The City of Cambridge is suing to overturn the state’s ruling allowing Uber, maker of a smartphone app that people use for private car transportation, to continue operating despite complaints from traditional taxi services.
A Massachusetts agency in August initially ordered Uber to cease operations, contending that its system of determining fares based on GPS-location technology was untested. The agency, the Massachusetts Division of Standards, then abruptly reversed itself after an outcry from users and others in the local tech sector reached a sympathetic Governor Deval Patrick.
Comments
"“The taxi industry is heavily regulated for reasons of public safety, consumer protection, and fair competition,” said Cambridge city attorney Elizabeth Lashway." As a consumer, I only encounter a fraction of the regulations, and some of them strike me as antiquated, illogical, or unfair. In these days of high gasoline prices, and concerns over "carbon footprint", I find it unpardonable that when I take a taxi to the airport, that taxi is prohibited from picking up a fare on leaving the airport, and when I take a taxi from the airport, that taxi is prohibited from picking up a fare on the return trip to the airport. Forcing taxicabs to make the return trip empty, is a waste of gas, and produces unnecessary additional air pollution. With today's information technology, it should be possible to utilize the travel of the taxicabs more efficiently, while still maintaining an equitable distribution of access to passengers between the airport companies, and those in the surrounding towns. I don't know if the high fees, that taxicabs have to pay for use of credit cards, is a fair price for the service; but the consumer should be offered a discount (or invited to reduce the tip) when paying cash.