It's Time to Welcome Uber to Jacksonville

[Tacachale]

I'm sorry, but other than the large size of Uber I don't see how it differs much from other cab companies.

[Josh]

I'm sorry, but other than the large size of Uber I don't see how it differs much from other cab companies.

Have you ever used Uber?

[Tacachale]

^Yes, many times. I meant I don't see how these downsides are different for Uber than for any other cab company. In most cases drivers either have to own and maintain their own cars (like with Uber) or pay someone to use them. And I'm pretty sure that any cab company will be taking a big cut of the fair.

[Ajax]

Uber got some really bad publicity during the hostage crisis in Sydney the other day, but I don't have a problem with the way they handled it. 

http://www.cato.org/blog/economics-uber-surge-pricing?utm_source=Cato+Institute+Emails&utm_campaign=9ddcdeb102-Cato_Today&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_395878584c-9ddcdeb102-141340473&mc_cid=9ddcdeb102&mc_eid=094e06e7c6

It is important to remember that surge pricing automatically kicks in thanks to Uber's price algorithm. There was no Uber employee who decided to impose surge pricing amid a hostage crisis. Uber claimed that it kept surge pricing in place in order to get drivers on the road amid the crisis. Uber has no control over when drivers decide to log into its app, it can only provide financial incentives. Without surge pricing in effect there may well have been fewer drivers willing to get passengers out of Sydney's Central Business District (CBD), the site of the siege. Uber responded to criticism of its surge pricing by making trips from the CBD free while keeping the surge rate high. Uber also claimed that it was refunding fares for passengers who left the CBD and were charged while surge pricing was in effect. Despite these steps, it should not be forgotten that the criticism Uber initially faced for surge pricing in Sydney was misplaced. Those who did not want to pay Uber's elevated fares had other means of public transportation by which to leave the CBD.

[Noone]

2014-665 active legislation before the city council that will be voted on before the next election cycle. Does anyone else feel sorry for the Baltimore guys 2014-412? Now let's crush Uber and Lyft.
I say support Uber and Lyft in Jacksonville.
What is the position of the Mayor and city council candidates in the March election?
Does anyone know of anyone's position? Seriously.

[urbanlibertarian]

I don't know what's in this legislation but I'll bet it props up the status quo at the expense of consumer choice and innovation.

[finehoe]

Interesting article from Philly on being an Uber driver:  http://citypaper.net/uberdriver/

[jaxjaguar]

Florida legislature continues to put this off. Here's a chance to show them there are plenty of people who use this service and want it's legality addressed.

http://petition.uber.org/florida/

[urbanlibertarian]

Montana decides to embrace Uber and Lyft.

http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/new-legislation-paves-the-way-for-uber-and-lyft-to/article_2b48046e-6b96-5207-8607-ffcfebf22c7f.html

Mobile app-based driving services like Uber and Lyft, wildly popular in other parts of the country, could soon be operating in Montana after the last regulatory roadblock was cleared last week.

On Friday, Gov. Steve Bullock signed into law Senate Bill 396, which drastically revises and deregulates motor carrier laws in the state and eliminates the requirement that new taxi services demonstrate public convenience and necessity to acquire a certificate from the Montana Public Service Commission.

...Hill said her own experiences trying to call a cab in Missoula played a role in her passion for this bill.

"I came to this issue as a former prosecutor who lives and works and plays in downtown Missoula," she said. "And I frankly heard from constituents that you can't get a taxi in downtown Missoula on any weekend night. The regulatory scheme was a lie. That's why the Missoula County DUI Taskforce and the city of Missoula supported this legislation."

Hill said the old law was out of date.

"There will now be more consumer choice, and that will be a good thing," she said. "I'm thrilled that we could see an immediate impact on reduction of DUIs and more choices. It took a long time. Before, a competitor could veto a license if you could cause the competitor harm. That's why there was no competition among taxi services in communities.

"A competitor was allowed to say you were going to harm their business. It made it almost impossible for a new company to start, and we saw that with Green Taxi in Missoula. They spent tens of thousands of dollars just to get the chance to serve consumer needs in a community. People were feeling that all over the state."

Whole article here: http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/new-legislation-paves-the-way-for-uber-and-lyft-to/article_2b48046e-6b96-5207-8607-ffcfebf22c7f.html

[David]

Are there any drivers for Uber on here? Thought about doing it for some extra cash in the evening to supplement my full time job. But anytime you have to use your own car for work it can quickly offset the money you make. 

[ProjectMaximus]

I don't think there's much room for profit. I briefly considered doing this if I was able to only select the rides I wanted (based on what I was doing and where I was going) but I quickly found that this was not possible. (As a driver you don't get to know the passenger's destination til you get to them and you can't reject more than about 10% of the requests you receive)

[CCMjax]

Are there any drivers for Uber on here? Thought about doing it for some extra cash in the evening to supplement my full time job. But anytime you have to use your own car for work it can quickly offset the money you make.

I have a buddy who does it here in town for some extra money on the side.  He said it's worked out pretty well so far.

[simms3]

Note that a huge chunk of the drivers in San Francisco for all of the ridesharing apps are from Sacramento.  They come into SF at night/weekends and they don't do it back in Sacramento because there is no margin for them there.  Sacramento is a considerably larger/denser city than Jacksonville.  I would guess that means that there is little to no profit in there for Jax.

[David]

I would do it very part time, Uber would make job # 3 haha. (I rate websites/google search results for leapforce.com for job # 2 but it's very repetitive) I hear the rides around Riverside & downtown can be very short, you're only earning 4-5 bucks a pop. There's long drives out to the airport but you're not allowed to pick up from there, at least not for uber x.

Looks like there's tons of uber drivers on the road right now. Good for the rider, probably bad for making money as a driver.

[simms3]

I want to say that you really only make money during surge pricing.  What is max surge and how often is there at least 2x pricing?  I rarely pay below 1.5x and at night during bar shuffles or during rush hour I easily pay 3x.  During special events or huge concerts it can rise to a ridiculous 6-9x.  These are when drivers earn money.  Otherwise they are floating costs.  $4-5 a trip?  That gets me 5 blocks at best even without surge. Even in Jax that's not making anybody any money.