Handwringing over smart-phone-enabled driver service need not concern us
Boston cabbies have their medallions in a bunch because government officials here came to their senses and quickly lifted an ill-conceived ban on Uber, the smartphone app that lets people hire a car and driver for less than the cost of traditional limo service.
The taxicab industry claims the unbanning of Uber will lead to carnage on the roadways — though how it would be distinguished from the usual carnage is beyond me – while also acknowledging the tiny little tangential matter of Uber siphoning off their customers (even though an Uber ride still costs twice the comparable cab fare).
Remember: Any time anyone with a financial stake in a matter says it’s really about you, it’s really about them. A story in today’s Boston Globe illustrates the point:
“Uber exploited a loophole in the law,” said Oleg Uritsky, who runs 45 cabs in Boston and is a spokesman for city taxi fleet owners. “Taxicabs everywhere are heavily, heavily regulated for public safety.”
Public safety is the issue here. Your safety. Mine. Our children, for crying out loud.
It’s almost as though we’ve returned to a bygone era where everyone was forced to fend for themselves, even if that meant strapping on a six-shooter.
“There is no national or model response to this emerging market, and a ‘Wild West’ environment is the current state of play,” said Matthew Daus, former commissioner of the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, in a July report called “Rogue Smartphone Applications for Taxicabs and Limousines: Innovation or Unfair Competition?”
The report made the case for regulation of services like Uber, saying, “Applications without oversight are dangerous to the riding public and to the confidence the public has in the regulators responsible for these services.”
See, the cabbies are even concerned about our psychological well-being.
Honestly, they shouldn’t be. We have this one covered. Having lived in Massachusetts for all but the first three weeks of my life, there’s little that worries me less than the prospect of there being not enough government regulation. If there are legitimate public-safety issues involved with Uber, they will get addressed.
In the meantime, Uber-on.
