Cabbies are Contractors, not employees, Court holds

Massachusetts’ top court says taxi drivers may be treated as independent contractors rather than employees.  This ruling should come as no surprise since taxi drivers have been being paid and treated as independent contractors almost everywhere for decades.  

The decision, reported by BetaBoston.com, is in response to a suit against traditional taxi companies. The report suggests that a different rule may apply to new wave companies like Uber and Lyft. Uber at least, is being sued in California, successfully so far, for denying employment benefits to its drivers. Uber has argued in response to that suit that its drivers -- partners, it calls them-- are also not employees.

The decision itself is here.

Blind Suing the Rich

Uber is facing a new legal challenge: a lawuit by blind passengers accusing it of violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act because it will not transport guide dogs. U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins in San Jose, California, said the plaintiffs could pursue a claim that Uber is a “travel service” subject to potential liability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Abuse is only the beginning

In what may be a classic case of an everyday event becoming news simply because it was caught on video, a New York Police Department detective was forced to apologize when his angry exchange with an Uber driver went viral. The detective, Patrick Cherry, was placed on modified assignment. He also faces suspension, reassignment or loss of his clearance.

"I was just angry, at that moment, for that exchange." Cherry said. "If the conversation initially went differently, we probably would have shook hands at the end of that encounter."

According to a report by CNN.com, The altercation began after the Uber driver gestured to a detective in an unmarked car to use his blinker after he was allegedly attempting to park without using it.

The video picks up seconds after the detective began yelling at the driver and mocking his accent, and also shows the unmarked car with lights flashing pulled over behind the Uber car. 

In the video, the detective tells the driver he has committed "three traffic and law violations" and then becomes irate and uses expletives toward the comparably calm driver. 

A visibly upset Police Commissioner William Bratton on Wednesday said the detective was placed on modified assignment pending an investigation. 

'No good cop can watch that without a wince,' [Bratton] told reporters. "As all good cops know ... the officer made their jobs a little bit harder. That kind of anger like that is unacceptable in any encounter; discourtesy like that and language like that is unacceptable. That officer's behavior reflected poorly on everyone who wears our uniform."

According to CNN, the Cherry added: "I've got news for you. The only reason you're not in handcuffs and going to jail and getting summons in the precinct is because I have things to do. That's the only reason that's not happening. Because this isn't important enough for me. You're not important enough. Don't ever do that again."

While the video makes good television, it highlights at least two larger, more serious issues: Cab drivers are continually subject to abusive language (and much worse) both from passengers and from law enforcement. If they retaliate or respond in kind, they face penalties from taxi regulators. Even worse, at least in New York, if a cab driver is arrested, his license may be immediately suspended, regardless of the circumstances, the paucity of evidence underlying the arrest and without regard to the driver's record. This last policy is being challenged in a federal lawsuit called Nnebe v. Daus.

Annie sang: "Tomorrow, Tomorrow, you're always a day away!"

And so it is with the Taxi of Tomorrow.

The planed rollout has been delayed again by a ruling by the New York Court of Appeals. The court, the state's highest, granted a stay in a continuing appeal over the vehicle.

The puts efforts to phase in the Nissan NV200 as the only acceptable New York yellow taxi on hold  while the court decides an appeal brought by a a prominent taxi owners group. The NYC TLC  had April 20 as the date after which most taxi owners would have to switch to the new vehicle when they retire their cabs.

The Greater New York Taxi Association has opposed the NV200, arguing that the Bloomberg administration exceeded its authority by trying to force drivers to buy a certain vehicle. Traditionally, the TLC had established standards for taxicabs, but allowed any car that met those standards to be used as a yellow cab. The TLC's long-delayed plan does not apply to livery cabs or black cars, which now outnumber yellow cabs. 

Chicago bites back after cabbie's case is dismissed

The City of Chicago has billed a taxi driver for $10,000 in court costs after the driver’s suit claiming that the drivers should be deemed city employees was dismissed.

The driver, Melissa Callahan said, “That was a big shock,” and she is pursuing an appeal. Callahan will need lots of luck. Cab drivers have, for years, rarely been deemed employees of taxi companies. How they might be considered city employees is unfathomable.

An overview of 'the Dirty War'

Bloomberg business has a feature on what it calls "Big Taxi's" war on Uber. Its thesis: "These firms want to kill the young juggernaut—or at least buy themselves enough time to develop rival car-hailing apps." 

But: 

“Probably no amount of media spin will win this one for Big Taxi. Uber is a textbook example of what happens when an aggressive newcomer enters a business that’s gone unchallenged for decades.”

Later, it describes Uber’s winning strategy as based on defiance of the rules, followed by capitulation by regulators:

In the U.S. and abroad—where most transportation regulations dictate things like minimum pricing and advance booking times—Uber’s strategy has been to launch services regardless of the rules and then leverage its popularity to force regulators to adapt. So far, that approach has succeeded in about 30 markets in North America, including Colorado, Illinois, and California, where new laws on licensing and safety have been created for so-called transportation network companies like Uber, or are in the process of being approved.

Seems like the war is a two way street, 

Uber Getting Huger in New York

Uber says it plans to add 10,000 cars to its existing NYC fleet of 13,000 all in 2015, according to a report in Crains New York Business. It will also bring some of its engineering operations to the city. Meanwhile, the company is saying that that it wants the TLC to grow to better handle the volume of new licensing requests from Uber drivers.

Uber is Font of Information -- If on its own terms

Uber, which has recently had its NYC bases suspended for refusing to provide data to regulators, has released a font of information based on its own survey of drivers it employs.

Uber claims that since its launch  in 2012, it has attracted over 16,000 drivers to its app-based taxi service in San Francisco alone.  Over 11,000 are still active, the company says, which is more than the number of traditional cabdrivers in the city. "Many" of these drivers are part-timers working fewer than 34 hours a week.

The company also says that its drivers earn more than other taxi drivers in the various cities in which the company operates.

Newsweek points out that "the number of drivers who responded to the poll was startlingly small," especially when compared with the 160,000 drivers the company says it employs. Just  601 drivers across 20 cities responded to the study. But based on those who chose to respond, Uber determined that 78% of drivers are satisfied with the Uber platform and that their and the average hourly earnings are $19, though some drivers in New York have an earnings of almost $30 per hour.  The company says its drivers are attracted by "work-life balance" and the ability to be one's own boss.

Uber sent its survey was sent to about 5,464 drivers, meaning about 4,863 drivers declined to reply or indicated otherwise that they were not willing to take the survey. Had all the drivers replied, the survey would represent about 3.4 percent of Uber’s more than 160,00 U.S. drivers, Newsweek said.  Many drivers were wary about answering honestly questions about their own employer. 

Newsweek's skepticism is more than justified. Indeed, it's odd that Uber would publish data about its business based on any kind of driver survey since Uber presumably knows exactly how much its drivers earn and how much they work. 

“This report is designed to impress American mayors and disguise the predatory nature of Uber’s relationship to its drivers — the company collects money, while the drivers accept all of the risk,” Dave Sutton, spokesman for a public campaign by the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association, told the Washington Post. The Post also reports that In December, 162,037 “active drivers” completed at least four or more trips for the service. The number of new drivers signing up has doubled every six months for the past two years.

Here is a link to the full report.
Uber's own summary of the study can be seen here.

Uber Appeal Denied - Must 'Fess Up unless Commish gives a pass

A New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission judge has rejected Uber's appeal of an order issued two weeks ago suspending its base licenses. The car service must now turn over data on all trips for its 12,700 car fleet, the Daily News reports.

But just as the original order never went into effect -- the TLC immediately stayed it when Uber said it would appeal-- Uber says that the suspensions will somehow have no effect on its operations. The company is expected to petition TLC chairwoman Meera Joshi to set aside the order.

A TLC judge suspended five of Uber’s six bases in New York City after on January 7. Unlike taxi drivers who are made to serve their suspensions immediately, Uber was allowed to operate with a temporary license pending the appeal. Now, Uber may still operate by resort to its sixth base. All of Uber's bases are virtual in any event-- that is, none of Uber's cars ever have to park there, or even visit.

Virginia Makes Apps Almost Legal

Uber and Lyft are moving closer to permanent legal status in the state of Virginia, the Washington Post reports, after a hearing where state senators agreed on a "compromise" regulatory framework for the app-based taxi services.

The two companies have been operating in Virginia on a temporary basis since August, WaPo says. Initially told they were breaking the law and could not operate in the commonwealth. But, as is their pattern, the companies quickly won interim permits from the administration of Gov. Terry McAuliffe amid pressure from customers and high-powered lobbyists.

This, of course, is the Washington way.

Under new legislation, app-based taxi services would pay $100,000 for a license to operate. Drivers will have to undergo background checks, and the company or the driver must have insurance that covers up to $1 million in accident damages.

Boston Cabbies Battle Apps; Sue Uber & Lyft

Smartphone-based car services like Uber and Lyft are allowed to operate in Boston without the same oversight traditional taxi companies and drivers face, according to federal lawsuit brought by taxi drivers and owners.

The Boston Taxi Owners Association filed the Jan. 16 complaint along with Raphael Ophir and Joseph Pierre, two Massachusetts-based owners of taxicab medallions, taking aim at the city, Massachusetts and various public officials, according to Courthouse News and various reports:

Taxi medallions can cost in the neighborhood of $700,000, and are mandatory for traditional taxi companies to operate in the city, but the Internet-based ride services, described in the complaint as "Transportation Network Companies," are not required to pay or apply for such documents. Shift drivers pay medallion owners rent, upwards of $500 per week, to drive their cabs.

“The City has . . . permitted the de facto taxi companies to flout the law with open impunity by deploying an invasion of unlicensed cars and drivers with no requirement of any medallion” or other city taxi regulations, the lawsuit said, as quoted by the Boston Globe.

The taxi owners say the city is violating the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because ride-hailing operations provide the same services as their companies, but are treated differently.

South Carolina bans Uber, but Gov shows Luv

The Uber taxi service has been ordered by South Carolina regulators to cease operations in the state. But it says it is the process of seeking permission to legally do business there.

"We have challenged the order and remain committed to providing South Carolinians with greater opportunity and choice," the company said. Meanwhile, Gov. Nikki Haley called for the order to be lifted, saying Uber provides economic opportunities and consumer choice to people of South Carolina.

A.P. Says 'Ride-sharing' it Ain't!

Companies like Uber and Lyft have often referred to their services as "ride-sharing."  But the Associated Press now has banned the term as inaccurate. Uber-like services, AP says, should be called "ride-hailing."

Why not just call them car services?  After all, the rides are not shared, they are paid for, like all other taxis. So you could call Uber cars taxis.

Uber hires

Yahoo News reports that Uber is adding to its roster of ex-public officials. The taxi app service has just hired Michael Allegretti, a one-time congressional candidate, political consultant and Manhattan Institute scholar.  Locally, Allegretti joins Matthew Wing, previously Governor Anthony Cuomo’s press secretary, and former TLC official Ashwini Chhabra, whose hiring last fall seems to be under investigation by the city based on suspicions that he had been secretly reporting to Uber while still working for the commission.

China Bans Uber

Associated Press in Beijing

Friday 9 January 201510.44 EST

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China has banned drivers of private cars from offering services through ride-hailing apps, according to the Guardian and other reports.

Only licensed taxis may use ride-hailing apps, the ministry of transport announced on Friday. Such apps are hugely popular in China, and the ministry said it needed to protect passengers as well as, it seems, licensed taxi drivers.

“While we encourage innovation, we prohibit private cars from using platforms to participate in the ’hired car’ business,” said a ministry announcement. It said companies that operate ride-hailing apps will be required to make sure no unlicensed drivers use them.

The ruling could be a setback for Uber, the Guardian says, noting that the company faces bans of other challenges in South Korea, India, Europe, California and other markets for using drivers who lack taxi licenses.

Fast Company reports that Uber's operations are facing suspension in cities around the world, including in France, India and Spain, as well as New York City-- to name just a few. The company is marshaling a small army of policy staffers to do battle with local authorities, Fast Company says.

Uber, however, has a pattern of coming into markets without licenses, establishing a demand for its services, and then, if necessary, extracting concessions from regulators allowing it to operate lawfully, but close to its own terms.

China, the Guardia says, already has ride hailing apps like Didi Dache, backed by internet giant Tencent, and Kuaidi Dache, backed by rival Alibaba Group. Those services are used mostly by taxi companies.

A Shut and Open Case

The NYC TLC has suspended five of the six Uber-owned dispatch bases in the City. But just as quickly, it lifted the suspension when Uber appealed (or perhaps simply said it would appeal).  


Two days ago the TLC suspended the bases after the company refused to submit their electronic trip records to the Taxi and Limousine Commission.

Uber has refused to comply with a TLC directive that it turn over the data, saying it would violate their constitutional rights and share trade secrets. The agency needs the data to make decisions that will affect the taxi industry, as well as investigate passenger complaints.

According to TLC flak Allan Fromberg, as quoted by New York Business Journal: "The suspension wasn't technically lifted, but I'm now told that Uber submitted an appeal request very late yesterday, and our policy is to issue them a temporary permit allowing them to operate until the appeal is decided.... We had mentioned that this would be the case if they appealed the ... decision."


One Uber base remained open which apparently allowing Uber operations to continue unaffected in the meantime.

The Great Medallion Crash of 2014

Taxi medallion prices, after rising continually for many years, are continuing to fall, with app-based hailing services like Uber taking the blame. The New York Times reports that in NYC individual taxi medallions, whose owners must drive a taxi for roughly 180 shifts per year, fell to $805,000, down 23 percent from 2013’s peak of $1.05 million. Corporate medallions, which may be owned in fleets, traded on average at $950,000, down 28 percent from their peak.

In New York, yellow taxi business has been cut not just by Uber but by the green or outer borough taxis.  There is a strong feeling among owners of yellow medallions that the TLC is failing to enforce rules that protect their traditional and investment-backed expectation that they will have the exclusive right to street hails, at least in Manhattan.  

The Times reports that medallions are barely selling at all in Chicago and Boston as financing has dried up.