Austins Uber Mistake

Recently in Austin there was a bill passed that outlawed the third party transportation corporations, i.e., uber and lyft. Now as a fellow Austinite, I used uber pretty often. The loss of uber woke me up to the fact that the younger generation of residents, myself included, although we show up to the presidential elections, we often neglect to participate in the local government on issues that directly effect our lives. We have been allowing others to shape the communities we live in only to then turn around and gripe about the changes once they've been decided. Now I'm not sure how familiar you are with uber or with the taxi transportation system in general but after asking around to all my friends, whom are from all over and have experience the transportation systems of different areas, I will inform you about the general consensus I have received.

I'm not saying all taxis are created equal but generally the taxis we have all taken were pricey, the drivers were foreign, and communication/transactions were sometimes complicated. Most taxis I've ridden did not give me an estimated cost of my ride before hand. Some companies will even charge you for both the distance AND time. Now there's nothing wrong with being foreign though when it comes to getting around town, it could be a disadvantage because the drivers are not as familiar with the local area or best routes to get around. Last time I took a cab, it was a struggle to talk to the dispatcher to figure out where I was and where I was trying to go. Luckily my phone made it through the conversation because it was about 3 seconds from being thrown out the window. Then the driver, when he finally arrived, had issues trying to figure out exactly where I was so I had to try to give him directions like I was Google Maps. When we reached the destination, that I've never been to, he had no idea where the place was located. How frustrating. Many of the stories my friends told were very similar. They also told me about how they would sit around listening to the driver talk to all their friends on their Bluetooth the entire time which made them feel awkward. No one is asking to have small talk for the entire ride but there was a constant trend in the scenarios of terrible customer service and experiences. These are just some of the reasons why people are not fond of riding in the taxi cab.

 

Some of the differences that uber or lyft provided were easy transactions, ease of use getting picked/dropped off and the drivers were mostly locals who knew their way around or local spots they could recommend. The ease of the use of the app made it a breeze to get a ride home (whether you were sober or drunk!). The amount of d.w.i.s (driving while intoxication) that occurred fell considerably after the introduction of these applications. There was no more trying to remember a phone number or flag down a car to take you where you needed to go. All you had to do was download the app and it would find your gps location. You would then enter where you intended to go and get an estimation of the price beforehand. The nearest driver to your current location would decide whether or not they will pick you up. Then when the car arrived, you got in. Any issues locating you? The driver could text or call you through the app in order to better pinpoint your location. You could see in the app map where the driver was, their ETA, their name and the description of the car so you knew exactly what kind of car would be picking you up. The driver already knows where you are headed and has agreed to take you so there's no attitude if you need to go out of the way. You can watch the map on your phone to see how far you have gone and how much farther you need to go. Upon arrival, you get out. The payment is routed through PayPal so at no point is there a need for the driver or rider to exchange any cash. Therefore, no one gets stiffed and less mistakes are made. Also you can purchase a ride for your friend without having to be there. Another cool thing was that just about anyone could make a little money on the side by shuttling their fellow citizens from one point to the next. I know plenty of people who would drive for about an hour or so on any given day so they could make a little more cash on the side. It was a win win situation for everyone.

 

So if it was a good working system, why would voters vote against it? Well obviously everyone invested in the taxi service would have been on the losing end financially so they had a lot at stake with this local bill, the city isn't making any money from all the fines for people driving while intoxicated and let's face it, not enough people are paying attention! Not enough of the young people are invested in the important things that are directly effecting their lives. For most of our country's history, the minority groups and women were fighting for their voice and fighting for their rights to vote. Here we are in the future they dreamed and imagined . . . taking that right for granted . . . These local bills shape the face of the city and the policies we follow. First of all we need to bring uber back, second, we need to use the voice that our predecessors have fought for us to have, and lastly, as the young and educated, we need to use our influence on our peers so we can actual make an impact. No one hears a whisper but put 10,000,000 whispers together? They will hear you.