Lyft, Ride Sharing, Taxi Cabs, Tourist Towns, Making A Buck, Monopolies
The first sentence of The Miami Herald Article Saturday says it all, calling Lyft the "renegade" car service. Undercover code enforcement and police officers are busting drivers who are sort of free lance cab drivers.The Lyft company says they screen the drivers to insure the drivers carry enough insurance, their cars are safe, and their driving record is ok.
The Miami Dade County Commission sets cab rates and regulates the number of cabs on the roads. A cab driver's life is not easy. Owning a cab company in a tourist town like Miami is big business. Cab drivers usually rent their vehicles from companies and then work long hours many times just to pay their fixed expenses to the cab company. The cab companies want to keep their monopoly and this is running up against the unemployed and underemployed that are being offered the chance to make some extra money giving someone a ride.
The freelance Lyft drivers say they didn't realize what they were doing was against the law. A traffic ticket is one thing, but it seems the County Cab Cartel has upped the ante by impounding offending driver's vehicles.
The article says Lyft Services are legal in a couple other cities. Sounds to me like their growth strategy is to do what they do and then ask for forgiveness if they step on the wrong toes.
Does the punishment fit the crime. I don't think so. Before Lyft or Uber and after this issue gets resolved there will be unauthorized and unlicensed ride sharing.
Go to your local Home Depot if you want a day laborer. Pay the guy cash, pray he doesn't get hurt, give him bus fair back home.
The sharing economy is here and there are "cars to go" parked in strategic places and you can rent a car by the hour. The locals gave that company a license?
Personally, I think the Cab Companies and the Car Services need to work this out. I'm more than a little bit uncomfortable having county bureaucrats and police officers doing this kind of undercover police work to protect a regulated industry the commission created.
The Miami Dade County Commission sets cab rates and regulates the number of cabs on the roads. A cab driver's life is not easy. Owning a cab company in a tourist town like Miami is big business. Cab drivers usually rent their vehicles from companies and then work long hours many times just to pay their fixed expenses to the cab company. The cab companies want to keep their monopoly and this is running up against the unemployed and underemployed that are being offered the chance to make some extra money giving someone a ride.
The freelance Lyft drivers say they didn't realize what they were doing was against the law. A traffic ticket is one thing, but it seems the County Cab Cartel has upped the ante by impounding offending driver's vehicles.
The article says Lyft Services are legal in a couple other cities. Sounds to me like their growth strategy is to do what they do and then ask for forgiveness if they step on the wrong toes.
Does the punishment fit the crime. I don't think so. Before Lyft or Uber and after this issue gets resolved there will be unauthorized and unlicensed ride sharing.
Go to your local Home Depot if you want a day laborer. Pay the guy cash, pray he doesn't get hurt, give him bus fair back home.
The sharing economy is here and there are "cars to go" parked in strategic places and you can rent a car by the hour. The locals gave that company a license?
Personally, I think the Cab Companies and the Car Services need to work this out. I'm more than a little bit uncomfortable having county bureaucrats and police officers doing this kind of undercover police work to protect a regulated industry the commission created.
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