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.