Uber killed the taxi business during Gasparilla

Uber killed the taxi business in Tampa today. The Pirate Festival today is traditionally considered the busiest day of the year for taxi drivers. Today, it was like a slow Tuesday. When I say they did not take half the business or most of the business, I would be miss speaking. They took it all. Based on what happened today street level taxi driving in Tampa is now over. That is not an exaggeration. It is a reality. If not for the medical charges that I run Monday through Friday, and the right to work the airport, there would be no business left. Yes you would have the poor sections of town in the minority communities that over does not work but that would not be enough to even pay the lease. This gig is over. The handwriting is on the wall. That is why I am glad to be transitioning into other opportunities. There is no way this business can sustain itself at this point.

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A cheap motel, a white tee shirt, and a twenty dollar bill (classic story)

What a cab driver will do to make a living is beyond what most people can handle or comprehend. One thing we do is go into very bad areas of town and pretend it is normal. At least I still think it is normal. Like the Pakistani store owner who sells smokes, beer, lotto tickets and blunts to the people who walk in his door while all the time hoping he doesn't get shot, you begin to think this is normal. I got this call about 4 in the morning today. Things got a little weird. Not to bad, but not what I was expecting. It was the Downtowner Motel, one of Tampa's swankier joints. Its the kind of place that has "weekly rentals" and calls them apartments; imaine what kind of crowd that will draw. The dude was on the balcony and very anxious to get going, a clear sign that someone wants to buy drugs. I guess his buzz has worn off and he needs to get more. He and some chic with sunken cheeks and a glazed stare get in the backseat. They seem to have a bunch of nervous ene...

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Dana Young is a Liar or very confused about Uber

A very bad person with no honor or integrity I attended a meeting at the hockey arena downtown which was attended by all the Tampa Bay area state senators and representatives. In attendance was one Dana Young (R). When it was her time to speak, so told a story about a young women that was being raped. While the college student was being sexually assaulted, the student hit the Uber app on her phone and the police now knew the GPS coordinates of her location. What MS. Young did not disclose was that it happened on the UCLA campus and that it was an UBER DRIVER THAT WAS RAPING HER! "As students prepare to return to college, one thing female students cannot go without is caution. Assaults, especially sexual assaults, are a haunting part of daily life for so many students. Uber has made that nightmare even more of a reality . We tell our students that getting a driver when they’ve had too much to drink is the responsible course of action — it’...

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Lisa Roberts of Lyft had this to say about cab drivers

From Lyft driver Lisa Roberts FaceBook "Sorry these old cab drivers spent so much money, but people spent a lot of money on 8 tracks and DOS computers, which didn't stop technology or progress.  Riders prefer Lyft because our cars smell better, we don't mind short rides, they don't have to argue with us about payment and most importantly, we don't leave them standing on a street in the middle of the night!" Lisa was wrong on all of her points "OLD" - Your no spring chicken yourself "Stop technology or progress" - Breaking the law is not technology . Killing off industries so Lyft drivers have money for pot is not Progress. "Cars smell better" - you can eat off the floor of my cab. It is just that clean. Wait until the late night hipsters puke in your car and tell me how good it smells.  "Argue about payment" - We except many forms of payment. Lyft only takes your credit card. " Sho...

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Martin Mannes arrested in Key West for being an Uber driver

Key West Uber driver was arrested Friday for allegedly running a vehicle for hire without a city license to do so. The arrest of Martin Maness, 51, came following a recent city Police Department notice that the department would crack down on unlicensed vehicle-for-hire drivers. Department spokeswoman Alyson Crean said Friday's arrest followed complaints that Uber drivers were picking up fares from Key West International Airport. She said she didn't know who filed the complaints. Maness is charged with two misdemeanor counts of violating the city's ordinance after an undercover police officer received a ride from Key West International on South Roosevelt Boulevard to the Reach Resort at 1435 Simonton St. He was booked into jail around 10:40 p.m. and bailed out early Saturday morning on $701 bond. Uber and Lyft, a similar company not operating in Key West, use freelance drivers operating their own vehicles. Crean said Mannes knew about the crackdown but said he picked...

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Uber and sexual harassment of female riders

Feel safe now after reading this post Many women mistakenly think that by riding with Uber they are safer. What they don't realize is that taxi drivers in Tampa (and most major cities) have been cleared by extensive background investigations by the PTC. The riding public can rest assured that when a United Cab driver pulls up, this person is not a strange and deadly individual who will stalk you. Stalking of female riders with Uber is happening because they don't background check and their drivers have access to information about you that a cab driver does not. Olivia Nuzzi, a writer for the Daily Beast had a weird experience with an Uber driver who began stalking her. If she was not a high profile journalist, you would not know this. In her words: I met the Uber at the corner of the street where I live near Lincoln Center in New York City, and asked the driver to take me across town. It was an unremarkable trip. Until the end. At the end of the ride, the Uber...

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Reading Fake News with discust

Tim Fasano reading the fake news The St. Pete Times is getting lazy. Not only do they print fake news, lies, and twisted facts about Donald J Trump, they can't even write their own shit. Is there some reason why in the TBT all they can do is reprint SLATE? They search high and low for anything that will give a false impression about the President of the United States. Their bias really shows. The only good news about this is their readership is on the decline because nobody gives a shit about them anymore. Just note how many of their staff have been layed off. I guess they have to use other sources because they don't have enough people left to write a grocery list. Strong coffee to read the crap put out by the fake MSM Their efforts against Trump are in vain (just like the fake polls that showed Hillary winning by a large margin). All that did was instill a false sense of confidence, and people stayed home. Their efforts now are only going to cement the "...

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Violetta Storms bikini shoot

Here is the beautiful Michelle. There is a possibility she may be at the spring shootout. Lets hope so. She is a pro in every way and represents Dave Hall and what he is doing well.

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Kevin and Terri got married today

Kevin and Terri were married today at their beautiful home in Lakeland. They met a few years ago when Kevin went to a MUFON meeting. They are both into paranormal research and it seems to have been a perfect match. The ceremony and day was just perfect. I am happy for both of them. That is Terri's son Jason on the left, and Kevin's daughter Madison on the right.

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Hillsborough County bans Uber today as taxi company

The HCPT and Hillsborough County public commission today affirmed Uber is an illegal taxi company and bared them from operating in the Tampa area. This is wonderful news to longtime drivers like me. An Uber attorney asked Hillsborough County to make new rules to fit the trendy ridesharing movement pioneered by his company and Lyft, but was told flatly on Wednesday that Uber is an illegal taxi service. The county's Public Transportation Commission unanimously affirmed that an appointed officer had enough evidence to fine Uber, based in San Francisco, for providing hiring and public taxi services without proper licensing. Uber attorney Drew Sorrell held to the company's argument that it isn't in transportation. As a technology company, it doesn't need to follow transportation regulations as they are written. "There's a perfectly good way to do this, and that is to write the rules so that they fit," said Sorrell, of the Lowndes Drosdick Doster Kantor...

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Police said Uber drivers real job was selling drugs

If you were a drug dealer, having another job that pays you to drive around town would probably complement your endeavor. Yeah? Glendale police this week say 23-year-old Artak Avakian is an Uber driver who "used the position as a cover to sell drugs," according to a statement. Cops arrested Avakian at 4 p.m. on Tuesday after receiving a tip that he's a "suspected drug dealer," they said. The dumb shit circuit judge in Florida that ruled against background checks for Uber drivers said there was no evidence to show cabs were safer. Arrest happen everyday with Uber drivers. Does that judge ever read the newspaper. posted from Bloggeroid

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