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Battle To Regulate Ridesharing Moves Through States
New submitter jeffengel writes: The push to regulate services like Uber and Lyft has spread through state legislatures nationwide. At least 15 states have passed ridesharing laws in 2015, joining Colorado, California, and Illinois from last year. More could follow, with bills pending in Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, and others. All this activity has led to new clashes with companies, city leaders, and consumers. Ridesharing bills have stalled or been killed off in Texas, Florida, New Mexico, and Mississippi. Meanwhile, Uber has exited Kansas and is threatening to leave New Jersey and Oregon, while Lyft has ceased operations in Houston, Columbus, and Tacoma. How this plays out could affect the companies' expansion plans, as well as the future of transportation systems worldwide.
I'm not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, some of these regulations are clear attempts to just protect the taxi industry from new models. On the other hand, some of the regulations (like having some basic insurance to cover if things go wrong) are pretty reasonable. On the gripping hand, both Uber and Lyft are both just blatantly ignoring regulations in many jurisdictions, and whether or not one thinks the laws should be there, it is hard to think that having cheaper car services is such a compellingly necessary service that it can morally or ethically justify ignoring laws.
There, corrected it for you.
These businesses have nothing to do with sharing: it's hiring a driver and a car.
It is NOT ridesharing! Ridesharing is when you share a ride with someone. These are people who are being paid to bring you somewhere, but they don't plan on going there too!
Ridesharing is perhaps carpooling to work. Or maybe a student hopping a ride with another student in college to go home for break.
Licensed, legitimate cab companies run a gauntlet of state & local regulations before they can collect fares. Uber and Lyft bypass them, start operating, and then act surprised when their illegal operation using unlicensed, unvetted drivers run into trouble.
In most places, the individual drivers and/or the company itself are required to have mercantile licenses... where are theirs?
If y'all are still telling yourselves that services like Uber and Lyft are "rideshares", you're not paying attention, and haven't been for a long time.
Ridesharing suggests that people are sharing a ride from point A to point B--that is, they're both going that way, and thus are going to slug together to save gas/cost.
Uber and Lyft are effectively taxi services that uses an app instead of a dispatcher. The driver seeks out a fare, starts the timer, drives the fare to their destination, and then seeks out another fare.
The driver is not "sharing" anything, nor is the passenger. This is a taxi service.
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
First the state sets up car pool lanes and asks people to share rides in the name of patriotism, monetary benefit and conservation. Then Uber comes along and creates a way to share a ride and the driver benefits a little bit as well. Then the state turns around and say oh no! This is rather like the politics of sex. Sex is sort of ok as long as one hides it away but God help anyone who charges money for sex. Going back to cars these laws have failed to take into account social media. Many people scour social media looking for people who commute to work and make deals to get a ride. I have a friend who goes to college about 100 miles from me. She takes classes three days a week. She slips the drivers $10 per day and she gets dropped off and picked up when they get off work. That is $30. a week for her and that $30. can help the driver pay for gas and enable the car pool lane use as well. And she has three different drivers just in case one is sick or on vacation or has a broken car. I see no moral difference between that and Uber and oddly where I live there is no way to travel county to county that is not massively inconvenient or expensive.
Forget it, he's on a roll.
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
Auctions. They are they ultimate free market. People bid on something up to the point they believe the product is worth. No government interference or price controls.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Well Uber, is a good way for people to create/supplement their income with a relatively low starting cost.
The problem with today's economy, it is too tough for the average citizen to work to control their income, If they work part time, they get unpredictable hours so they cannot get a second job, If they work full time, they are either salaried or forced to work their hours.
Our IT infrastructure, has created many good Starter jobs (Mail Room) obsolete, So you will need to be skilled in order to get in.
I will need to applaud Uber, as its business model, allows for people to work for their money, the harder they work the more they get paid.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
The summary makes it sound like all of the bills are AGAINST ride sharing... but that's not the case. For instance, in Massachusetts(which is highlighted in the summary) Uber is actively campaigning FOR the regulation bill.
Why?
Because the bill states once and for all that ride sharing is a legal activity. Yes, it puts some protections in place: but not much beyond what Uber already provides.
As someone that uses Uber quite a bit (2-3 times per month) I welcome the new legislation as long as it allows Uber to continue to operate. Regulation is not all bad, as long as it is fair and reasonable.