DC Seeks To 'Legalize' Uber... By Forcing It To Be Way More Expensive Than Cabs
from the can't-have-competition dept
If you want to understand local corruption at a really, really deep level, do something simple: fly into a new city, hop into a cab at the airport and ask them about taxi licensing. I've done this a few times, and you'd be amazed at what a ridiculous situation this is. For reasons that still do not make any sense, most cities have very strict regulations on cabs -- which they always position as being for the protection of customers, but in reality are always about limiting the market and keeping competition out. Planet Money's discussion of NYC cab medallions last year highlighted just what a ridiculous system this is. It's almost impossible to find an economist who thinks this setup is good for the public. And yet it's quite common.Over the last few years, a few startups have tried to disrupt this market -- and they always get attacked for it, either by local cab/limo services or the local officials in charge of regulating the market. The most well known of these companies is Uber, who is looking to really disrupt the market with a service that they admit is more expensive, but which provides really amazing convenience and service in exchange. Users of Uber love the service, in my experience. A couple weeks ago, I was in Chicago to speak at a conference, and Uber's CEO, Travis Kalanick, spoke at the same event, with a really entertaining talk -- much of it about how every time he tries to disrupt a market, legacy players get really, really pissed off at him.
As part of that talk, he discussed the situation in Washington DC, where the local Taxicab Commission Chairman, Ron Linton, ran a "sting" to claim that Uber was violating DC laws. Since then there's been a lot of back and forth in the fight in DC, leading to a new set of regulations that are being introduced. Of course, as is typical of taxi/limo regulations, they often say one thing but mean the exact opposite. In this case, the Taxicab Commission appears to be positioning the new regulations as being designed to make Uber "legal,", but, as Uber's Kalanick notes in a blog post, it includes some really poisonous provisions that require Uber to charge at least 5 times what a taxi charges. They're not even subtle about this. As the text of the bill reads:
(c) (1) The minimum fare for sedan-class vehicles shall be five times the drop rate for taxicabs, as established by 31 DCMR § 801.3 (a).The DC Taxicab Commission claims this is to "ensure that sedan service is a premium class of service with a substantially higher cost that does not directly compete with or undercut taxicab service." But why? We don't do this in any other market. We don't tell nice restaurants that they must charge more than fast food restaurants, so as not to compete. We don't tell Apple that it must charge more for computers so that they're seen as "premium" devices. We let the market work things out. That's what enables disruptive innovation and competition to take place.
(2) The time and distance rates for sedan-class vehicles shall be greater than the time and distance rates for taxicabs, as established by as established by 31 DCMR § 801.3 (b) and (c).
What's amazing here (and, to a lesser extent, in nearly every major city in the US) is how they effectively admit that they don't want competition, they don't want innovation. They want a protected market that is artificially inflated. Why would the people of DC accept this kind of thing?
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Filed Under: cabs, car service, dc, disruption, innovation, regulations, taxis
Companies: uber
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why would people put up with this?
Because most of them are lazy ignorants who don't give a shit, as long as tomorrow is the same happy day as yesterday?
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because its the Law
always
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Re: because its the Law
I guess sheep, dont care unless it enefits or is at risk of lossing something
You are the sheep, morality the herder, corporation mentality are the snakes and poison apples of the world, and youve just been bitten while eating the apple.
Dont accept every spoonfull blindly, open your eyes and confirm what you believe in, and ALWAYS be vigilant in doing so
And if you remotely benefit from laws like these being passed, then fcuk off little snake, peace be with you
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Re: Re: because its the Law
Oh noess copyright infringement right here folks, lock me up and throw away the key, the law is the law, or should i say, the laws proposed but not yet set, IS THE LAW
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Re: Re: Re: because its the Law
Jules: There's a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the -------------weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon you." Now... I been sayin' that shit for years. And if you ever heard it, that meant your ass. You'd be dead right now. I never gave much thought to what it meant. I just thought it was a cold-blooded thing to say to a motherfucker before I popped a cap in his ass. But I saw some shit this mornin' made me think twice. See, now I'm thinking: maybe it means you're the evil man. And I'm the righteous man. And Mr. 9mm here... he's the shepherd protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or it could mean you're the righteous man and I'm the shepherd and it's the world that's evil and selfish. And I'd like that. But that shit ain't the truth. The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.
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Re: because its the Law
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How to make a profit as a cabbie!!!
Setting the minimum fares for the new services at 5 times just makes them entirely unprofitable. The secret to making money in driving a taxi is the flagfall. If you can get enough of these an hour, every hour, you will make more than doing long trips. But you have to make the service cheap enough that people will be willing to call a taxi for any and all trips. Having enough taxis to service the market and making sure that the drivers are properly trained and are courteous and pleasant will ensure that there is a good response by the general public.
I know that there are problem with runners and muggers, but this can be mitigated.
But to set up the system to force a newcomer to fail will only cause more people to forego using the existing services. But stupidity is not only reserved for the RIAA and MPAA and their ilk.
regards and good evening to all.
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because democracy fails in DC
“We’ve got to do something about these Asians coming in, opening up businesses, those dirty shops. They ought to go, I’ll just say that right now, you know. But we need African-American businesspeople to be able to take their places, too.”
the problem is exacerbated by the fact that DC is a very transient city. a lot of the educated people living here either weren't around during the last local election cycle, won't be around for the next, or never even register to vote in the city (e.g. military, students, etc). solution: none. this city is perpetually f'ed.
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Re: because democracy fails in DC
there is NO 'self-rule' in DC: the 'heart and soul' of small-dee democracy, the literal and figurative capitol, and the residents have ZERO say in how their own city is ruled...
if/when any mayor/etc tries to make ANY significant changes, they are slapped down by kongresskritters who exert near total CONTROL over DC...
it is NOT a 'normal' city in a lot of ways, and the total lack of any self-rule is the most egregious...
(of course, that is they way the kongresskritters like it, so that is the way it will stay...)
art guerrilla
aka ann archy
eof
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Not much to see here
For any politician to say they are legislating higher fees to ensure a premium class of service is just complete bullshit. They could have left that phrase out and just said they need a legal barrier to entrance into the market.
I think the real story here is the sting operation that was done to scare the potential workforce from working with Uber. They even planned the sting so that it would force the driver to lose an extra day of income. These are the people who say they are concerned about our economy and welfare. Nice.
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It's hard to understand from a theoretical perspective, but practically, it is the adaptation that has made capitalism stable enough to stave off the communist (r)evolution.
Free-market, classic capitalism by its very nature is too unstable to support large-scale, long-lasting civilizations - there's way too much churn, boom and bust, creative destruction, winners and losers if you will. How do you build a stable political system to serve, say, 100 million people on something like that? You don't.
The adaptation is various forms of anti-competitive policies, outright corruption, bailouts, industry subsidies, militarism, dictatorship, police state, etc. Those things keep the system stable enough to last longer than the next boom/bust cycle.
Plainly-spoken, it's why Marx's predictions were wrong and why communism-proper has never been successful. Instead, we have variations of cabal/corporatist/monarchist-capitalist political economies which are different only in their historical details.
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Those who don't know history (or choose to ignore it) are doomed to repeat it...
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*gasp*
Someone should tell the libertarians!
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Re: *gasp*
http://www.ij.org/nashville-limos
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Both of those companies have government backing to do what they do. They are provided government grants, tax money and protection. They are not operating in anything close to free market.
Coke
Not exactly sure what evil things they are doing. You are the first I have ever read complaining about their "villainous things"
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Re: Re: Re: Re: *gasp*
Yeah, that shit's on the tab of people like you, who think that if you can just give the government enough power, eventually they'll start using it in your favor instead of in favor of the corporations.
"Just one more regulation!"
"Maybe this time it'll be different!"
"If we just got the right people in charge!"
You'll never learn. Lambs to the slaughter.
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Oh, it's simple...
Remember when Conan O'Brien moved from New York out to California? The first thing he said was "everyone here has cars, I'm shocked! No one in New York drives!"
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Re: Oh, it's simple...
When my girlfriend moved here from Kansas, literally every single one of her friends thought New York City was the state itself. They couldn't understand how she could be 6 hours away from it and still be in "New York."
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The record labels and movie studios work to disrupt the internet for the very same reason -- they want to monopolize it and disrupt all potential competition.
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Mike M's battle against the abuses of the copyright industry are the wrong war to be fighting. We should be trying to stop this sort of behavior by the governments of the US, local, state, and federal.
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The Future of Cabs.
In Washington, D.C., the political rationale of medallions is that a taxicab owner/driver who wants to retire can sell his cab and medallion to a big company.
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Circumvention
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Re: Circumvention
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Re: Circumvention
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(2) The time and distance rates for sedan-class vehicles shall be greater than the time and distance rates for taxicabs, as established by as established by 31 DCMR § 801.3 (b) and (c).
Easy solution: flood the market with complimentary coupons or gift cards which ensures that although everyone is paying that rate, their not actually paying that rate.
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Gee, I wonder...
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That statement alone shows that you are rather clueless on the whole situation.
The ideals are to protect the citizens, even if the methods used appear a bit weird to you. One of the ways they protect the citizens is to limit the number of cars which can be taxis. Your immediate reaction is that it is a move to "block competition". It's not really a true statement, since the rates a taxi charges are pre-set, there isn't any price point competition that would benefit the public. 1 taxi or 1 million taxis, the rates are set and would be the same.
You may say "if there are more taxis, people wouldn't have to wait for one". While this is true, it would also lead to less occupied "paid" time for each drive. That in turn would lead to a push for higher rates (because they are making less paid miles per hour), leading the public to pay more.
So why not abolish the taxi boards that set rates, and allow for a free market? Well, that would be nice, but generally the free market doesn't work in these areas. Rates would vary greatly, making it even easier to stiff tourists and little old ladies. Moreover, a race to the bottom on might lead drivers to skimp on car maintenance, you know, those brakes can hold on one more week, and that CO2 leak into the car isn't that important to handle.
Longer term, it would likely drive people out of the taxi business, making the cars more scarce, more expensive, and likely only available at peak times, when the drivers can make money. Good luck getting that late night taxi home from the bar, the drivers don't want to work that shift, and the companies don't want to risk the cars.
Are there companies or groups that use the rules to their advantage to create monopolies or to profit from the situations? Yup, there sure are. There are crooked people in almost every business. However, the alternatives to the current situation isn't an open and free market, that would only serve those who could afford, and only at the best times. Is that what you really want?
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There are plenty of taxis and plenty of different taxi service offerings, from luxery and corporate through to budget services.
Like every other vehicle on the road, taxis are obliged to be of roadworthy standards, must pass regular inspections and are subject to fines and being summarily ordered off the road if found to be below warrant of fitness standards.
If there were problems with unfit taxis being involved in accidents the more established "legacy" companies that were around before deregulation would be making plenty of fuss about it. They certainly claimed the same kind of things you did back in the early 80s when the market was deregulated.
The free market does not work for anything and everything. Taxis and taxi operators ought to be licensed, but the licenses should to be inexpensive and primarily about ensuring minimal standards to do with safety and consumer rights.
There's no need for anything more onerous or interfering than that in the taxi market so far as I can see. It is one of the many areas where aside from a few ground rules, most of which are just good sense, the free market can be mostly left to do its thing.
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We don't have to they do it already.
Zing!
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Not surprised....
Didn't they elect a coke adict as mayor, twice?
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Use different cars?
(2) The time and distance rates for sedan-class vehicles shall be greater than the time and distance rates for taxicabs, as established by as established by 31 DCMR § 801.3 (b) and (c)."
If the above is true, then couldn't Uber get around the requirements by not using sedans? What about using compacts, full-size, vans, monster trucks?
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I has some meaning to me as a word in German, but other than that none at all...
Anyways a bit on google later shows that is like a modern version of a taxi cab. and that the city nearest me to have them is 8 hours away (chigago), and that it goes up to 2 days quickly from there.
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Airport Limo Service
~Aansy stone
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Airport Limo Service
~Aansy stone
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good !
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