The issue is that DC taxi drivers are actually a relatively important voting bloc. (I wish the DC Tech scene could get political support like that.)
But it's also a bad time to go around picking fights. Support for local government is pretty low. Two DC Council members have been forced out of office in as many months due to legal problems (and, remarkably, neither of them was Marion Barry). Just this morning I heard on the radio that one of the mayor's aides was indicted for campaign finance fraud.
100% agree, the cab drivers want their legislation, Uber and the livery services want theirs, people talk, people argue, stories are presented, arguments are made, elected representatives weigh personal gain against public good against prior commitments. Its an amazingly convoluted interconnected and jumbled system, but when everyone is engaged its also rather beautiful.
Uh, I used to live in the DC area so take this comment in that spirit:
The Local DC City government is one of the most dysfunctional, corrupt, and ineffective local governments of a large metropolitan area. There is nothing pretty about how "governing" gets done in DC.
Go take a taxi ride in DC and tell me about your experience. For grins, try and get a LEGAL taxi ride from Union Station at 2am that conforms to the taxi regulations. For bigger grins, try and get some action/resolution to the blatantly illegal behavior of taxi drivers from the Taxi Commission that was the subject of this whole effort.
In DC, you really can't do better than the Taxi Commission as an example of regulatory capture.
I am aware as they say. I used to play a game with my kids (invented by a friend of mine) where we replaced the phrase 'The Government' with 'my neighbor', and 'our Government' with 'We'. We used to joke you get out of your government what you put in.
So if your local government is corrupt and dysfunctional, then you don't have the best folks in place so you need to replace them. And replacing them requires that the community to engage. Its actually easier at the local level than the national level, and the national level draws from the local level.
What most people don't understand is that you can often volunteer at your local government. You can be on commissions or focus groups or elsewhere. If you have the time it can be worthwhile, and with the right attitude, enjoyable. Don't try to fix everything at once, but just start making things better. The change can be remarkable, one person doing a standup job for 'free' can be a powerful motivation for a lot of people around them.
We actually did try to fix the local government. We put Adrian Fenty in office and gave him free reign to get DC government working properly.
Of course, when he tried to fix public education (via Michelle Rhee) he ran smack into the buzzsaw that was the teachers union that steadfastly refused to take any responsibility for actually teaching students. Now we have another set of bought-and-paid-for charlatans. Just like they want.
And there's the rub really: if you come into government and try to actually change things, you're going to upset an entire class of people that benefit from things staying exactly as they are. In many cases, they outnumber you. They are organized around protecting the status quo.
The idea that a single person can mobilize to change things is quaint but RARELY how you get real change. It takes a sustained effort, over many many years to change ANYTHING in government.
As an example, only RECENTLY did they get actual METERS in the cabs in DC. Think about that. It took something like 10 years from start to finish to legislate meters in the taxis. When I was there, there was a minor scandal surounding taxi drivers bribing the vehicle inspectors with $100 bills in the ashtrays to pass the vehicles. Think about that. We had criminals serving on the police force. It's an entire city built on giving city jobs to people who vote in your candidate.
You can't "fix the local government by putting <insert person> into office." You need a 25 year plan to 'fix' your local government if it is that out of whack. There is a reason the US Constitution doesn't start with "Me, the smart guy in the room, in order to form a more perfect Union ..."
This: "It took something like 10 years from start to finish to legislate meters in the taxis."
Yes, it takes commitment, time, and consistent effort. It takes leaders and it takes workers. It takes years of educating people to the need and getting their support. But it can be done.
OR...you can do what I did and leave. Score one for individual liberty.
At some point, it makes sense for a person to cut their losses and move somewhere where like minded people have already learned that responsible government starts with a responsible population.
Which brings me to my last point on the subject: all of the entrenched interests in the city of DC are there because they enjoy and support the current system. Nevermind that it's completely dysfunctional and doesn't serve the residents. It serves their perverted needs and they'll fight tooth and nail to keep it that way.
Ever wonder how Marion Barry got re-elected to the city council despite a conviction for smoking crack and YEARS of tax shenanigans that threatened to put him back in jail? At some point, you look around and realize that you're the only one in the room that wants change.
About Marion Barry ... he's corrupt, so are most big city politicians. But (1) nobody in the Ward 8 cares about a rock cocaine offense decades ago (cocaine has been such a big problem in that part of the city, it's likely every voter has has been close to an addict or otherwise touched since the early 80's), and (2) the other stuff about personal tax cheating, getting busted with weed, etc. is just water under the bridge to most Ward 8 voters.
At the end of the day, none of those things (apart from the expected corruption) affect how Barry does his job. And the voters in Ward 8, far and away the poorest part of the city, know that when the shit hits the fan, Barry looks out for those who usually don't have much of a voice in DC.
While Ward 3 residents were patting Fenty on the back for putting up bicycle lanes and dog parks, the Ward 8 voters were pissed to see a mayor basically pandering to the wealthy voters and screwing the poor. These are the same voters who voted for Gray and his crony, corrupt administration in the last mayoral election. They know very well that Rhee's "No Child Left Behind"-style reforms were just going to screw up the school system worse for their kids.
And they sure as hell didn't want to re-elect Fenty, who never showed that he was willing to work on the tough problems that cause DC's entrenched poverty. The Fenty approach to poverty (which was really Anthony Williams' approach on steroids) was to price out the poor folk until they have to move to some hole like Temple Hills or Capitol Heights, no longer being DC's problem.
You're right. We probably shouldn't hold our public servants to a higher standard than the general populace. It's not like we need our leaders to establish trust with other leaders and work towards solving real issues.
And as a somewhat wealthy individual, I was happy to see a government that was being operated with some real accountability by trustworthy and capable individuals.
But hey, don't worry...I'm sure that all DC needs is more Marion Barry to solve the poverty problem. Or Vincent Gray.
You mean the Michelle Rhee who was disgraced by a cheating scandal for gaming the standardized tests?
Unions have a lot of problems but I wouldn't call them the only bad guy in that situation. DC public schools aren't going to be fixed by a single term from a young turk mayor and a chancellor encouraging everyone to juke the stats like it's the Wire.
LOL. I'll tell you what, go visit a DC public school and have a look around. If every single school in DC was razed to the ground and every teacher fired, you might get better test scores from the kids than what we have now.
Does that include charter schools? Because those are public as well. I think you are ill informed. I also think that "LOL." is an immature and inappropriate way to make any point.
Anyone that's informed on the state of the DC public school system sends their kids to Sidwell Friends or some other private school. That or they move to Fairfax County.
And I really did laugh out loud when I read that comment.
As an Uber rider in the DC area, I'm so happy this was defeated. It's a great service, and I think it will really end up benefiting taxi drivers at the expense of the taxi dispatch offices, which are terrible at their job due to their practice of dispatching drivers based on kickbacks rather than proximity to pick up.
Washington DC politicians are exposed as corrupt public figureheads representing a government-protected cartel of incumbent corporations? And this is news to some people?
what I'm surprised about is that travelling in a lincoln town car is considered luxurious! This is the standard livery cab service in NYC (which is used a lot by people who aren't considered wealthy).
I live in NYC too, and what you just said doesn't really relate to what I'm saying. A livery cab is luxurious when compared to a yellow cab, and commands a price accordingly.
I think YOU are missing MY point; namely, that a taxi in NYC is WAY better than a taxi in DC. For one thing, a taxi in NYC is more likely to be safe, recently inspected, and driven by someone who fears retaliation from authorities if he breaks the rules.
In DC, you're guaranteed almost the exact opposite.
In NYC, Uber is a nice-to-have. In DC, Uber is almost your only option.
DC taxis are a nightmare. The funny part is the contrast that you can have when you take an Uber car to a destination and then hail a taxi to get back.
When I cracked the back window in the taxi cab since he wasn't using his air conditioning, he promptly rolled it back up and locked the window. He said nothing. The price for the ride was actually more in the taxi, because he very sneakily took a longer route "by accident" by missing an exit for the quick route and then taking the next exit on the longer route.
I often hail livery (aka radio) cars in NYC. It's technically illegal for them to pick up passengers that they weren't dispatched to pick up. I'm sure that is a law put in place to protect medallion owners.
As an aside, there are different schools of thought for how to pay radio cars since they don't have meters. A friend always waits until getting dropped off to negotiate price. He figures he holds the power at that point since he is already at his destination. I always ask how much before getting in. My girlfriend just hands them money when she gets out, whatever she thinks is fair, and has never had anyone give her a hard time.
EDIT: I should add that all three of us find the cost of the radio cars to be about the same as yellow cabs. Our different negotiating techniques don't really make a difference.
You are not insured in a radio car unless the trip was booked. Yes, I stand next to the car and phone in, just in case. The drivers are cool with that.
Sounds like Uber was up to shenanigans when they whipped up the internet rage machine. There was some conversation going on between Uber and Cheh, I don't think we're getting the full story here.
Both Uber and Cheh say that there was some conversation. Cheh claims that Uber endorsed the $15 minimum, Uber says they never endorsed any sort of price-fixing.
Given that this amendment would have severely hurt Uber, I'm definitely inclined to believe them over Cheh on this.
The thing is that the $15 minimum would have applied to all of the services that Uber offers, not just their town cars. This would have an impact on the rollout of UberX to the area, which has a minimum fare of $10.
Exactly. This was an attack on the new "Uber X" service which will more directly compete with regular cabs. (Frankly the only reason I even take cabs anymore is the cost of the regular Uber service.)
Uber currently has a $15 minimum total fee in DC. They charge a $7 fare (the "flag drop" rate) and then $3.25 a mile after that. The proposed amendment, if I've read these articles correctly, would have raised the "flag drop" rate to $15 and then any mileage charges would have been on top of that. For comparison, the flag drop rate for taxis is currently (and would have remained) $3.
There was definitely some "controlling of the message" going on- every headline said "Force Uber to charge 5x the price", when the actual amendment enforced a $15 minimum- probably less than 90% of Uber rides.
Not supporting the amendment, of course- just saying.
I think the core issue was that Uber was planning to introduce a cheaper service than they have currently and the amendment would have effectively prevented it from working.
It's nice to win the battle, but the war of over regulation and crony capitalism is far from over. We need to elect representatives that understand that markets work, that change is good, and that not every existing interest should be protected by the government for eternity.
I cheer for that possibility, but the outlook is gloomy. The taxi industry is so heavily regulated in many major cities, that they might as well make the drivers government employees. The supply of medallions/plates are very limited (drivers don't even own the car, in many cases, having to lease from one of the cartel members that have a medallion), and they often can't set their own fares. It has to be one of the least-free markets in North America.
38 comments
[ 3.6 ms ] story [ 81.9 ms ] threadBut it's also a bad time to go around picking fights. Support for local government is pretty low. Two DC Council members have been forced out of office in as many months due to legal problems (and, remarkably, neither of them was Marion Barry). Just this morning I heard on the radio that one of the mayor's aides was indicted for campaign finance fraud.
The Local DC City government is one of the most dysfunctional, corrupt, and ineffective local governments of a large metropolitan area. There is nothing pretty about how "governing" gets done in DC.
Go take a taxi ride in DC and tell me about your experience. For grins, try and get a LEGAL taxi ride from Union Station at 2am that conforms to the taxi regulations. For bigger grins, try and get some action/resolution to the blatantly illegal behavior of taxi drivers from the Taxi Commission that was the subject of this whole effort.
In DC, you really can't do better than the Taxi Commission as an example of regulatory capture.
So if your local government is corrupt and dysfunctional, then you don't have the best folks in place so you need to replace them. And replacing them requires that the community to engage. Its actually easier at the local level than the national level, and the national level draws from the local level.
What most people don't understand is that you can often volunteer at your local government. You can be on commissions or focus groups or elsewhere. If you have the time it can be worthwhile, and with the right attitude, enjoyable. Don't try to fix everything at once, but just start making things better. The change can be remarkable, one person doing a standup job for 'free' can be a powerful motivation for a lot of people around them.
We actually did try to fix the local government. We put Adrian Fenty in office and gave him free reign to get DC government working properly.
Of course, when he tried to fix public education (via Michelle Rhee) he ran smack into the buzzsaw that was the teachers union that steadfastly refused to take any responsibility for actually teaching students. Now we have another set of bought-and-paid-for charlatans. Just like they want.
And there's the rub really: if you come into government and try to actually change things, you're going to upset an entire class of people that benefit from things staying exactly as they are. In many cases, they outnumber you. They are organized around protecting the status quo.
The idea that a single person can mobilize to change things is quaint but RARELY how you get real change. It takes a sustained effort, over many many years to change ANYTHING in government.
As an example, only RECENTLY did they get actual METERS in the cabs in DC. Think about that. It took something like 10 years from start to finish to legislate meters in the taxis. When I was there, there was a minor scandal surounding taxi drivers bribing the vehicle inspectors with $100 bills in the ashtrays to pass the vehicles. Think about that. We had criminals serving on the police force. It's an entire city built on giving city jobs to people who vote in your candidate.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is just a fantasy.
Actually its just a movie.
You can't "fix the local government by putting <insert person> into office." You need a 25 year plan to 'fix' your local government if it is that out of whack. There is a reason the US Constitution doesn't start with "Me, the smart guy in the room, in order to form a more perfect Union ..."
This: "It took something like 10 years from start to finish to legislate meters in the taxis."
Yes, it takes commitment, time, and consistent effort. It takes leaders and it takes workers. It takes years of educating people to the need and getting their support. But it can be done.
At some point, it makes sense for a person to cut their losses and move somewhere where like minded people have already learned that responsible government starts with a responsible population.
Which brings me to my last point on the subject: all of the entrenched interests in the city of DC are there because they enjoy and support the current system. Nevermind that it's completely dysfunctional and doesn't serve the residents. It serves their perverted needs and they'll fight tooth and nail to keep it that way.
Ever wonder how Marion Barry got re-elected to the city council despite a conviction for smoking crack and YEARS of tax shenanigans that threatened to put him back in jail? At some point, you look around and realize that you're the only one in the room that wants change.
At the end of the day, none of those things (apart from the expected corruption) affect how Barry does his job. And the voters in Ward 8, far and away the poorest part of the city, know that when the shit hits the fan, Barry looks out for those who usually don't have much of a voice in DC.
While Ward 3 residents were patting Fenty on the back for putting up bicycle lanes and dog parks, the Ward 8 voters were pissed to see a mayor basically pandering to the wealthy voters and screwing the poor. These are the same voters who voted for Gray and his crony, corrupt administration in the last mayoral election. They know very well that Rhee's "No Child Left Behind"-style reforms were just going to screw up the school system worse for their kids.
And they sure as hell didn't want to re-elect Fenty, who never showed that he was willing to work on the tough problems that cause DC's entrenched poverty. The Fenty approach to poverty (which was really Anthony Williams' approach on steroids) was to price out the poor folk until they have to move to some hole like Temple Hills or Capitol Heights, no longer being DC's problem.
And as a somewhat wealthy individual, I was happy to see a government that was being operated with some real accountability by trustworthy and capable individuals.
But hey, don't worry...I'm sure that all DC needs is more Marion Barry to solve the poverty problem. Or Vincent Gray.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/gray-donor-a...
Unions have a lot of problems but I wouldn't call them the only bad guy in that situation. DC public schools aren't going to be fixed by a single term from a young turk mayor and a chancellor encouraging everyone to juke the stats like it's the Wire.
And I really did laugh out loud when I read that comment.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06...
On a personal note, shit like this is why I hate society.
For one thing, if you make a complaint against a driver in NYC, there is going to be some action taken. Not so in DC.
That said, I used Uber almost exclusively in both locations.
In DC, you're guaranteed almost the exact opposite.
In NYC, Uber is a nice-to-have. In DC, Uber is almost your only option.
As an aside, there are different schools of thought for how to pay radio cars since they don't have meters. A friend always waits until getting dropped off to negotiate price. He figures he holds the power at that point since he is already at his destination. I always ask how much before getting in. My girlfriend just hands them money when she gets out, whatever she thinks is fair, and has never had anyone give her a hard time.
EDIT: I should add that all three of us find the cost of the radio cars to be about the same as yellow cabs. Our different negotiating techniques don't really make a difference.
You are not insured in a radio car unless the trip was booked. Yes, I stand next to the car and phone in, just in case. The drivers are cool with that.
Given that this amendment would have severely hurt Uber, I'm definitely inclined to believe them over Cheh on this.
Looks like 'earned media' to me, free mentions in the press for throwing a fit.
http://blog.uber.com/2012/07/03/sf-vehicle-choice/
Not supporting the amendment, of course- just saying.