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Anecdotally I was in Austin for the first time a few weeks ago and it was just fine without Uber. I did all of the following: Take a yellow cab from the airpor

Anecdotally I was in Austin for the first time a few weeks ago and it was just fine without Uber. I did all of the following: Take a yellow cab from the airport, Walk, get a ride from my AirBNB host, hail a taxi, borrow a bike, get a ride from other friends, hang out on Rainey Street with whatever friends are around and use the Getme app it get to the airport. Lack of Uber did not affect my visit at all. If anything walking around more enhanced my experience. What a great city.

ryanmonroe 10y ago
Lack of pistachios in grocery stores wouldn't affect me one bit, but I'd still be on the side of pistachio buyers (and pistachio salesmen) if my city decided to ban them. edit: or if my city decided that all cashiers checking out customers with pistachios must be fingerprinted.
- lukeschlather 10y ago
  A couple pistachio suppliers stopped selling pistachios because they were upset they needed to start tracking where their pistachios were coming from so the FDA can keep track of foodborne illness.
- kinkdr 10y ago
  I don't think the city decided to ban Uber and Lyft. They decided to leave as a means of pressure. Kind of blackmail.
- SwellJoe 10y ago
  Uber/Lyft were not banned. They were asked to follow the same rules as every other driver in the city; they paid an exorbitant amount of money (the most expensive local election in history, where the opposing side had a budget of a couple hundred thousand dollars vs. the $9+ million Uber/Lyft spent trying to buy it) to overrule city council, which failed. When it failed, they threw a tantrum and left. The process they were fighting to avoid is a fingerprint and background check that costs about $40 per driver. Their millions could have paid for a couple hundred thousand drivers to get checked.
the_watcher 10y ago
Try being out downtown after midnight. The insincerity of the "safety" concerns is on full display then, when you can watch drunk people knocking on windows and offering random drivers cash for a ride home because it's impossible to find a cab.
j2kun 10y ago
What if you don't have friends in the city?
- sml156 10y ago
  Last time I was there a good friend cost around $300 an hour
  - bayonetz 10y ago
    Care to elaborate?
    - lgas 10y ago
      He's referring to hookers.
toolz 10y ago
Yeah, I go to austin a couple of times a year. I won't be going back without a lyft/uber replacement. Waiting 30+ minutes for a taxi and paying more than I would for an uber/lyft is not an option I'm even close to considering. Austin has lost a ton of visitors with this move, I'm sure of it and your experience is not representative of any of the people I've met while in austin. Uber/Lyft is commonplace with everyone there who wants to have a few drinks on 6th.
- ericabiz 10y ago
  There are already several replacements. Fare, Get Me, Fasten, and a new non-profit called Ride Austin are all open (Ride Austin in limited beta, the others full speed ahead.) There's also Wingz if you want to pre-book airport rides. The first week or two was rough, but now it seems mostly OK.
  - sanderjd 10y ago
    Similar to the current top comment: are these replacements following or planning to follow the new regulations? That seems to be the difference between this being, "there are safety concerns with these services that we are trying, in good faith, to regulate our way around", or being, "we don't like these huge arrogant companies coming and taking over our town". I'm super curious which it is, or how much of each it is.
    - SwellJoe 10y ago
      The new companies are following the regulations (though many of the rules don't actually go into effect until August; Uber/Lyft left because they threw a tantrum, not because anything actually immediately changed when their proposition failed). There are hundreds of cab, electric cab, and pedicab, drivers who all follow the rules. The rules may not be perfect, but they aren't particularly onerous, either. It's about $40 to get your fingerprint background check done. The rules have been in place for years for those other kinds of drivers. Uber/Lyft wanted special treatment...they wanted their competitors to keep playing by those rules, while they continued to be exempt from them.

ryanmonroe 10y ago

Lack of pistachios in grocery stores wouldn't affect me one bit, but I'd still be on the side of pistachio buyers (and pistachio salesmen) if my city decided to ban them. edit: or if my city decided that all cashiers checking out customers with pistachios must be fingerprinted.

lukeschlather 10y ago
A couple pistachio suppliers stopped selling pistachios because they were upset they needed to start tracking where their pistachios were coming from so the FDA can keep track of foodborne illness.
kinkdr 10y ago
I don't think the city decided to ban Uber and Lyft. They decided to leave as a means of pressure. Kind of blackmail.
SwellJoe 10y ago
Uber/Lyft were not banned. They were asked to follow the same rules as every other driver in the city; they paid an exorbitant amount of money (the most expensive local election in history, where the opposing side had a budget of a couple hundred thousand dollars vs. the $9+ million Uber/Lyft spent trying to buy it) to overrule city council, which failed. When it failed, they threw a tantrum and left. The process they were fighting to avoid is a fingerprint and background check that costs about $40 per driver. Their millions could have paid for a couple hundred thousand drivers to get checked.

the_watcher 10y ago

Try being out downtown after midnight. The insincerity of the "safety" concerns is on full display then, when you can watch drunk people knocking on windows and offering random drivers cash for a ride home because it's impossible to find a cab.

j2kun 10y ago

What if you don't have friends in the city?

sml156 10y ago
Last time I was there a good friend cost around $300 an hour
- bayonetz 10y ago
  Care to elaborate?
  - lgas 10y ago
    He's referring to hookers.

toolz 10y ago

Yeah, I go to austin a couple of times a year. I won't be going back without a lyft/uber replacement. Waiting 30+ minutes for a taxi and paying more than I would for an uber/lyft is not an option I'm even close to considering. Austin has lost a ton of visitors with this move, I'm sure of it and your experience is not representative of any of the people I've met while in austin. Uber/Lyft is commonplace with everyone there who wants to have a few drinks on 6th.

ericabiz 10y ago
There are already several replacements. Fare, Get Me, Fasten, and a new non-profit called Ride Austin are all open (Ride Austin in limited beta, the others full speed ahead.) There's also Wingz if you want to pre-book airport rides. The first week or two was rough, but now it seems mostly OK.
- sanderjd 10y ago
  Similar to the current top comment: are these replacements following or planning to follow the new regulations? That seems to be the difference between this being, "there are safety concerns with these services that we are trying, in good faith, to regulate our way around", or being, "we don't like these huge arrogant companies coming and taking over our town". I'm super curious which it is, or how much of each it is.
  - SwellJoe 10y ago
    The new companies are following the regulations (though many of the rules don't actually go into effect until August; Uber/Lyft left because they threw a tantrum, not because anything actually immediately changed when their proposition failed). There are hundreds of cab, electric cab, and pedicab, drivers who all follow the rules. The rules may not be perfect, but they aren't particularly onerous, either. It's about $40 to get your fingerprint background check done. The rules have been in place for years for those other kinds of drivers. Uber/Lyft wanted special treatment...they wanted their competitors to keep playing by those rules, while they continued to be exempt from them.