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The Taxi Truman Show

I may have found the escape hatch
Regulated Taxi driving is now dead. Uber has taken over. The current situation is no longer tenable for drivers who face an old model of cab leasing, and can no longer continue paying a Pre-Uber lease. Today was the tipping point. This time of year we should be very busy...EXTREMLY BUSY. We are not. It is dead as a doornail with drivers at the airport waiting up to 5 hours to a ride. It should be off the hook. It is for Uber. They pay no fee to the airport, yet they are allowed to operate.

I made a good living for years. Transportation was regulated in Hillsborough County. This insured uniformity or rates, insurance, and accountability. But no more. The HCPTC has now allowed a gypsy cab company take over. Uber has not only taken some or part of our business - they have taken it all. This is because they are low balling the market in an attempt to establish a monopoly. They are well on their way to doing that with the compliance and help of the politicians and agencies that are supposed to protect the ridding public.

Like Truman, I am living a false reality by continuing to believe everything is real. It is not. I do not have a job. I do not have a gainful enterprise that I can make a living with. I am tired of  it. I am facing eviction from my apartment. I have not paid this months rent and I have exactly $17 in my pocket. Phone was cut off. My electricity is scheduled for shut off. The only reason I have a cell phone is because a homeless women gave me her Obama Phone. That's what it has come down too, being supported by the homeless.

There is no business. I have no clue as what to do. Does it matter? I don't even have gas money.

One thing that I will take to my grave is why Transportation? I mean, you can't run a hot dog cart without the right permits. You can't open a bar without a liquor license. You can't run a barber shop without the correct insurance and permits. Can you start a pirate radio station without a FCC license?
What about law? If you do what Uber does, you would practice law and argue cases in court without a law degree. After all, why fool around with such silly stuff such as Bar Exams!

The point I'm making is that Transportation is not the only regulated industry. Virtually everything is.

Again. Why my form of work? Why did the politicians, courts, lawyers, Mayor, airport, media, think illegal operators were fine as long as they served the general public?

They really don't. And that's the dirty little secret about Uber - Racism.

Uber is a racist company, Their entire business model is set up to exclude many individuals. Their model is similar to Jim Crow.

What they have done is "Red Line" every city they work in. By requiring credit cards (no pre-paid debit cards allowed). This way, they exclude the poor parts of town. We all know that is the black and Hispanic parts of any city. They just don't want your business.

Taxi cabs are required to pick up in all areas. We have PHONE NUMBER and anyone can call. Uber will only use an app, and you must financially qualify to be a customer. That alone should have been the reason the political types put a stop to it. But with the strong Uber lobby, there was no way these corrupt people would have done the job they were elected to do.

I blame a lot of people for this travesty. The one I blame the most is Victor Crist. He was compromised early in the process and was determined to let this gypsy company take hold. They have not taken hold - they have taken over.

It is done folks. That is why I have been looking for an out. All of my energies now are for moving on and reinventing myself.

My ability to make a living is over.

I hope to have a Truman Burbank moment. In The Truman Show, Jim Carey was sailing away on a boat because he had pieced it together that his reality was fake. That is were I am now. I cannot continue thinking it is real. I hope to do what Truman did and bump into a stairway that leads to the door which he can escape his false reality.

So in advance of that happening, "and in case I don't see ya again, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!"


Comments

  1. Fuck Uber and Lyft and Fuck United and the greedy bastard management that can sleep at night for the crimes that they commit. The only thing they have left is Logisticare that is feeding in their Prius'...Pay them no cash until they fire you and come do slave labor here in pinellas where you live. I hope and pray that these pricks die in their sleep tonight!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sorry to hear this. You are pretty tough and will overcome it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Adapt or perish; if you can't make a living driving a cab, get a Uber car and start making $. The reviews for Uber are insane; why would anyone get in a dirty and expensive taxi? Uber is the future!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Adapt or Perish" First, you stole my line. "Dirty Cab." That is an insult. You can eat your lunch off the floor of my taxi, and most of the ones that drive for United. Reviews? Just Google "Uber drivers arrested sexual assault," and see what the reviews are. See what people have to say about 10x surge. You must be a leftist.

      Delete
    2. “Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative.” ― H.G. Wells. The line is H.G's., not your line, nor mine, nor anybody's line, for that matter. Granted, at the start of a shift, most cabs I think are relatively fit for service. "Dirty cab" is an insult, I agree, but not intended as one, and on further reflection, I apologize. It is a fact of life, however, news is abound of taxi drivers assaulting their passenger, as well as passengers assaulting taxi drivers. Therefore, reported violence against Uber drivers assaulting their passengers is not strictly a Uber issue. So far, what I've seen on the internet, the positive reviews for Uber far outnumber taxis, for good and cheep service. Uber is less expensive than a cab ride: that's a fact. When it's not, the customer is informed of the surge in price, even before the ride arrives to pickup the customer, so the customer can cancel the ride or accept the ride: also a fact. A surge in price occurs only when demand is far greater than supply: fact also. In other words, it's not a surprise. It is a surprise, indeed, when taxis advertise the use of credit cards and the driver "demands" cash.

      Left-wing politics supports social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy and social inequality. It typically involves a concern for those in society whom its adherents perceive as disadvantaged relative to others
      (prioritarianism), as well as a belief that there are unjustified inequalities that need to be reduced or abolished (by advocating for social justice). With this in mind, although I'm not a "Leftist", I think is not a bad thing. Interestingly, H.G. was a leftist.

      February 15, 2017 at 2:42 AM

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  4. UBER will be like Walmart - low prices to drive out all the small stores, then when only one in the area, back up they go. You are captive unless you drive a long way, then the price of gas eats up savings.

    The explanation for all this: Some people are just no damn good.

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  5. Don't think too much whatever happen with you rather think for next plan. There are other nice company available who are serving taxi business better way who have app clone which executes proper way or you can have your own startups for taxi booking & can earn more.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Now a days lots of taxi booking application available in the market . You can use it rather than Uber and Lyft. And recently many companies offers a white label Uber clone script for your own startup taxi booking business, you can also start your own business.

    ReplyDelete

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