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Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

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Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People freely working is not exploitation. Full time driving jobs already exist if you wanted that instead of freelance rideshare driving.

People freely worked under abusive conditions in factories in the Industrial Revolution before the labour rights movement. No one wants to go back to that.

This is a tired argument. Please name the abusive conditions that actually apply here.

AB5 affects more than just ridesharing too. Many writers, artists and other creative professionals are suffering as well. What abuse are they affected by?

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#142

When I moved to CA, I put off getting a CA license for years. I always told myself I'd go to the DMV and do the paperwork, then I waited long enough to find out I would have to retake the test, until finally I just resigned to using Uber and Lyft all the time. I never thought I would need it and so I never made it a priority. So this news really sucks, as you haven't been able to schedule DMV appointments at all and…

DMV is offering appointments again in many locations.

I feel your pain though... living in SF made it a little too easy to just ignore the DL thing, and then I moved to Europe and lived in big cities with excellent public transportation.

Now that I'm finally doing it I'm kicking myself for not just getting it done years ago even if I might not have used it much.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#143
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The average person's response to being told they'd have to take another driver's test isn't to replace driving with Uber/Lyft. You're in a unique position to be able to afford to replace all driving with ridesharing, since gas+insurance+maintenance costs are much lower than say, a month of commuting to an office via rideshare.

There are tons of people who could have replaced their car with rideshare and maybe some public transit, and still come out cheaper. Insurance, parking, fuel, depreciation, maintenance, and random events add up. If you don't need it for commuting, most of the recurring rideshare costs vanish. If you need to make an extra long occasional trip, car rental for a day or two outweighs ownership. Edit: To be clear, anythin…

An unlimited use trolley/bus pass is $150/month in my city. Suppose I spend $200/month on gas/insurance/maintenance. The marginal cost of having commutes that take half as much time, to me, is worth it. Otherwise, you could be spending 30 more hours a month commuting to save $50.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#144
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% of the thousands of Uber drivers I've talked to over the past 8 years have said work flexibility is their greatest advantage. Many of them already have other commitments and drive for extra income. If they wanted a FT driving job, they would've gotten one.

AB5 left that flexibility in place. It allows for flexible hours and the ability to pick and choose the rides they accept. Nothing about this legislation or the court case before it took that flexibility away. Nothing about it requires people to be "full time" either.

True but the problem is that it mandates presence-based earnings (by the hour) and not output-based. That is the reason it does not work with the model Uber & Lyft built.

Obviously, Lyft and Uber could've anticipated this and could've decided months ago to work on an alternative. Instead they let it come to a head and now they are trying to a dramatic PR push to get the law changed.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#145

California has proven itself again and again to be really good at centrally planning the economic activities of individuals so I think this will work out pretty well in the end.

That is why the California economy is collapsing. /s Everybody likes to complain about California. When I was born here it was about 15m people. Now its 40m. If you are unhappy, please leave to a lower cost, lower tax state. People have been predicting California's decline my entire life and the real problem is it can't handle the growth. Also, California has been sucking up employing the young and of mid-west and so…

Do you have a similar "love it or leave it" attitude when people complain about America? Not very Californian of you.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The State of California doesn't care about workers, they care about the tens to hundreds of millions of dollars they want from payroll and unemployment taxes, in addition to revenue from automatic withholdings for people whom would otherwise be below the reporting limit.

I think it's reasonable for a government to crack down on businesses where the entire operational structure is designed to subvert that government's tax code and regulations.

I swear people forget how Uber got popular in the first place.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#147
post #29

I suspect that California is going to backpedal on this pretty quickly. Uber and Lyft are popular. Going back to taxis is going to be very unpopular. IMO, if the California Republican party was smart they would make this a wedge issue in the next election. "Elect us, and we'll make it possible to use Uber again."

Who forced Lyft to shut down? Was it the state, or did they freely choose to cease operations? Obviously, spin will characterize this in any way that's advantageous. But nobody 'forced' Lyft to close.

Their business model is on-demand transportation. The business model doesn't work if the workforce is not also on-demand. I don't think that's spin, but maybe society decides that we don't like on-demand businesses.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#148

California has proven itself again and again to be really good at centrally planning the economic activities of individuals so I think this will work out pretty well in the end.

It does sound like sarcasm, and I certainly hope it is.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The average person's response to being told they'd have to take another driver's test isn't to replace driving with Uber/Lyft. You're in a unique position to be able to afford to replace all driving with ridesharing, since gas+insurance+maintenance costs are much lower than say, a month of commuting to an office via rideshare.

Including parking and insurance deductibles for all the times their car will be broken into in SF?

This is no joke, getting parking for an apartment (pretty much required unless you live in the sunset or have deeded parking) is like $250/mo+ and your car will probably be broken into depending on how often you park it on the street

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d think a good ole fashioned taxi would work. Is there a reason you couldn’t or wouldn’t use one?

In California, most cities are very spread out so taking taxis anywhere are super expensive. You can't just hail one down on the street like other cities, you have to order one over the phone to come pick you up from where ever you are.

There are taxi apps that are similar in functionality to Uber and Lyft.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/curb-the-taxi-app/id299226386

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