Comments on: Uber Über Alles?

By: Stuff You Should Have Seen – last week « LAVA Mobile

Stuff You Should Have Seen – last week « LAVA Mobile — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 20:13:14 +0000

[...] Uber mess - Washington City Paper [...]

By: seeseehpounder

seeseehpounder — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 17:07:23 +0000

So a corrupt organization staged a "sting" to catch a company who didn't speak (pay) them? I'm surprised Linton wasn't late for the sting because he couldn't catch a cab. Council members are being given envelopes filled with cash from the cabbies and cops are being paid to wait on some poor driver to arrive from VA to put the cuffs on him. Great job DC! Way to protect the corrupt monopoly. I'm sure the token system will be much better...

By: James

James — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:11:09 +0000

The Taxicab Commission has the right to enforce its regulations. You cannot avoid or evade regulations by tweets, blogs or facebook campaigns. I think Uber, for now, wants the publicity. Ultimately, it will abide by the regulations.

By: Don

Don — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 23:25:22 +0000

Unless you think a company owes the Taxicab Commission some sort of fealty I don't understand this claim that Uber somehow owed it to them to memorably speak to them. They're a regulatory agency and there are municipal rules that govern their behavior. If Uber contracted with legal council - or even read the rules themselves and were willing to bank their operation on their own understanding - then why SHOULD they talk to Linton? Asking a regulatory agency if you have to conform to their wishes strikes me as about as reasonable as asking the barber if you need a haircut.

By: Tracy G

Tracy G — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:58:59 +0000

You make some fair points here and good business means following the established policies, but there is no question that DC is better off with Uber. The "we'll get there when we get there" approach of DC cabs (not to mention the rude, condescending nature of the dispatchers) is infuriating and has caused me to be late for meetings, dinners, even flights. Uber is expensive so its not an option for everyone, in fact it's not even an option for me unless absolutely necessary (like a recent rainy night, pre-Uber, during which I waited for my cab for two hours and made four check-in calls to the dispatcher before finally giving up). There is no question that competition brought on by Uber benefits residents, who will now have another transportation option -- and one that is actually reliable. What remains to be seen is whether Uber's presence will have the residual benefit of improving DC's dismal cab service in the process.