Uber and Lyft, are ride-sharing companies that provide
an alternative to taxi cabs. Both companies use a high tech model that allows
customers to order a ride using a smart phone AP.
Customers see a picture of the driver, a rating from
other riders, and via GPS can watch the progress of the ride as it approaches.
The customer can reject a proposed ride and ask for an alternative.
The rate is calculated at $1.20 a mile and 13 cents a
minute and the ride fee is processed through the rider's smart phone.
The issue created a firestorm in Tampa as the local
taxi cab companies cried foul, and the City struggled with issues like
licensing, and passenger safety.
If you would like to know more about how these ride
sharing companies work you can check out an article in the Tampa Bay Times by Caitlin Johnson 10
things to understand about Lyft and Uber.
The question is
now moving to St. Petersburg as the City begins to work on an Ordinance dealing
with ride-sharing companies. Janelle Irwin has a good overview in stpetersblog St. Pete to consider
ordinance making way for Uber and Lyft.
The ride-sharing
companies are already providing some service in St. Pete so timely action is
critical.
With St. Pete in
hot pursuit of millennials and a vibrant central core, services like Uber and
Lyft are essential to support the life style. These services, which will
provide low cost transport between venues in the downtown area, are also
essential to the continuing downtown development and expansion to the West.
Some are now
thinking that ride-sharing may be a critical component to public
transportation. Given the recent GreenLight results it looks like it will be a
while before the public transportation is changed or fixed on a large scale.
City Council
would be wise to listen to the Cab companies, regarding safety concerns and
licensing. Cabbie concerns about competition are really irrelevant. Competition
is competition and the Cab companies need to figure out how to compete.
The other pitfall
to avoid is looking at ride-sharing as a municipal cash cow.
The real benefits
of ride-sharing are not only low fares but easy access which may keep some cars
at home and some drivers that should not be driving off the road. A significant
level of regulation or licensing costs will defeat the purpose.
Let's not let
ride-sharing get bogged down by the entrenched interests like the food truck
thing did with hearings, meetings, reports and the ever popular consultants.
This is a simple
issue with any number of municipalities already addressing the issue. We don't
need to re-invent the "wheel" let's just get a good common sense Ordinance
on the books and move forward.
E-mail
Doc at: dr.webb@verizon.net. Or
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It does not seem likely that Uber and Lyft can exist with our PTC. The County Commission has not shown a willingness to move the regulation of this market into the county's organization, and state legislators feel their hands are tied to act as long as local government signals that it does not want it. I think we need a resolution from the County Commission asking for elimination of the PTC by the state legislature, and positive local action to open this market up. The Commissioners struggle to find credibility on the issue of improving transportation when they refuse to keep capacity abreast with growth on the roads the county owns and does nothing to open our market to rideshare services.
ReplyDeletePtc will be dissolved in 2015 so all of the under qualified security guards can go back to their post and the City of Tampa, Hillsborough County can move on like a large city should.
ReplyDelete