So basically, Lyft wins in CA? Ubers out and Lyft will comply and can finally raise the prices on rides however they want. Am I missing something?
Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California
61–70 of 887 posts
Re: Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California
#62Golden opportunity for the taxicab industry to get its act together and compete on a semi-level playing field.
The corruption here is incredible - the taxi cab industry had insurance of like $20K per accident (talk to the women who got brain damage), would never pickup in bad areas AND paid their workers as.... independent contractors!! You think your taxi driver is a W2 employee - please think again. The number of carve outs in this new "principled" rule is incredible, and more industries keep asking for them (freelance writ…
> You think your taxi driver is a W2 employee - please think again.
Indeed, the "We should return to taxicabs" argument reminds me of a Mozilla employee's comment where they called out how much different people's expectations are of Chrome & Google, than of Firefox & Mozilla: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24122017. Yes, many things are wrong with gig driving.. but driving a taxi meant either making very little (renting the cab & medallion) or incurring an incredible debt load to buy a medallion. Medallions/arbitrary exclusivity isn't going to solve the pay problem (let alone deliver the service that riders now expect), and the taxi industry still won't let medallions die.
Re: Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California
#63We’re legally unequipped to deal well with gig workers. They’re arguably neither contractors nor employees, and shoe horning them into either category will inevitably lead to some absurdities.
In austria we have something in between called "Neue selbständige".
They are basically a contractor but are not required to register as a company.
They are still forced to have a accident, health and pension insurance but not a unemplyoment insurance(like employees have).
Doesn't apply to uber though afaik.
Re: Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
And also sounds great for those that now have to wait for an hour+ for a taxi or maybe not have a ride at all.
This was the killer feature for those too young to remember a life before Uber. Back when I used to drink at bars it was so frustrating to call different cab companies and have them all say they're "5 minutes away." I felt and continue to feel no sorrow for those cab companies that Uber decimated.
Or not being able to get a cab because you're going to a place they don't want to drive (it was way more common in NYC before Uber for a cabbie to ask where you're going before you get in), or the driver doesn't like something about your look (clothing, group, color, etc), etc.
Re: Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
This was the killer feature for those too young to remember a life before Uber. Back when I used to drink at bars it was so frustrating to call different cab companies and have them all say they're "5 minutes away." I felt and continue to feel no sorrow for those cab companies that Uber decimated.
I also remember the extremely poor customer service provided by taxi cabs. Dirty cars, rude drivers who acted as if they were doing you a favor instead of engaging in a business transaction. The taxi cartels are no better than Uber and Lyft corporations for sure.
Let's not forget the outrageous prices.
Re: Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California
#66We’re legally unequipped to deal well with gig workers. They’re arguably neither contractors nor employees, and shoe horning them into either category will inevitably lead to some absurdities.
> We’re legally unequipped to deal well with gig workers. Yes we are equipped to deal well with gig workers, it's just that Uber doesn't want to play by the rules and want to have it both ways. Let drivers set their own fare, for starter. "Gig workers" aren't a new category of workers just because you use some corporate newspeak to describe these workers.
> Let drivers set their own fare, for starter
Uber has allowed this since June [1].
Re: Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California
#67There is zero barrier to entry for a rideshare service. (Just ask the city of Austin.) Absent COVID, competitors would be coming out of the woodwork to supply this market with fairly-paid drivers. That means the cost of a ride will double, but that simply means we'll be paying taxicab rates for much better service than taxis provided in the past. We've known all along that Uber's prices were too low to be sustainable…
This. During the period where Uber and Lyft weren't operating in Austin, there were several local alternatives that popped up right away, worked just fine, operated within local regs, and that I honestly preferred service-wise. If Austin can do it, I bet California can.
Re: Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California
#68Seems like a fair outcome to me. If they can't operate within the law, they shouldn't operate.
I'm conflicted about this because i believe drivers deserve benefits but also uber should not be forced to pay full benefits for someone who drives just a bit on a weekend night.
Where is the line of hours driven until you get benefits? I dont know, but I think that is the wrong question.
The right question is -- why is this forced onto Uber rather than being a question of national healthcare.
If we offered national healthcare, like many other countries, it would solve the problem across the board. It could be funded by Uber and all other companies through some type of tax. That seems a lot more efficient than trying to solve the problem piecemeal.
Re: Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
If Uber hasn't been preparing internally for the possibility of losing this suit, they've been irresponsible in the hopes that California would go "oh shit, they're gonna shoot the hostage".
Well, I'm sure they have. They fundamentally disagree with the outcome, and so they will just not operate in California. Nobody will because the business model won't allow you to pay people enough money without charging too much. I also fundamentally agree with Uber and others here. They created a platform for someone to make a few bucks. If I sell something on Etsy they don't have to all of a sudden pay for my healt…
[deleted]
Re: Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California
#70Golden opportunity for the taxicab industry to get its act together and compete on a semi-level playing field.
In NYC, the Curb app has helped close the gap enormously.