Because House Bill 907 is no longer active, Uber’s unregulated and irresponsible taxi service will continue to operate throughout Atlanta — thumbing its nose at the city’s longstanding public safety requirements for taxis.
There have been a number of articles in the media recently regarding the so-called “new ideas” in personal transportation. Unfortunately, most contain as much misinformation as information.
The word “taxicab” comes from “taximeter,” not the other way around as many think. Taxicabs diverged from livery cabs after they began using taximeters. Livery cars, which include for-hire limousines and sedans, must be prearranged precisely because they don’t use meters, so the price must be determined in advance of the trip. Taximeters allow the price is finalized at the end of the trip — which, in turn, allows taxicabs to be spontaneous.
The use of taximeters sparked the need for regulation. Taxicabs are required to display the meter price, vehicle and company identification and contact phone number on both sides of the vehicle to protect the public and the consumer. They are required to display a top sign, usually marked “Taxi,” to announce that it’s a public vehicle for hire, in order to prevent discrimination. They must carry special, expensive, vehicle-for-hire insurance, and be regularly inspected to protect public safety. They also must display the driver’s permit and the taximeter in plain sight to protect the consumer.
Since each city has different needs, taxicabs are regulated at the local level, requiring a separate permit for each jurisdiction in which they operate. Enter Uber and Lyft, who adamantly refuse to admit they are taxis. I was told recently by a senior policy adviser to the mayor that the city has no authority over Uber and Lyft because they aren’t taxicabs. I vehemently disagree. They are taxicabs because they use meters (albeit through an app whose algorithm calculations remain a closely guarded secret).
People often complain that some taxicabs don’t take credit cards. But Uber and Lyft don’t take cash. Uber and Lyft discriminate against poor people who have neither a credit card nor a smartphone. They also discriminate against people with disabilities, since they don’t offer wheelchair-accessible vehicles.
The bottom line is that anything with a meter is a taxicab. It isn’t that the rules don’t apply to outfits like Uber and Lyft; it’s simply that these outfits brazenly break the rules.
My regulatory compliance costs are over $20,000 per year. Theirs are zero, because they simply ignore the regulations they don’t like. In that light, these outfits are not earning their market share; they are stealing it.
These companies are more than just an app. They are taxi companies. As such, they should be held to the same regulatory and safety standards as the rest of us in the taxi industry.
Scott McCandliss is a driver for Buckhead Safety Cab in Atlanta.
