Vanimal beats Uber

[Squirrel]

Interesting article ... Lyft and Uber are out of Austin, TX.

 

I often wondered, living in the large city I do, how much Uber and Lyft add to the traffic congestion here. And I also wonder how they can essentially be 'taxis' but not be at all regulated. But anyway ... Uber was voted out ... all because they didn't want to adhere to one regulation ... finger printing drivers, something that the city insisted on because allegations of sexual assaults by drivers. It went to a referendum, the people voted, and Uber/Lyft lost, so they've pulled up stakes and left Austin.

 

What's the scoop, Van?

[Vanimal46]

Haha well short answer is Uber and Lyft didn't want to play by the city's rules. It seems like Austin is a test for other cities nationwide. They lost the vote, the city said you can still be in operation, instead they took their ball and went home.

 

Long answer- Uber and Lyft IMO did a horrific job with their marketing campaign. $8.6 million of TV/radio ads, multiple phone calls and text messages.. It just got to be annoying near the Prop 1 date. There was a lot of directions they could have gone to get people on their side- job creation, convenience, drunk driving vs. ride sharing stats... Instead the only argument I heard was "Requiring all Uber/Lyft drivers to get finger printed is going to cost A LOT of money" and other corporate jargon.

 

The other problem is the target demographic that uses Uber/Lyft the most typically doesn't get out to vote. That week was finals week for University of Texas students, and others just don't want to do it.

 

With 150+ people moving here on a daily basis, this is a city that desperately needs better public transportation or ride sharing options. That's why I think they'll both be back in the future. Or else some other company will swoop in and reap the benefits.

[Vanimal46]

Full disclosure: I voted against Prop 1 because I want to see Uber and Lyft drivers receive better background checks. There were 5-6 sexual assault cases from Uber drivers over the last year or more here in Austin. I want to know if the driver that's picking me up isn't some kind of criminal.

 

Also, talking to other Uber drivers about this, the cost of getting finger printed would have cost them $300 to get accomplished. They were not scared of further background checks because they had nothing to hide.

[nicksaviking]

I can see the problems these companies bring. Any issues they have are overshadowed by their benefits in my area though. Fargo is urban enough (with a pretty heavy nightlife scene) that lots of public transportation is needed, but at the same time the much higher night time volume still isn't enough to offset the overall costs for the traditional cab companies, so they were never able to, or unwilling to cover the needs of the city at night. Before Uber, cab wait times would be well over an hour during last call, which needless to say, caused a lot more drunk driving. I would think this is the same in other similar sized markets as well.

 

Of course I'm sure that will all be revisited if we get reports of Uber sexual predators.

 

Also, can't wait for self-driving cars! Then no need for drinking and driving OR Uber criminals!

[Squirrel]

Hahahaha ... still on the floor laughing with 'Fargo is urban enough'

[Badsmerf]

I was just in Austin last week and we took an Uber. 

[Vanimal46]

I was just in Austin last week and we took an Uber.

We were one of the last ones to Uber. I took one on Friday and Saturday. They stopped about 2 days ago.

[nicksaviking]

 

Hahahaha ... still on the floor laughing with 'Fargo is urban enough'

 

Ha, yeah I get it, but believe it or not, we can't walk across town in ten minutes.

 

I am still the only one in town who has gotten the internet though. No one else thinks it will catch on.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Also, talking to other Uber drivers about this, the cost of getting finger printed would have cost them $300 to get accomplished. They were not scared of further background checks because they had nothing to hide.

 

$300?  Seriously, you can go to your local police statement and do it for free.  If that's the cost, this is nothing more than the taxi industry using the public to put the squeeze on a competitor.  I absolutely despise that behavior.  Finger prints are easy enough, and it doesn't cost that much to check them against a database. 

 

The real concern here is that you have college kids doing this for a living, who have little of any record to go on, and can be both a criminal or a victim here. 

[Squirrel]

$300?  Seriously, you can go to your local police statement and do it for free.  If that's the cost, this is nothing more than the taxi industry using the public to put the squeeze on a competitor.  I absolutely despise that behavior.  Finger prints are easy enough, and it doesn't cost that much to check them against a database. 

 

The real concern here is that you have college kids doing this for a living, who have little of any record to go on, and can be both a criminal or a victim here.

 

This wasn't the taxi industry putting the squeeze on a competitor. This was the city, after several sexual assault complaints on uber drivers, insisting that uber and lyft finger print their drivers. It went to a referendum which was voted on by the people of Austin. This had nothing to do with the taxi industry doing anything, but I'm sure they are happy about it.

 

Whether it's finger printing or back ground checks or something else, I do think uber drivers should go through some kind of vetting process.

[Willihammer]

Uber runs criminal background checks on its applicants.

 

I understand the city of Austin has had taxi drivers charged with sexual crimes during the same time span as the uber allegations. Taxi cabs are required to run their drivers through an additional fingerprint check. Was it determined that the cab companies skirted the process?

 

How many of the Uber drivers (assuming they're guilty) were on a fingerprint database?

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

This wasn't the taxi industry putting the squeeze on a competitor. This was the city, after several sexual assault complaints on uber drivers, insisting that uber and lyft finger print their drivers. It went to a referendum which was voted on by the people of Austin. This had nothing to do with the taxi industry doing anything, but I'm sure they are happy about it.

Whether it's finger printing or back ground checks or something else, I do think uber drivers should go through some kind of vetting process.

 

It doesn't cost $300 to run fingerprints.  That's my point. I don't have a problem with asking them to do this if they think it will make things safer, but that price, there's an ulterior motive there, and it's being hidden behind public safety. 

[Squirrel]

It doesn't cost $300 to run fingerprints. That's my point. I don't have a problem with asking them to do this if they think it will make things safer, but that price, there's an ulterior motive there, and it's being hidden behind public safety.

Right. But again, that was uber saying that. It was part of their campaign to get people to vote in their favor that it was a cost issue.

[Vanimal46]

Uber runs criminal background checks on its applicants.

 

I understand the city of Austin has had taxi drivers charged with sexual crimes during the same time span as the uber allegations. Taxi cabs are required to run their drivers through an additional fingerprint check. Was it determined that the cab companies skirted the process?

 

How many of the Uber drivers (assuming they're guilty) were on a fingerprint database?

Good questions. I don't know the answer to them. Cabs aren't a great option down here either, and I generally avoid them like the plague. I think it stems back to my time in Minneapolis when a cab driver would intentionally miss a freeway exit to keep the meter going.

[Vanimal46]

It doesn't cost $300 to run fingerprints.  That's my point. I don't have a problem with asking them to do this if they think it will make things safer, but that price, there's an ulterior motive there, and it's being hidden behind public safety.

 

Yeah there probably was some sort of ulterior motive there. Granted when I use Uber it's for events I'm drinking at, so I don't remember the exact conversations. I do recall that $300 figure said by 3 separate Uber drivers. Perhaps it was something that Uber floated to their drivers, thus passed onto the passengers. All of them weren't opposed to further background checks because they have other jobs besides Uber...

[nicksaviking]

 

Of course I'm sure that will all be revisited if we get reports of Uber sexual predators.

 

Also, can't wait for self-driving cars! Then no need for drinking and driving OR Uber criminals!

Aaaaand two months later.

 

http://www.inforum.com/news/4085802-video-fargo-man-claiming-be-uber-driver-lures-unsuspecting-woman-his-vehicle

[Mike Sixel]

Aaaaand two months later.http://www.inforum.com/news/4085802-video-fargo-man-claiming-be-uber-driver-lures-unsuspecting-woman-his-vehicle

And the proposed law would not help with this.....

[nicksaviking]

 

And the proposed law would not help with this.....

 

I barely remembered what this thread was about, I just remembered making my comment and had an internal eye-roll when I read the article.