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Austin Police Department Warns SXSW Attendees Not To Use Uber
- trustfundbaby 13y agoThere are actually undercover stings going on too, by the looks of things http://www.reddit.com/r/SXSW/comments/1zwr26/atx_welcome_to_intractive_undercover_uber_stings/ http://www.reddit.com/r/SXSW/comments/1zwr26/atx_welcome_to_...
- rocky1138 13y ago$55 minimum? This is a great way to increase the amount of drunk drivers on the road. Way to go, Austin!
- cmelbye 13y agoSurge pricing isn't going to look pretty either.
- sfall 13y agoi think thats for the uberBlack
- dylz 13y agoNo, that's for anything. Any non-Austin-sanctioned service must charge at least $55 for any ride, regardless of even if it travels one block. This is an explicit move to make people not want to use startups like Uber.
- fennecfoxen 13y agoBut we need to protect the people from being taken advantage of!!!1
- gaadd33 13y agoWow they passed that law just to fight Uber? The taxi lobby in Austin must be even stronger than the one in NYC.
- cowsandmilk 13y agoYou can still get a cab starting for $2.40/mile. There is a distinct difference between a "vehicle for hire" and a cab.
- moonka 13y agoIf you can find one. If you aren't on the main drag, good luck. We called twice and waited for cabs which never showed up, and finally called a friend of my sister to pick us up. We would have been much happier taking an uber instead of waking up a friend if we could have.
- SilasX 13y agoIndeed: the power of their lobbyists.
- tlrobinson 13y agoGood luck getting a cab (depending on the time and location; I waited 2.5 hours the other night to get one from the Bitcoin conference, no joke)
- InclinedPlane 13y agoThere used to be. Now that everyone carries smartphones that difference isn't relevant.
- wdr1 13y agoThat doesn't really explain why there should be a $55 minimum.
- joesmo 13y agoSeriously. This is just unconscionable on behalf of the Austin police, especially considering that drinking seems to be _the_ pastime in Austin. I suppose people have to die first, as always, before things get better.
- mqatrombone 13y agoLast I checked, police don't write the law. Blame either the politician or the bureaucrat.
- thaumasiotes 13y agoEver had a cop overlook something? It's not rare. We can blame the cops.
- landryraccoon 13y agoIt's the sign of a corrupt state if you're hoping to get justice by having the cops ignore the law. You can't blame cops for enforcing the laws; if you want the laws changed, change them.
- mschuster91 13y ago"change the [laws]"... in 'murica, of all countries. No way unless you happen to have a couple of million $ lying around somewhere to bribe...eh finance the campaign of a politician.
- davidw 13y agoBullshit. It takes hard work, but ordinary people can get out there and do things just fine if they actively work at it rather than just whining on online forums.
- DanBC 13y agoDo you have examples of citizen-campaigning that has caused law changes? I don't disagree with you, but I tend to think that politicans will use citizen campaigns if they're useful and ignore them otherwise.
- mbesto 13y agoTo be fair, that's something SXSW should subsidize.
- BadassFractal 13y agoGotta love a free market.
- greatsuccess 13y agoActually these are just regs on the driver, as a citizen I can get into any fucking car I want on any fucking terms I want and the police have nothing to say about it.
- devindotcom 13y agoWell it would be good if the law was such that the police could encourage it, but since it isn't, why would we expect them to? If the law says these vehicles are operating illegally, the police are pretty much bound to discommend them. We always knew Uber existed in a highly regulated space, and changing the law or how it's interpreted will always take time. I'm also pretty sure that if the Ubers and other ride services are not in fact operating under the law, your protections as a citizen and consumer are limited. The police would want people to choose services where they have the most lawful protection.
- viraptor 13y agoThere's a difference though between them just putting a fine on Uber cab someone reported or they ran across by accident, and them actively announcing the disagreement and targeting the business. I'm sure there are many other more interesting things they could spend their time on. Does the police force care about Uber enough to do this? (on their own) I don't think so. I'd rather ask who cares and has so much influence on them.
- wavefunction 13y agoWelcome to APD. Just be glad you're not a young black male (if you are, mind your Ps and Qs).
- techsupporter 13y agoI have two friends who work for the Austin Police Department; both are black, both are male, both are less than 40 years of age, and both are sworn officers. Your broad brush is neither warranted nor appreciated.
- seanmcdirmid 13y agoThere is actually not much correlation between the race/age of the police officer and the amount of profiling they do. Your anecdotal experience doesn't do much to refute grandparent's accusation (admittedly a non-argument). That being said, I've never experienced racism in Austin, while the poverty (standard level for Texas) is quite distributed between all colors and ages.
- lolo_ 13y agoWe (me + colleague) are at SxSW now (over from the UK) - this is quite amazing given the utter lack of cabs if you're anywhere resembling out-of-downtown. Thankfully we have through an amazing friend of a friend procured the services of a friendly cab driver who goes out of his way to help us, without which we'd basically have to stay at our residence the whole time and not do SxSW at all. Yikes.
- rorlin 13y agoIt's always funny how people come in from all over for SXSW and assume Austin will be some bustling metropolis with big-city amenities. Did you not notice "downtown" includes only a few square blocks?
- wavefunction 13y agoThe unofficial city bird is the (construction) Crane, define few? Generally that means 2-3. Is there such a thing as hypobole?
- lolo_ 13y agoI don't think being able to catch a cab, at all, is a 'big-city amenity'. Also keep in mind Austin is one of the biggest growing cities in the entire US. etc. I could keep on arguing the point, but I nuked my previous account on here because of petty negativity like this, so I'd rather not. Thankfully everybody I've met in person here has been incredibly friendly and hospitable which has left a big impression on me about Austin and the US in general. I will take that as my example, not this mean-spirited comment.
- rjf90 13y agoYet another example of society acclimating to disruptive technology.
- javajosh 13y agoYou'd think they'd do anything they could to avoid drunk driving. I hope that if anyone gets hurt or killed during SXSW by a drunk driver the victim sues the hell out of the APD for making it more likely there will be drunk drivers on the road.
- exelius 13y agoThe lack of cabs in Austin is a normal situation; they just don't exist. There are something like 250 licensed taxis in the city. You really can't hail them down like in other cities either; most drivers have scheduled pickups for most of the night. You really need either a car or a shuttle bus for SXSW. It's just how it is in the US outside the northeast, Chicago or San Francisco. Also, even though the "minimum price" is $55, Uber's "surge pricing" is requiring a $125 minimum fare.
- seanmcdirmid 13y agoThey hang out at the airport and you can order one for a morning pickup. Austin isn't that bad, its just not geared to locals or bar hoppers (but Austin is quite walkable).
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- sehugg 13y agoI dunno, I've been on a (authorized) shuttle at SXSW driven by a meth-head whereupon at the end of the trip everyone was sheet-white and couldn't say a word. Could Uber be worse?
- tptacek 13y agoNo, most probably not. But the public policy for Austin must consider not just Uber, but any other company who would take advantage of the flex that would enable Uber to profitably operate there. It's Uber and Lyft now, but it's shady companies by the 10s and 20s afterwards. I like Uber a lot, and hope it survives in Chicago, but I understand why the issue is tricky.
- tsotha 13y agoIt's not about safety. It's about money.
- DanBC 13y agoDid anyone take the driver's information and report him? (Or her?) This is one of the supposed advantages of the regulated systems - people report dangerous drivers who then lose their ability to be drivers.
- diakritikal 13y ago"Someone should tell the folks at the police department before they start fining Uber drivers or scaring attendees away from using the service." I live in the central belt of Scotland, if a taxi here in Glasgow or Edinburgh cost a minimum of $55 there would be a civil insurrection. I'm frankly amazed that the crux of this story is having a go at the cops and not anyone who thinks $55 minimum for a taxi is OK.
- kevcampb 13y ago$55 isn't the minimum cost for a taxi, it's for pre booked private hire
- tptacek 13y agoFor what it's worth, if you didn't already know: Uber doesn't serve Austin, or didn't just a few months ago when I was out there last. It's not like Austin is pulling the rug out from under Uber. It's kind of irritating to me that Uber would pretend to serve Austin during SXSW. If you're going to serve a municipality, put your chips on the table and slug it out for real.
- nRike 13y agoI'm at SXSW and realized they're only serving trips when you're in downtown, so yes, Uber already works here now.
- tptacek 13y agoIIRC Uber did SXSW for '13 too, but they didn't stick around; Uber had no Austin service at all back in November.
- keyhole_downs 13y agoI heard Michael buble will do a private concert for you if you hire an Uber driver. But I mc don't know if that's true or not.
- natrius 13y agoIt is illegal for Uber to operate in Austin the way they do in other cities. During SXSW, Uber offers free UberX (since it's illegal to charge, but giving free rides is legit) and paid Uber Black, which probably falls under normal limo rules. Uber isn't doing anything wrong here. Austin's politicians are, because their campaign funds come from the taxi lobby.
- tptacek 13y agoThey don't offer Uber Black outside SXSW either. They seem to be in Austin because they want the attention of tourists, not because they want to go to bat for the people of Austin. Correction welcome.
- gojomo 13y agoWhen will APD do something about those slow, dangerous, absurd pedicabs?
- tsotha 13y ago"Permitted transportation services" has kind of a Soviet ring to it.
- Jugurtha 13y agoWell, people aren't 6 year olds and the Police isn't their parents. The Police saying something doesn't mean their words shouldn't be let to be gone with the wind, whose direction is, well, south by south west. In case you're wondering, what I said above is a tactful way to say "Fuck off".
- jessaustin 13y agoSo, umm, bring a bicycle? Maybe there are some for rent? Austin isn't particularly hilly, is it?
- shiftpgdn 13y agoAustin is incredibly hilly.
- Jgrubb 13y agoIn the "hill country", no less.
- driverdan 13y agoNo it isn't. SF is incredibly hilly. Austin has a few hills and not many downtown.
- shiftpgdn 13y agoI'm guessing you state this as a person that has never been to Austin. Travis County[1]: Highest elevation 1420ft Lowest elevation 425ft San Francisco: Highest elevation 925 ft (282 m) Lowest elevation 0 ft (0 m) Thanks for your baseless statement though.
- driverdan 13y agoI'm the cofounder of Spokefly[1]. We have plenty of bicycles available for SXSW attendees. However it has been rainy and cold so there are good reasons to want to use a cab. 1: https://www.spokefly.com https://www.spokefly.com
- driverdan 13y agoI live in Austin. The cab situation here is terrible. There aren't enough cabs when it's busy, drivers often violate the law by refusing credit cards or denying rides. Last night I was downtown (during SXSW) and tried to get a cab for 45 min. The first one that stopped tried scamming me by telling me it would be $20. I told him no way and he drove off. The second one asked where I was going and acted like he didn't know where it was (very common numbered street any idiot would know about) and told me he didn't want to go there. Both violated their licenses. The whole time I was also trying to get Uber X. Eventually I got an Uber car. It was worth the wait to not have to ride with one of those asshole cabbies. We really need to change the laws here and crack down on these cabs.
- m0llusk 13y agoThis could be some of the best publicity and promotion that Uber ever gets, and they didn't even have to pay. Having cops tell a group of independent and creative people what to do is brilliant.