Uber and Lyft approved to pick up passengers at Sky Harbor (Phoenix: taxis, cars)

[Ztonyg]

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V

Sounds like letting the free-market decide what works. What's wrong with that? Aren't conservatives supposed to be AGAINST government intrusion?

Sometimes there is a need for sensible regulation.

[exit2lef]

The Phoenix City Council just gave final approval to the new ground transportation policy. Smartphone-enabled taxi services like Uber & Lyft are expected to begin pickups at the Sky Harbor terminals on June 18.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/trave...tart/84542042/

[cactusland]

My opinion was to support regular taxi companies until recently - after making a reservation and then being told thirty minutes after the cab was supposed to pick me up that they didn't have a driver, amazingly an Uber driver was there and was the most pleasant cab experience I have had to date. I am not surprised they are making a killing and affecting the bottom line. Cabs better shape up.

[D.Rock]

Did not know they weren't approved... Just used one from the airport when I got back from Vegas last week. They are approved in Vegas so I assumed they were allowed here. My bad. I use uber/lyft because it is just so much more convenient here than calling a taxi.

[RubyJune]

It cost me $25 via Lyft to get to the airport. It cost me $60 to get home via taxi.

As of two weeks ago, I couldn't request a Lyft at all, and I couldn't seem to request anything except Uber Select trying to leave the airport. I asked the taxi how much it was, and it was basically the same price as Uber Select quoted me, so I just took the taxi.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Ended up being $20 higher than he quoted and it negated the savings of not parking my car at one of the lots on my vacation. I was LIVID. Why would I ever use a taxi again after being lied to and having no choice but to pay?

I swear, if they don't get allowed at the airports soon, next time I'll take some random shuttle offsite and wait at a corner for the Uber/Lyft before I ever take a taxi again.

[exit2lef]

Some details on the changes coming June 18:

Q&A: Uber and Lyft at Sky Harbor Airport

https://skyharbor.com/Business/Tenan...ortationPolicy

[Voebe]

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V

Great news!

Uber and Lyft approved to pick up passengers at Sky Harbor - ABC15 Arizona

I fail to see how this could be "good" news.

Uber has an appalling reputation as a company, both in terms of bad behavior of their drivers (e.g. rape) and the way they treat their own employees. They also have a very insidious way of conniving to get around existing laws and regulations. On top of that, Phoenix, of all places, should be striving to encourage shared rides, not individual rides, which just add to the traffic and pollution. And the idea that this creates jobs seems equally silly, since it offers a completely unstable situation.

Your praising this as good news seems very short-sighted to me.

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by Voebe

I fail to see how this could be "good" news.

Uber has an appalling reputation as a company, both in terms of bad behavior of their drivers (e.g. rape) and the way they treat their own employees. They also have a very insidious way of conniving to get around existing laws and regulations. On top of that, Phoenix, of all places, should be striving to encourage shared rides, not individual rides, which just add to the traffic and pollution. And the idea that this creates jobs seems equally silly, since it offers a completely unstable situation.

Your praising this as good news seems very short-sighted to me.

Cool story. Don't use them. It's your right to use outdated means of transportation. I'll continue to choose the option that provides the most value to me in terms of price, convenience and service.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by Voebe

I fail to see how this could be "good" news.

Uber has an appalling reputation as a company, both in terms of bad behavior of their drivers (e.g. rape) and the way they treat their own employees.

Read Sexual assault happens via Uber and Lyft, but the statistics are unclear. .

The drivers are contractors. Not employees.

Originally Posted by Voebe

I fail to see how this could be "good" news.

And the idea that this creates jobs seems equally silly, since it offers a completely unstable situation.

Your praising this as good news seems very short-sighted to me.

I refuse to use a taxi because it is a rip off. In my entire life of 50 years, I might have taken a taxi 15 times (almost all of them in Vegas). Most cars are in terrible shape, all too often foreign drivers and not exactly pleasant, they SUCK at driving (I don't feel safe), etc.

Along comes Uber. Economics 101: Budget curve. When you charge under 1/2 the price more people enter the market. If it is a steep slope, a ton of people start to use a taxi-like service. Add in that you get superior service then you add even more NEW people will start to use a product. Like ME! I've used Uber more in the last year than I have used a taxi in my entire life. I love that I can see how your driver is rated before you enter the car, the car is nicer, you can call the driver directly if you want, the price doesn't change, you don't feel obligated to tip, my wife can email me a link so I can see her progress, etc etc. Fact; Uber/Lyft have created many jobs. I'm not saying that there isn't growing pains. They are far from perfect.

Whenever there is a technological paradigm shift, some people get hurt. In this case it is taxi companies and drivers. Do you want to make streaming illegal too? Those poor movie rental shops are going out of business.

[ScottsdaleMark]

Originally Posted by Voebe

I fail to see how this could be "good" news.

Uber has an appalling reputation as a company, both in terms of bad behavior of their drivers (e.g. rape) and the way they treat their own employees. They also have a very insidious way of conniving to get around existing laws and regulations. On top of that, Phoenix, of all places, should be striving to encourage shared rides, not individual rides, which just add to the traffic and pollution. And the idea that this creates jobs seems equally silly, since it offers a completely unstable situation.

Your praising this as good news seems very short-sighted to me.

I'm with you. I use taxis knowing that I am paying more because I believe they are playing by the rules and I don't mind paying more for that. To me, it is a bit like hiring a union tradesman versus a guy off Craigslist. With the taxis, there are a lot more rules and regulations and laws to protect you and your rights. It usually costs more, but on the other hand, it's illegal to price-gouge if you're a taxi driver, whereas ride-sharing services will price-gouge you any chance they get.

Personally speaking, Uber is a company that I can't support. I dislike the way they treat state laws and their employees. Uber's corporate culture, as documented, is pretty appalling, at least in my opinion. Yes, my odds of getting raped or murdered are still pretty low, but those stories hopefully make some people think twice. There's also plenty of things like the behavior of cab companies vs. the behavior of Uber when the terror attacks happened in Australia in 2014...taxi companies were driving people for free; Uber instituted surge pricing of $100 a ride until they were shamed into making the rides free.

If people are on a budget and ridesharing helps them save money, I understand that, but they should go with Lyft. It seems like the less-awful company all around...they're like the friendlier alternative, albeit one that is basically riding Uber's coattails into all these semi-deregulated markets and taking advantage of an unbalanced playing field given that taxi companies still have to play by the laws that protect the consumers and the ridesharing companies do not.