The deep end of transportation

I have been diving deep, way deep in the pool. In fact, it has been raining so hard in Tampa, I have needed a snorkel to take my failures on a ride. The rain has been coming down so hard, major rivers have been flooding and people have been told to evacuate their homes. Fortunately I have managed to stay on high ground when I have been working. But when I am at play, I take it to the deep end of the pool.

Perhaps, this is a sort of metaphor for living in the deep end of life. I do admit, that I was unexpectedly pushed into the deep end by the ascent of rideshare and uber. This phenomena has left me in a war stance footing. I check my feeds every few hours to see if the judge in Tampa has ruled in favor of the County Transportation Commission. In the world I live in, that would be the easy right and necessary thing to do. I have no idea what is taking this judge this long to make a decision. Uber was in clear violation of all regulations. They were ethically and morally reprehensible in their activities and dealings with the law in Tampa Bay Florida.

If you think this law or all taxi laws are wrong, then work to have the industry de-regulated like the airlines were decades ago. In that case free market principles would aply in all sorts of discount carriers would emerge from the rubble. Unfortunately, the taxi industry in Tampa is highly regulated. What is so hard about this for this judge to understand?

You could not open a hot dog stand or a barber shop or any other small business without the proper permits licenses and insurance. Am I really parking up the wrong tree or kicking a dead dog. I know my critics say f* it and just go join Uber. But it does not work that way. Just because they have a great concept and is slick application, does not bring legitimacy and legality to their operations. Seriously, if there is something I have stated here that is incorrect, or not clear, or is a falsehood, please let me know. In the meantime, I will use this snorkel to take my fares where Uber will not go.

posted from Bloggeroid

Comments

AnonymousJuly 27, 2015 at 11:52 PM
In five hours today I ran six uber fares and made $240...Uber is the real deal!...no snorkel needed!
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousAugust 4, 2015 at 1:47 AM
This ass clown is full of shit. To make 240 he would have to book 500 on 6 fares. That means basically 5 trips to Orlando in 5 hours...Wake up ASSHOLE...not possible!!!
ReplyDelete
Replies
Tim FasanoAugust 4, 2015 at 9:12 PM
Uber drivers in Tampa are criminals and need to be treated as such. Within days Judge Huey should rule in favor of law and kick Uber out of Hillsborough County.
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Uber driver arrested in Brooklyn for robbing passengers

Uber first denied this had happened until Jewish Political News reported this. Uber is now in damage control A 51-year-old Uber driver was caught stealing $5,000 worth of jewelry from a Jewish couple, who took a ride with him from Borough Park to Williamsburg 9 days ago, JP has learned. The driver, identified as Morales Juan, 51, from Brooklyn was driving an Orthodox Jewish couple in their 30’s on Friday April 3rd from the Borough Park section of Brooklyn to Williamsburg to celebrate the first two days of the Passover holiday. Two hours after they left the car the woman realized that her bag of jewelry is missing, but they couldn’t contact the police since it was after sundown. On Sunday after sunset, the couple contacted Juan who denied taking the jewelry. After another attempt on Monday, the driver agreed to come down to a location in Borough Park and return the the jewelry in exchange for a cash reward. The family then contacted Borough Park Shomrim and asked for assistanc

Read more about it here! »

What happened to Tommy Duncan and Sticks of Fire blog?

The image below is a 2005 TBT article I still have about the Tampa blogger scene. The big boy was Tommy Duncan. He stopped blogging around 2008, and was never seen again. Here is what Creative Loafing said about that era: "The 40-something blogger founded the most-often-cited independent Tampa Bay news blog, Sticks of Fire, in Feb. 2004, and the site, without much financial assistance from advertising, is still going strong today with a stable of more than a dozen regular contributors. In 2005, Duncan was featured in a tbt* story about the young lions of the local Internet. Today, about half of them have fallen by the wayside or (in the case of famous sexy blogger Rachel Moran) moved to New Jersey. Duncan keeps on posting. The local digital scene has grown, but he's not sure it has improved in quality."

Read more about it here! »

The political decision process on Uber

Today at the hockey arena in downtown Tampa, all of the local Tampa Bay state representatives and senators gathered for the transportation hearing. What was first and foremost on the agenda was the subject of uber and its relationship to the Tampa Bay community. Both sides offered their reasons many of them anecdotal in nature. (Senator Jeff Brandes from St Petersburg, the one Center in the picture, came across as an arrogant asshole. He was rude and belligerent and combative with all speakers. This is an example of someone who bullied his way into a political position, no doubt. Sorry for the sidebar). State senator Arthenia Joyner was the best of the lot. She asked the most pointed questions and dug deep into the real issues. She pointed out to the room that seemed surprised to find out that all of the fees that apply to the cab companies by regulation uber has none of that. There are insurance requirements, licenses and fees, and fees associated with the airport authority, m

Read more about it here! »

Uber hits roadblock in Florida

Ubers exponential growth has not been without problems. After amazing advances throughout the United States and Europe, they have hit a roadblock in Florida. Uber is now fighting it out with Miami and Tampa, where they are currently illegal. Understand it is against the law to ride in an uber car in Tampa. It's currently against the law for an uber car to be dispatched in under an hour. Tampa and Miami classify ride-share as a limousine company. The rules are a $50 minimum, and 1 hour advance notification. Why? This rule is to protect taxi ccompanies and drivers, who've invested in medallions. Travis Kalanick says these rules are crazy. he says he is spending too much time fighting the officials in Florida. he says he would rather be at the Miami Shore Club. that is a swanky boutique hotel in South Beach. google it and see if you have the money to stay there. As much as people say they like uber, they are contributing to the demise of a regulated industry that serves the

Read more about it here! »

Hurricane Irma and "The Superfecta"

A monster is on its way If I time it right, I may lose my job, get evicted from my apartment, have my drivers license expired, and be wiped out by a hurricane ON THE SAME DAY! How cool is that! THE SUPERFECTA! I owe my company a ton of money. With the advent of Uber and ride share, I have been destroyed because I have continued to try and be a street driver. I have no money to pay my landlord the rent that was due today. He told me he will evict me. I need to renew my drivers license by the 13th of September but I have no money to do so. Plus, there is a category 5 hurricane headed for Florida. If I time it right, all my fears will come true on the same day. If that is the case, I hope this storm wipes out the state of Florida. I really don't want to see anyone hurt. I just want the pompous assholes that own big houses on the beach see their shit crushed. You know, the houses they earned on my back. I hope they have all their shit destroyed. I will not evacuate. I will

Read more about it here! »

The Price of gas is now lower then when Obama took office

The day Obama became President (notice the price of gas) It's about time! The photo above was taken at the Racetrack gas station the day Obama took office in 2009. The photo below that is at the same station today and its back to the same level. Gas is a major expense for taxi drivers. Nothing could be better news than to see gas continue to fall. Gas is lower today then six years ago Are you going to give the credit to Obama? Is it his economic and energy policies that have led to this fall? I would like to believe that but I can't. If it were not for Obama's green energy policies, gas may even be lower then it is today. He has tried to kill the coal industry. He won't allow off shore drilling. He has stopped the pipeline from being built. Thank God, the fracking guys have been able to create a new source of oil and lower the demand for middle east crude. This president (and his fans) for years wanted investigations into the oil companies because they t

Read more about it here! »

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

Read more about it here! »

Rumor has it

I'm hearing that the judge may rule in our favor. That he won't completely kick Uber out of the county but he will order them to comply with the rules and regulations in place. That, in itself, will effectively remove them from the county because they are classified as a limo service which would require them to charge a minimum of 30 to 50 dollars an hour with a minimum of one hour advance notice of ride. This is something they have been unwilling to accept anywhere they go. They believe they are special. They believe the rules do not apply for them. They believe they should be exempt. I'm glad that the law does not see it that way. I could be wrong but all of this makes sense. A reasonable judge with a rational mind and a firm understanding of the principles of law, could not reach any other conclusion than Uber is an illegal service. They are running a taxi cab company regardless of high tech equipment. I will be glad when this plague is gone and I can get back to

Read more about it here! »

Strange abadoned buildings in south St. Petersburg

Abandoned building in south St. Petersburg I have started a new business of running medical charges. My activity is all in St. Petersburg and my first two days have been a resounding success. Since I am new to this area, I did notice some abandoned buildings with a theme graffiti. I have no idea what those buildings were (except the bank) but the birds and the word loser are on two of them. A customer of mine said they may have been the old welfare buildings. Not sure. Graffiti on the building next to the one above closed down bank across the street

Read more about it here! »

St. Petersburg Taxi tells the truth about Uber and ride share

Albert is a cab driver that follows the rules and pays his insurance, license, and operation fees Guest post by Albert Zee: Uber problem in Tampa Bay.....Taxi industry has been under siege since 2007-2008 due to economical collapse of 2008, then surge in new taxi cab start ups between 2010-204 which were still mostly operating according to all the rules and regulations prolonged recovery. Then uber came around with "great solution" to our transportation problems and said, what regulations, what commercial insurance, what background checks and what cars (we don't need to own any and our drivers don't need to be regulated because we are "rideshare" company), we will invade and steal the market by offering rides at half a price, we will put all those law obeying "taxi cartels" out of business by creating bogus press releases about advantages of uber, by lying to public, drivers and politicians, they don't know any better any ways. Curren

Read more about it here! »

Tampa Taxi Shots

Search This Blog