Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Congratulations Uber! How much difference did Gary Stein add to the debate?

Yesterday, by a circuitous route, the Palm Beach County Commission gave its blessing to Uber. Here is the Post's Eliot Kleinberg article about what happened yesterday. Technically, the fight is not over but realistically the fight is over.

Despite attempts such as the silly Palm Beach Post editorial board to justify substandard services for tourists, business people, and citizens here the public clearly demonstrated they wanted Uber to stay. It's hard to gauge how much the editorial by the Sun Sentinel's Gary Stein had on the debate but can tell you this: Mr. Stein's thoughts created a tremendous amount of traffic on this blog. Why? Probably because it speaks to truth about the situation with taxis.

Here are some issues with taxis Mr. Stein has in south Florida:
If taxis and taxi service were good, they wouldn’t have to worry about competition from Uber or Lyft or anybody else.
  • But cabs smell.
  • They often don’t have working air conditioning.
  • Sometimes the credit card machines are broken.
  • The drivers can be surly, and not know directions.
  • It can take a long time to get one to pick you up.
  • And the prices can be double what Uber charges.
And you really wonder why people deluged the county with complaints when Uber left?
When was the last time the members of the Post editorial board took a taxi?