Everybody seems to have an opinion on the taxis vs. Uber debate...
The discussion regarding the legality and convenience of Uber, Cabify and similar taxi-by-app services has come to Mexico City — Over the last few days, I’ve seen newspapers talk about taxi drivers demonstrating against said companies, early attempts at regulating their service, and so on.
I hold the view that every member of a society should live by its accepted rules (i.e. laws) — and if they hold the laws as incorrect, unfair or wrong, they should strive to get the laws to change. Yes, it’s a hard thing to do, most often filled with resistence, but it’s the only socially responsible way to go.
Private driver hiring applications have several flaws, but maybe the biggest one is that they are… How to put it? I cannot find a word better than illegal. Taxi drivers in our city (and in most cities, as far as I have read) undergo a long process to ensure they are fit for the task. Is the process incomplete? Absolutely. But the answer is not to abolish it in the name of the free market. The process must be, if anything, tightened. The process for granting a public driver license to an individual is way stricter than to issue me a driving license (believe it or not, Mexico City abolished taking driving tests several years ago). Taxis do get physical and mechanical review — Is their status mint and perfect? No way. But compare them to taxis in other Mexican states, and you will see they are in general in a much better shape.
Now… One of the things that angered me most about the comments to articles such as the ones I’m quoting is the middle class mentality they are written from. I have seen comments ranging from stupidly racist humor attempts (Mr. Mayor, the Guild of Kidnappers and Robbers of Iztapalapa demand the IMMEDIATE prohibition on UBER as we are running low on clients or the often repeated comment that taxi drivers are (…) dirty, armpit-smelly that listen to whatever music they want) to economic culture-based discrimination Uber is just for credit card users as if it were enough of an argument… Much to the opposite, it’s just discrimination, as many people in this city are not credit subjects and do not exist in the banking system, or cannot have an always-connected smartphone — Should they be excluded from the benefits of modernity just because of their economic difference?
And yes, I’m by far not saying Mexico City’s taxi drivers are optimal. I am an urban cyclist, and my biggest concern/fear are usually taxi drivers (more so than microbus drivers, which are a class of their own). Again , as I said at the beginning of the post, I am of the idea that if current laws and their enforcement are not enough for a society, it has to change due to that society’s pressure — It cannot just be ignored because nobody follows the rules anyway. There is quite a bit that can be learnt from Uber’s ways, and there are steps that can be taken by the company to become formal and legal, in our country and in others where they are accused of the same lacking issues.
We all deserve better services. Not just those of us that can pay for a smartphone and are entitled to credit cards. And all passenger-bearing services require strict regulations.
Comments
David Killer 2015-05-21 00:20:39
off course its not a luxury
off course its not a luxury in my opinion… people must accept this fact.
toxickore 2015-05-15 07:33:40
Just another service differentiator
Just as every other differentiator on other commercial products, many people see this as the “luxury” taxi which makes you unique and special.