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Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to taxis

reuters.com

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Re: Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to taxis

#71

Post by karma_vaccum123 »

acidburnNSA wrote: post #14
rev_bird wrote: post #2

This is a pretty surreal move: >The law says the money will help taxi businesses to adopt "new technologies and advanced service, safety and operational capabilities" and to support workforce development... [Larry Meister, manager of the Boston area's Independent Taxi Operator's Association] said the money could go toward improving a smartphone app his association has started using, or to other big needs. I'm not an…

I mostly agree with you, and I would have wholeheartedly agreed with you 2 weeks ago, but I just read a book ("Listen, Liberal" by Thomas Frank) that makes some interesting points about how liberals have shifted from representing working people to representing professionals, and to worshiping innovation. While free trade and disruptive technology is good for the professional class, it inherently increases inequality.…

> but I think someone needs to be thinking of the swaths of working people who are afraid of losing their jobs.

Yet the government watches small businesses fail all the time with nothing more than an offer of unemployment insurance.

Why should the government have a special care for taxis but no special care for a pizza parlor that goes under? Do they offer to retrain the workers with more advanced appliances?

In this case, it is merely the threat of competition! This is truly amazing.

Re: Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to taxis

#72

Post by mikerichards »

acidburnNSA wrote: post #14
rev_bird wrote: post #2

This is a pretty surreal move: >The law says the money will help taxi businesses to adopt "new technologies and advanced service, safety and operational capabilities" and to support workforce development... [Larry Meister, manager of the Boston area's Independent Taxi Operator's Association] said the money could go toward improving a smartphone app his association has started using, or to other big needs. I'm not an…

I mostly agree with you, and I would have wholeheartedly agreed with you 2 weeks ago, but I just read a book ("Listen, Liberal" by Thomas Frank) that makes some interesting points about how liberals have shifted from representing working people to representing professionals, and to worshiping innovation. While free trade and disruptive technology is good for the professional class, it inherently increases inequality.…

Yep, only in the sick mind of a leftist is innovation bad...thus the "worshipping innovation"

You need to start doing some more "new thinking" for yourself.

Re: Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to taxis

#73

Post by yazaddaruvala »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #67
yazaddaruvala wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are more working class folks, who this disadvantages than advantages. I'm sure the people of Mass who use Uber, would look at this as an extra tax put onto them. And Uber will cost more. For example, when regulation (which was needed) around driver verification came out: I remember a very clear message on the Uber app about why the price of each ride went up $1.

I would absolutely love for someone to leak Uber's user demographic data. I find it hard to believe it's working class people regularly using it, and not just upper middle class professionals and above primarily (except on nights out to the bar; in that case I could see the demo skewed).

My bad, I should have tried to clarify. It seems we have different definitions of the working class.

I'm an upper middle class professional, but I consider myself in the "working class". Otherwise, I'm not sure why I waste 40-60 hours every week on other people's problems :P

Re: Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to taxis

#74

Post by xyzzy4 »

yazaddaruvala wrote: post #68
xyzzy4 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not useless. If something is too expensive in one place (5x-10x in Massachusetts compared to India) then it's evidence of some serious problems. My own theory is that the immigration policies of the US prevent enough unskilled workers from filling the roads with lots of Uber drivers.

> then it's evidence of some serious problems. There is still currently a human in the car. Human's wage's are hopefully in proportion to the cost of living. Are you suggesting we actively force Uber drivers to compete for unlivable wages? You must really like the idea of self driving cars :)

It would only be unlivable because rent is so high in Massachusetts as well. This is due to over-zealous zoning policies and enforcement, which prevents new real estate from being built.

Re: Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to taxis

#75

Post by ben_jones »

rev_bird wrote: post #2

This is a pretty surreal move: >The law says the money will help taxi businesses to adopt "new technologies and advanced service, safety and operational capabilities" and to support workforce development... [Larry Meister, manager of the Boston area's Independent Taxi Operator's Association] said the money could go toward improving a smartphone app his association has started using, or to other big needs. I'm not an…

The counter point I think is that if the persistence of a fading industry is in the public interest, then it is within the government's rights to give tax payer money to them. The only corollary I can immediately draw is the Detroit auto industry in 2008/2009 which was kept alive by bailouts despite the fact that it was not able to compete in the global market.

I don't know if added competition by taxi companies is in the public interest, but it might be.

Re: Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to taxis

#76

Post by mikerichards »

0xFFC wrote: post #27
rev_bird wrote: post #2

This is a pretty surreal move: >The law says the money will help taxi businesses to adopt "new technologies and advanced service, safety and operational capabilities" and to support workforce development... [Larry Meister, manager of the Boston area's Independent Taxi Operator's Association] said the money could go toward improving a smartphone app his association has started using, or to other big needs. I'm not an…

> I don't want to see cab drivers turn into homeless drifters This is wrong. This is exactly how they want you to think. Cab drivers are not going to become homeless or jobless, they will work(drive) for a new companies(I agree if market is healthy enough, which is not).But they frame the issue kind of like "losing job" and "becoming homeless" just because they don't want to change. (I said cab drivers because it is…

You people always have to preface with "...I'm always for regulation and government interference...but".

Re: Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to taxis

#77

Post by function_seven »

maverick_iceman wrote: post #41
raziel414 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can provide an example. I live in Seattle, and use "One Bus Away" everyday. It provides a map showing of all the public bus stops, and real time estimates for bus arrivals at each stop.

One Bus Away was developed by University of Washington students, not government bureaucrats.

That's not really relevant to the GGP comment, though. The government can take the tax money and contract out the development work on an app. Or use cheap student labor.

Re: Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to taxis

#78

Post by Dylan16807 »

AndyNemmity wrote: post #70
Dylan16807 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wanting to show up when you search for taxi doesn't tell you if it's a taxi. Like a cable company showing up when you search DSL, it's not strange at all. UberTAXI gets you non-uber taxi cars, more or less. That's not their main service, and doesn't tell you whether their main service is a taxi service.

I don't get any cable companies that show up when I search DSL.

Okay?

It's just an example of a product with a close substitute product.

I'm having trouble prodding google into showing many ads, but personally when I search for dsl service I see an ad for home 4G internet.

Re: Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to taxis

#79

Post by lttlrck »

spriggan3 wrote: post #24
xname2 wrote: post #19

It should be totally opposite: 1) uber drivers are in lower income than taxis drivers 2) uber economy is new and innovative, while taxi is old and dying

or better 3) uber is a taxi company and should follow the same laws and regulations as other taxi companies. Which would of course destroy uber's business model which is based on dodging the law, sorry, "disruption".

Or they have to pay this tax instead of extra regulation and the tax goes to the taxi companies as compensation.

Re: Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to taxis

#80

Post by lttlrck »

spriggan3 wrote: post #24
xname2 wrote: post #19

It should be totally opposite: 1) uber drivers are in lower income than taxis drivers 2) uber economy is new and innovative, while taxi is old and dying

or better 3) uber is a taxi company and should follow the same laws and regulations as other taxi companies. Which would of course destroy uber's business model which is based on dodging the law, sorry, "disruption".

Or they have to pay this tax instead of extra regulation and the tax goes to the taxi companies as compensation.
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