Uber to Resume in Calgary December 6 2016

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by adc

Driving for money and on the road more than they would be as non-Uber drivers.

Driving for money....so what? What difference does it make to you, me or anyone else if someone is making a few dollars driving their freaking car? Should pizza delivery guys be required to do the same as what you want UBER drivers to be doing?

On the road more than they would be? Sure OK. Here is the problem with that logic however. Right now I can go jump into my Denali and drive around the city into areas I have never ever seen for as long as I feel like it...and I can do it with friends sitting beside me. I can do this without vehicle inspections and I can do this without commercial insurance. I only be come illegal if they give me 20 bucks however. Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense now does it?

Does that somehow make the city less safe as well? Cause that's the argument you are making and its a completely disingenuous and hollow one at that because of the scenario I just painted.

[Amethyst]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Have you ever driven the streets here? You know how BMW drivers have this reputation for driving like dbags? Well so do taxis. Not all, of course, but for "professional drivers" they sure seem to stick out like a sore thumb. Sometimes it looks like they're having strokes while driving, TBQH. And as for criminals, you mean like that cabbie that got arrested last year for taking a woman to a dark alley? Didn't it take a couple days to pin down whodunit? I doubt the police would have any more trouble following the info path Uber leaves.

Of course, I have seen taxis drivers who drive like idiots. But my solution isn't to take away regulations from everyone. I would rather those people be removed from driving.

Originally Posted by 4X4

But you know, it's true. Uber needs to "follow the rules". The problem is that these rules need to be defined. The fact that it's taken so long is such BS. That is the reason people like me are advocating for these guys, and are a-ok with them breaking the law. I'm sick of it, and so are lots of other people. We need a taxi revolution in this town lol. Seriously.

I don't really disagree with any of that. If people want to ride in Uber cars before they have proper insurance, to make a point and support them, they are welcome to do so. I won't be.

However, if they break the law, there will be consequences. If your business plan is to break the law and force the city into changing the laws, you go in prepared to have those consequences. I'm pretty sure Uber was. Their timing was not a coincidence.

Originally Posted by 4X4

And I really am disappointed with Nenshi and City Hall on this issue. The guy already lost my vote taking forever with the secondary suites, but this issue has guaranteed that he never gets it back. So much for the younger, forward thinking guy that was supposed to be different than career politicians. Turns out that the ones contributing to his campaigns hold the cards. Just like all the other politicians.

I was never in favour of how they handled taxi business. Recommendations for 300 new plates and they approve 50, etc. However, once Uber set up shop illegally, they pretty much had to argue for the injunction or bylaws would be totally useless.

I'm not anti-Uber. I am against how Uber is currently operating, mainly in regard to insurance. If they get that resolved, so that drivers have appropriate insurance, instead of trying to hide behind the "we're just an app" argument, I will be much more in favour of them.

[Amethyst]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Fair enough. In that case then you have taxi drivers who are required to do such. so you have zero worries.

I am not worried about such, so is it OK if I want to use UBER without needing medical clearance for the driver?

That way you get what you want and I get what I want and everybody is happy...right?

Well everybody but the corrupt politicians protecting the existing cartel, but truth is, I don't give a flying frick about them making their money off this.

Pretty much, yes.

[polak]

lol first day of suspended Uber services and my buddy tries to catch a taxi from Hudsons south and was told no because his place in Sundance was too close. Makes no sense to me. He could go right back to Hudsons for another fare and it would only take 5 minutes of his time.

####ing stupid Taxi's. I can't wait until they're out of business.

[adc]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Driving for money....so what? What difference does it make to you, me or anyone else if someone is making a few dollars driving their freaking car? Should pizza delivery guys be required to do the same as what you want UBER drivers to be doing?

So what?

It changes the regulations. Why should Uber drivers be allowed to ignore the law? Why should any commercial driver have to follow those same laws in that case?

Yes I think pizza guys should be required to follow the rules for commercial vehicles or drive a company vehicle that is properly insured.

On the road more than they would be? Sure OK. Here is the problem with that logic however. Right now I can go jump into my Denali and drive around the city into areas I have never ever seen for as long as I feel like it...and I can do it with friends sitting beside me. I can do this without vehicle inspections and I can do this without commercial insurance. I only be come illegal if they give me 20 bucks however. Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense now does it?

No it makes perfect sense because when you are doing something for money as well as being responsible for other people's safety the regulations should be stricter.

Does that somehow make the city less safe as well? Cause that's the argument you are making and its a completely disingenuous and hollow one at that because of the scenario I just painted.

It makes it as unsafe as not having them out there makes it unsafe because of drunk drivers.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Driving for money....so what? What difference does it make to you, me or anyone else if someone is making a few dollars driving their freaking car? Should pizza delivery guys be required to do the same as what you want UBER drivers to be doing?

This is an interesting point. Driving for money motivates some individuals to drive in ways that may not be safe. Remember how Dominos had to stop that 30 minutes or free campaign because there drivers were getting into accidents? I think parallels can be made if you are trying to rush between fares.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by Wormius

This is an interesting point. Driving for money motivates some individuals to drive in ways that may not be safe. Remember how Dominos had to stop that 30 minutes or free campaign because there drivers were getting into accidents? I think parallels can be made if you are trying to rush between fares.

And because of the very high turnover of drivers in Uber, you end up with primarily with drivers who have no experience before of driving people around. This is reflected in the California stats which show Uber and Lyft drivers getting into accidents at a rate of 3-6x higher than the general population.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by accord1999

And because of the very high turnover of drivers in Uber, you end up with primarily with drivers who have no experience before of driving people around. This is reflected in the California stats which show Uber and Lyft drivers getting into accidents at a rate of 3-6x higher than the general population.

Would you mind posting the study for this claim? The one study I saw that showed was skewed somewhat significantly by incidents that I wouldn't really consider driving accidents including passengers opening up the door into traffic.

I don't doubt that Uber drivers experience more accidents, as they are driving in places they don't know, are likely using their phones a bit more than the average driver, are driving around drunk passengers, potentially doing so at off-hours while tired, etc. I just haven't seen a study suggesting they are getting into accidents at 6x the rate of the general population.

[V]

Saying the taxi regulations are in place for our safety is nonsense, of course. They're in place to protect the taxi industry, creating a sort of legal monopoly.

It's like saying all the nonsense we have to go through at the airport is for our safety and not just to control us like cattle.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen

Would you mind posting the study for this claim? The one study I saw that showed was skewed somewhat significantly by incidents that I wouldn't really consider driving accidents including passengers opening up the door into traffic.

That's part of the statistics package from California that I linked to earlier. The passenger opening doors occured 300-400 times in total but currently there are more than a thousand reported accidents per month, resulting in a rate of 18 per million miles. While all of those opening door accidents may not be the fault of the driver, I bet a lot of it is also due to inexperienced drivers parking in dangerous locations.

[woob]

Boy, reading some of the anti-taxi brigade posts in here makes me feel like I've stumbled on to a conspiracy theory website. Pretty entertaining, though!

[Looch City]

Agreed. Taxi's in this city are absolutely awesome. They all deserve bonuses for the great work they've done for our city.

[sec304]

I took Uber for the first time on Saturday night while visiting Edmonton, great service and all around great experience. Once I hit the app, it took 4 minutes for the driver to arrive. My other friends had the bar call them a cab which didn't come for about 15-20 minutes. We were already back at the hotel at that point.

It was a price surge time too, which scared me, but it ended up still being under $20.

Let's get this moving along Calgary!

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by accord1999

That's part of the statistics package from California that I linked to earlier. The passenger opening doors occured 300-400 times in total but currently there are more than a thousand reported accidents per month, resulting in a rate of 18 per million miles. While all of those opening door accidents may not be the fault of the driver, I bet a lot of it is also due to inexperienced drivers parking in dangerous locations.

In relation to taxi's? That stop in the middle of roads to let people out?

[Flacker]

If you get cabbies refusing fares, kindly let them know that they are bound by the terms of their license with the city, to accept all fares, regardless of trip length. They usually change their tune pretty quickly. If not, note their license number, and report them.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by Weitz

In relation to taxi's? That stop in the middle of roads to let people out?

Whatever the anecdotal evidence, the most available statistics for taxi drivers from NYC (albeit somewhat old) suggests that they are 1/3rd less likely to get into an accident as compared to the general NYC population.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/28/ny...cabs.html?_r=0

At about 4.7/million miles, that is considerably less than the ~18/million miles in California for Uber/Lyft drivers.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by accord1999

This is reflected in the California stats which show Uber and Lyft drivers getting into accidents at a rate of 3-6x higher than the general population.

Originally Posted by accord1999

Whatever the anecdotal evidence, the most available statistics for taxi drivers from NYC (albeit somewhat old) suggests that they are 1/3rd less likely to get into an accident as compared to the general NYC population.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/28/ny...cabs.html?_r=0

At about 4.7/million miles, that is considerably less than the ~18/million miles in California for Uber/Lyft drivers.

Your numbers don't add up. Uber cannot be 3-6x the rate of the normal population, and taxi's 1/3 the rate of the normal population; if the Uber rate is 3.8x that of taxis. Also keeping in mind the age (as you mentioned) of the stats, and that they occur in different cities. It does still show a higher rate; which does not surprise me.

All that being said, I don't have an issue with Uber drivers requiring commercial insurance and class 4 licenses. What I don't get is why the city is waiting until February to amend the bylaw. They are aware of the issue, make that happen instead of an injunction.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by 4X4

And I really am disappointed with Nenshi and City Hall on this issue. The guy already lost my vote taking forever with the secondary suites, but this issue has guaranteed that he never gets it back. So much for the younger, forward thinking guy that was supposed to be different than career politicians. Turns out that the ones contributing to his campaigns hold the cards. Just like all the other politicians.

I don't think it's really corruption behind the taxi commission keeping the number of plates so low. I think expanding the number of plates really is a tough issue for City Hall, with complex legal and financial ramifications. However, that's just an assumption. Because neither this council, nor their predecessors, have come out and put their case before the public. And I don't mean the case for suspending Uber, but the case for inaction on the chronic cab shortage in this city.

Remember "politics in full sentences?" I'd really like Nenshi to explain the history of the cab industry and the taxi commission in this city over the last 15 years. Use full sentences, even full paragraphs. I can handle it.

And yeah, I know lots of people who are Nenshi's core demographic - younger and progressive Calgarians - who have turned against him on this issue. The city is getting lambasted in lunch rooms and bars. I'm honestly surprised at how politically tone-deaf Nenshi and most of council have been on this matter.

[Swarly]

Originally Posted by Iggy City

Agreed. Taxi's in this city are absolutely awesome. They all deserve bonuses for the great work they've done for our city.

LOL, good one I spit some coffee there.

[darklord700]

Now that Uber is out, how hard it is to get a taxi at the airport late at night around Christmas time? I might have to do that park and fly thing if it is impossible to get taxi home from the airport this Christmas.