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Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed
I'm getting sick of people blaming the city, so I'll say this again.
The city had literally no option to give UBER a go ahead. There are provincial rules, discussed over and over again. The city cannot endorse a company that does not follow those rules. Should those rules be tweaked? Perhaps, but the city cannot tweak them, they are bound by the provinces rules.
The way the city has responded to the whole thing is they only way they legally could have responded.
I suspect very early in negotiations between uber and the city, the city would have told them, "ensure your drivers all have the proper licences and insurance, and then we'll talk. Without that, we cannot possibly endorse you". To which uber likely said "that's not part of our business model." All the city can do at that point is try to work with the province to tweak the rules - but in general, those rules are there for a reason.
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Oh they're there for a reason alright, that's exactly my point. If the city needs to change whatever idiotic rules they have in place for an alternative and better (and probably safer, reduced intoxicated drivers) transportation system, they should do it within a decade IMO. They didn't. So they're either incompetent, which is possible but personally I don't think is the case or morally bankrupt and fiscally incentivized not to (this is what I suspect is going on, I'm probably not alone). To sit around and say "but the rules say this" is garbage because the rules aren't working for the city. Evidenced as corporate jay points out by people willing to break the law just to get around town. How ridiculous is that? That is on the city no matter how you look at it.
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Originally Posted by getbak
These regulations have been in place for decades. The City isn't just inventing new rules to block Uber, they're telling Uber what the rules are and what they need to do to adhere to them. Uber wants to pretend it's not a ride-for-hire service, but as they say, if it walks like a duck...
If you've ever been to a city where taxi regulations are a lot more lax, you'll be thankful for what we have in Calgary. I have taken taxi rides in some cities where I was just happy to get to my destination without the car breaking down (or worse). There are many cities where you have to remember to negotiate the price of the trip before you get in the cab, or you might get a surprise when you get to your destination.
Does the taxi industry in this city need a change? Absolutely.
Is Uber coming into town and making its own rules the right solution? Absolutely not.
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You know what other regulations have been in place for decades? You can't tie your horse or donkey to a street post. Is it relevant? We likely won't ever agree here and I really respect you as a poster. I think you're great. But the reality here is that nothing else could break up this taxi cartel problem. That's the problem with powerful lobbyists or bribery with city officials to artificially preserve a business model and suppress competition in a market.
Was the city going to change the rules? Obviously not. They aren't incentivized to do so because they're being taking care of (my opinion, bribed). As transplant points out, the arguments on safety or regulation aren't strong enough for a guy like me to buy. Uber whether illegal or not is going to force the much needed change the people of Calgary wanted but couldn't get.
My friends and I joked that if the next municipal election, a person ran and the only thing on their platform was to destroy the taxi cartel and get more licences out there, they'd be elected with 99% of the vote. The 1% not voting for them would be the taxi commission and friends.
Come on. At some point practicality trumps regulation. Canadians and their unhealthy obsession with regulation is one of the country's biggest weaknesses, and you can see an example of that very mindset here with this ridiculous argument. What's the right thing to do? Sit on our asses and continue to be screwed, or fix the damn problem because of a bylaw being broken that's propped up to protect the financial interests of a handful whilst the city freezes their testicles off year over year just looking for a ride, not wanting to chance driving drunk because they had one too many.