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Shortly after Uber and Lyft became popular, they were forced out of Austin due to a scuffle around local regulation. It took very little time for some new compe

by wswope 7y ago

Shortly after Uber and Lyft became popular, they were forced out of Austin due to a scuffle around local regulation. It took very little time for some new competitors to start up, one of which (RideAustin), is still thriving. The cost is almost exactly the same, but far more money goes to the drivers, and the drivers tend to be far higher quality. If memory serves me right, they even adopted some user-friendly features like a female-only driver setting first too. You can have your cake and eat it too: there's no real dichotomy between Uber/Lyft and the taxi companies.

bobthepanda 7y ago
It's worth noting that the original scuffle was about fingerprinting drivers, a regulation that they already comply with in New York City. The difference is that Uber and Lyft won't leave one of their biggest markets.
- caseysoftware 7y ago
  No, "fingerprinting" was the issue the City marketed. The actual scuffle was because the City of Austin wanted ride-level trip data and a larger fee from the individual rides. Further, Mayor Adler's goal was a tax+security screening system for anyone who wanted to transact online. Those are his words, not mine. Quoted in the post below. I detailed some of it here: https://medium.com/@CaseySoftware/mayor-steve-adler-is-scamming-the-austin-tech-community-399d12b976e9 https://medium.com/@CaseySoftware/mayor-steve-adler-is-scamm...
  - bobthepanda 7y ago
    Ride-level data and per-trip fees are also a requirement in New York City. In fact, now minimum wages are required in New York for TNC drivers. The point still stands, is that Uber has never, and would not ever, actually threaten to leave bigger markets. And the data isn't some evil hoovering scheme, but it is incredibly helpful with city planning: > Like camera-wearing meerkats, taxis provided insight into the city’s transportation ecosystem. Are cabs speeding along a certain stretch of street? Time to review the street design. Getting stuck at the same intersection every rush hour? Maybe rethink the traffic light timing. https://www.wired.com/story/nyc-uber-lyft-ride-hail-data/ https://www.wired.com/story/nyc-uber-lyft-ride-hail-data/
  - ozzmotik 7y ago
    oh this is interesting to read. as someone who lives in Austin, I had heard so much about all this when it was going on but I never really actually looked enough into it to try and understand it all. At that point, I had stopped driving for lyft, so it didn't particularly affect me (especially because at the time I was living in Williamson county outside of Austin city limits so I could at least still use it for rideshare purposes), but I certainly was curious to learn more. Thank you for sharing.

by wswope 7y ago

bobthepanda 7y ago

It's worth noting that the original scuffle was about fingerprinting drivers, a regulation that they already comply with in New York City. The difference is that Uber and Lyft won't leave one of their biggest markets.

caseysoftware 7y ago
No, "fingerprinting" was the issue the City marketed. The actual scuffle was because the City of Austin wanted ride-level trip data and a larger fee from the individual rides. Further, Mayor Adler's goal was a tax+security screening system for anyone who wanted to transact online. Those are his words, not mine. Quoted in the post below. I detailed some of it here: https://medium.com/@CaseySoftware/mayor-steve-adler-is-scamming-the-austin-tech-community-399d12b976e9 https://medium.com/@CaseySoftware/mayor-steve-adler-is-scamm...
- bobthepanda 7y ago
  Ride-level data and per-trip fees are also a requirement in New York City. In fact, now minimum wages are required in New York for TNC drivers. The point still stands, is that Uber has never, and would not ever, actually threaten to leave bigger markets. And the data isn't some evil hoovering scheme, but it is incredibly helpful with city planning: > Like camera-wearing meerkats, taxis provided insight into the city’s transportation ecosystem. Are cabs speeding along a certain stretch of street? Time to review the street design. Getting stuck at the same intersection every rush hour? Maybe rethink the traffic light timing. https://www.wired.com/story/nyc-uber-lyft-ride-hail-data/ https://www.wired.com/story/nyc-uber-lyft-ride-hail-data/
- ozzmotik 7y ago
  oh this is interesting to read. as someone who lives in Austin, I had heard so much about all this when it was going on but I never really actually looked enough into it to try and understand it all. At that point, I had stopped driving for lyft, so it didn't particularly affect me (especially because at the time I was living in Williamson county outside of Austin city limits so I could at least still use it for rideshare purposes), but I certainly was curious to learn more. Thank you for sharing.