Residents of Austin, Texas are feeling pain in their wallets after new regulations forced ride services Uber and Lyft to suspend their business in the city.
One Austin man took to Facebook to complain that a trip he took last week with Uber cost 4X as much money one week later with a cab service.
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The government in Austin passed several regulations last week that limited Uber’s operations, including mandates about which parts of the city Uber drivers could pick-up and drop-off in, a mandate that Uber drivers brand their cars with the company name (most Uber drivers use their own personal vehicles), and a requirement that every Uber driver undergo fingerprint based background checks before being allowed to work.
Uber refused to comply with these regulations and now Austin citizens are paying more money for a less efficient cab system.
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With @Uber out of #Austin Transportation Costs Jump Nearly 400 Percenthttps://t.co/1y4hW2WGBz
— Rob Eno (@Robeno) May 11, 2016
Because they are here to help, you can always count on gov’t to stifle ingenuity and free enterprise through policy and regulation. If you don’t pad the right pockets eventually they will take it from you for a whole host of reasons, the bottom line is if you don’t pay you don’t play.
I confess — I’m a regular UBER customer. Just took UBER today. So I’m a bit biased. Sadly, it seems that liberal governments all over the US are trying to destroy these services. Democrats can’t stand a successful business that doesn’t have government’s sticky fingers in it.
Where I live, the taxi companies are in cahoots with Democrat state and local governments to drive UBER out of business. The taxi companies have enjoyed a virtual monopoly on private transportation services. A customer can get a cab that smells like the driver has been living in it for 6 months, a driver who can’t speak English, a driver who is rude and a ride that costs a fortune because the driver will insist on taking the longest route possible in order to drive up fares. Now the cab companies have stiff competition from UBER, which provides a clean, comfortable vehicle with a friendly English speaking driver, and a flat rate for the ride, so there is no incentive for the driver to take the customer the long way. So the cab companies have a strong incentive to push UBER out of business.
I also think the media is also involved in the conspiracy. Hardly a week goes by that there isn’t some news story about an unsavory character who happens to have worked for UBER. I can tell you that every UBER driver I’ve ridden with has been kind, courteous, helpful, friendly and I have always felt safer with an UBER driver than I have with a number of taxi drivers.
So far, UBER is holding on, but it hasn’t been easy. I expect eventually, UBER will throw in the towel and, since I don’t drive, I will be at the mercy of overpriced, inferior public transportation. Really ticks me off.
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