, sticking to market is still the only solution.
Ride-sharing is a taxi operation.
Why regulate them differently? Just regulate them all the same way. That would be fair, no?