In defense of Uber

A few months ago, I had penned some thoughts about the ride sharing battles taking place in Continental Europe, be it the mytaxi or the Lyft’s or the Uber’s of this world. Now, having finally moved back to the Bay I have been a liberal experimenter in all forms of the shared economy to get a better hang on how things move state-side. After having taken over 40 odd Uber/ Lyft rides and having a cheerful discussion with every driver from Moscow to San Francisco and Mexico I would like to revisit and re-examine those deductions.

In San Francisco, the traditional cab business has taken a nose-dive with the regular taxi cab companies losing close to 65% of their regular business and warnings that the viability of their enterprise was at stake. This figure was not surprising; if you’d just take a walk and look around; you would find just as many Ubers and mustachioed Lyfts as regular cabs. Armed with a tech savvy population primed to use the latest apps, and discount after discount offered by the deep pocketed Uber if I was surprised of something it would be questioning why the drop wasn’t even more dramatic!

Upon closer examination of the claim that Uber was destroying the livelihood of the taxi driver, I believe that this is a fallacy since in many locations a taxi driver (if his/ her car met Uber/ Lyft requirements) could become an Uber/ Lyft driver as well. Issues such as “Uber’s dont’ know the neighborhood, or they have not passed the  KNOWLEDGE in London ” fall short since navigation technology has progressed to the point to render memorizing entire maps and routes irrelevant. Couple this to addition of user based services such as Waze and I daresay technology trumps the brain.

The two segments that ARE being affected (and consequently the loudest complainers) are the taxi-dispatch companies and the local governments. The first is simply being automated by a service which is more efficient and transparent and well, the second loses on a expensive medallion (or the permit to drive) revenue. If there is a danger to the taxi/ Uber driver in the future, is that an indiscriminate issue of too many Uber “permits” would create too high a supply and not enough economical demand to feed so many drivers. It may not impact the person who would like to make a few bucks on the side, but would turn out to be a risky proposition for those who are leasing new cars just to drive Uber. It sounds tempting to make a quick buck – but driving cabs for long hours is not for the faint hearted…

I am less concerned of issues such as market dominance and monopolization – both from a free market and regulation perspective. In the former, any attempt towards the same would see the rise of alternatives emerging to offering cheaper alternatives (since the technology itself is not unique), and in the latter – governments have time and time again shown the willingness to step in; in this case the Uber would once again become like the regulated “yellow taxis” of old.

But for now, they are here to stay – and all moves to provide efficient, safe and effective transportation to the masses must be applauded and encouraged. GO Uber!