Driving it Home: City's Campaign Against Uber Exposes Dallas' Deficit of Public Transit Options And Our Reluctance to Competition
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(Photo: The Atlantic Cities)
Update: Here’s an online form to write to your city council person and tell them to leave Uber alone! http://www.ci.dallas.tx.us/forms/mcc/MCC_Mail_Form.htm
Living in a city has a lot to do with transportation. You want to get from A to B in the most convenient, safest way possible. In NYC, Boston, Chicago, and LA, you have tons of choices, including catching a ride from any of the hundreds of cabs that circulate through these cities.
So, what’s the problem? Well, try hailing a cab in Dallas and your question is answered. It is impossible to find a ride unless you call a cab dispatcher, and with more bars and restaurants popping up in downtown, and greater density in Uptown and the Park Cities, we need a way to find a ride when we are carless or shouldn’t otherwise drive. Public transit increases accessibility and desirability of urban areas, and Dallas just doesn’t have enough of it.
That’s why I really like the idea of Uber. In the age of smart phones, we have a serious need for a smart company such as this that connects a person desiring a service with a service provider, especially considering our dearth of public transit options and the lack of cabs in our growing urban core. It fills a gap left between light rail, bus service, and cab companies when it comes to ease of use and accessibility. Also, the guys who run Uber are ridiculously smart, using trip data from their app to discover trends that will help the company adapt and develop strategies. Brilliant stuff. Imagine what they could learn from Dallas …
What does Uber do? The service, which launched in Dallas a year ago, dispatches a car to your location via a smartphone app and GPS coordinates. Obviously, this irritates cab companies, but let’s be serious about one thing — Uber is serving a group of people that weren’t using cabs. And asking City Hall to cut Uber out of the equation, as this story from the Dallas Morning News suggests, is ridiculous.
Cab companies should compete with Uber in the new market the company has created for itself. Likewise, they shouldn’t be able to create a city-sanctioned monopoly in an urban area that already suffers from a severe lack of public transportation options. People obviously want Uber, as well as more accessible transit.
What do you think?
It took an out-of-town client to introduce me to this service just last week. Had never heard of it. They raved about the Dallas Uber service after trying it here.
It took an out-of-town client to introduce me to this service just last week. Had never heard of it. They raved about the Dallas Uber service after trying it here.
Absolutely! I am going to post contact information for all our city council peeps — so you can contact them — this is just crazy special interest bs! I used Uber in Atlanta and it was wonderful. We may have cars, but visitors don't and may not want to rent cars. The taxis in this town are, in my opinion, lazier than sea turtles. We use Airport Valet (awesome) to get to the airport now. If City Hall gives in to these cabbies, I am going to be furious!
The interwebs have been going crazy over this! #DallasNeedsUber
Absolutely! I am going to post contact information for all our city council peeps — so you can contact them — this is just crazy special interest bs! I used Uber in Atlanta and it was wonderful. We may have cars, but visitors don't and may not want to rent cars. The taxis in this town are, in my opinion, lazier than sea turtles. We use Airport Valet (awesome) to get to the airport now. If City Hall gives in to these cabbies, I am going to be furious!
The interwebs have been going crazy over this! #DallasNeedsUber
I know people who use this service when they are going out for the evening and don't want to drive…it is a great, inexpensive service!
I know people who use this service when they are going out for the evening and don't want to drive…it is a great, inexpensive service!
Check out this comment on Robert W's story from that cute sock puppet, Wylie H. Dallas:
Wylie H Dallas47 minutes ago.
Very good question. Someone needs to ask Joey Zapata where this idea came from, and how, exactly, it came to be placed on the consent agenda late on a Friday afternoon.
Also, what is the nature of the relationship between Carol Reed and Joey Zapata?
Check out this comment on Robert W's story from that cute sock puppet, Wylie H. Dallas:
Wylie H Dallas47 minutes ago.
Very good question. Someone needs to ask Joey Zapata where this idea came from, and how, exactly, it came to be placed on the consent agenda late on a Friday afternoon.
Also, what is the nature of the relationship between Carol Reed and Joey Zapata?
From Scott Griggs' (Councilman, District 1)Facebook page:
Thanks for all the feedback on Uber.
If you want to save Uber, please sign up and speak. The item has been pulled by Philip Kingston and me. Tell your Council and Mayor not to outlaw Uber. Are we really scared of an app in 2013?
Call Dallas City Secretary at 214-670-3738 and tell her you would like to speak on Addendum Item 5 & #DallasNeedsUber. Item will be heard in the morning. Plan on being at Dallas City Hall at 9am, this Wednesday, August 28.
From Scott Griggs' (Councilman, District 1)Facebook page:
Thanks for all the feedback on Uber.
If you want to save Uber, please sign up and speak. The item has been pulled by Philip Kingston and me. Tell your Council and Mayor not to outlaw Uber. Are we really scared of an app in 2013?
Call Dallas City Secretary at 214-670-3738 and tell her you would like to speak on Addendum Item 5 & #DallasNeedsUber. Item will be heard in the morning. Plan on being at Dallas City Hall at 9am, this Wednesday, August 28.
Friends have used Uber ever since it came and I have used in other cities. Get with it Dallas CC, this is also a health and safety issue as Uber has become an viable, affordable alternative against driving when perhaps someone has had a few too much wine at dinner and can get a quick, easy and cost effective ride home – then back to pick up the car the next day! Cabs are not an alternative in Dallas!
Friends have used Uber ever since it came and I have used in other cities. Get with it Dallas CC, this is also a health and safety issue as Uber has become an viable, affordable alternative against driving when perhaps someone has had a few too much wine at dinner and can get a quick, easy and cost effective ride home – then back to pick up the car the next day! Cabs are not an alternative in Dallas!
We use Uber frequently and love them. Attentive punctual service with a smile. That's a lot more than I can say if you use a Dallas cab! This all smacks of cronyism and I hope everyone will stand up and call them out on this. #dallasneedsuber
We use Uber frequently and love them. Attentive punctual service with a smile. That's a lot more than I can say if you use a Dallas cab! This all smacks of cronyism and I hope everyone will stand up and call them out on this. #dallasneedsuber
Has Dallas no other problem to solve? Until now Cab driving in Dallas is the worst and sometimes it can be suicidal in this town! Uber Service is easy, fast, clean and on time and more they even find the address.
One rule I learned early in business "Competition keeps business alive" (Konkurrenz belebt das Geschaeft).
Has Dallas no other problem to solve? Until now Cab driving in Dallas is the worst and sometimes it can be suicidal in this town! Uber Service is easy, fast, clean and on time and more they even find the address.
One rule I learned early in business "Competition keeps business alive" (Konkurrenz belebt das Geschaeft).