Officialy I am retired from Taxi driving

....and I have to tell you I am relieved, even ecstatic because last six years was for me constant struggle, stress and uncertainty. Dealing with deregulation, uber, lyft, falling income was too much, probably I would quit earlier but where 60 year old going to go and start over, so I was forced to put up with this calamity for way too long.

....and now, I started new hobby which hopefully will turn one day into profitable business, I started to learn how to trade index options or rather sell covered calls. So far so good, I make some money but only on paper. :)

To witness my progress, you can visit my new blog "WZ Options For Income 2020" at https://options-for-income-2020.blogspot.com/ 

Thank You
P.S. In my investing endeavor, I find below links very educational, you might want to visit them too.

https://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/default.asp
https://marketchameleon.com/

Rideshare drivers illegal activities Uber/Lyft

IMO
Here is another illegal strategy uber and lyft drivers learned quite quickly to maximize their profits and to stay on top of the taxi/uber game......large number of rideshare users are regular customers who catch a ride every day to work, from work, twice a week to doctor's appointments, once a week to airport, etc. Here, how it works, Customer instead requesting uber or lyft driver trough the platform, they call drivers directly on their cell phone for premium service, a driver who they already know..... With rates so ridiculously low, customer don't even mind to pay the driver directly + tip, .....at this point they even feel about them self as being socially correct by bypassing uber /lyft platform and supporting "a little guy" ...Though, the little they know, every time they get involved in this kind of activity, they basically travel completely uninsured.... ....
Here is the question, who we should blame for customers making dangerous decisions? a uber driver who is pretty ignorant to local rules and regulations (he wasn't informed by uber or city about possible dangers),? a passenger, who tries to save money on transportation and happily subscribes to uber's bogus press releases or may be uber for trying to make a buck for their shareholders ? ....
IMO, NON of the above, GUILTY OF THIS MESS ARE POLITICIANS WHO ALLOWED UBER TO OPERATE AGAINST ALL THE RULES, REGULATIONS, LAWS AND COMMON SENSE......................SO, IF YOU GET HURT IN UBER CAR OR GET HURT BY IT, don't go after uber which is entrenched in legal system and employs top lawyers, GO LEGALLY AFTER CITIES and STATES who's representatives allowed that to happen.....I guess in legal proceedings against public entities like city, you can throw in antitrust laws, civil laws, discrimination laws, lost wages, etc
If you think, it's impossible, I am pleased to inform you that it had happened before eg. in City of Ottawa.....

TRUMP ON SHARING ECONOMY, -OPINIONS

Original Article By Iain Murray, vice president for strategy for the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
http://www.insidesources.com/five-ways-president-trump-could-jump-start-economic-growth


"Five Ways President Trump Could Jump-Start Economic Growth

Too many Americans feel left behind by the weak economic growth and diminished job opportunities under the Obama administration. Too many people have seen their income stagnate and opportunity disappear since the financial crisis of 2007-2008. "

AGREE

"As the 2016 election upset has proved, people want a president who does things differently, a president who wants to “make America great again.”"

AGREE

"President-elect Donald J. Trump now has a huge opportunity to make some big changes that improve people’s lives and livelihoods. Over the last eight years, the Obama administration heaped piles of regulation on top of businesses and their financiers. Trump can help get the economy moving again by implementing some meaningful regulatory relief, by himself and with Congress. Here are five simple ways he can do that: "

WRONG, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO REGULATE CROOKED BUSINESSES

"(1) Fire Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He’s issued regulation after regulation that made it harder for people to get access to funds. Banks have in many ways stopped lending to people who lack perfect credit or to small businesses because of the new bureaucracy involved. President Trump should exercise his appointments power, fire Cordray, and install a director who will get consumer and small business credit moving again."

WRONG, BANKS STOPPED LENDING TO SMALL BUSINESS NOT BECAUSE OF OBAMA'S REGULATIONS BUT TO KEEP PRESSURE ON ECONOMICAL GROWTH AND COSTS OF LABOR, WHICH IN RESULT ENRICHED EVEN MORE BIG CORPORATIONS AND WALL STREET.

"(2) Rescind the Department of Labor’s overtime rule that looms over America’s employers and threatens job opportunities. This rule, which will come into effect in December, will force businesses to pay time-and-a-half to salaried employees who earn up to $47,476 a year. Instead of getting a raise, many employees will see their work terms changed or switched to hourly status as businesses scramble to avoid the sudden, budget-busting mandate. The new rule will affect around 5 million employees, many of whom work at universities, nonprofits or startups that rely on dedicated people working longer hours out of love for their job and mission. If left in place, the effect on startups alone — one of the bright spots of economic growth — could be devastating."

SAY WHAT? ACCORDING TO THIS TWISTED LOGIC, AMERICAN EMPLOYEES SHOULD KEEP WORKING FOR LESS BECAUSE OF LOVE FOR THEIR JOBS ??!! AND BECAUSE BUSINESSES (GOD FORBID) WOULD MAKE LESS MONEY ??!!

"(3) Encourage the sharing economy. Platform apps like Uber, Airbnb and Handy have allowed people to make up income shortfalls or earn extra cash by making better use of their cars, homes or skills. Unfortunately, regulators at the Department of Labor and elsewhere have been moving to restrict these opportunities, for example, by having Uber drivers declared employees of the app firm. That increases labor law liability and significantly reduces the number of those jobs available. The new president should call off the labor regulators and allow sharing economy firms to expand. He should appoint an official in charge of looking out for people in the sharing economy throughout the regulatory process."

OK, PART #3, IT IS A PROVE THAT AUTHOR HAS HIS HEAD BURIED DEEP IN HIS ASS, HE WANTS TO BUILD "GREAT AMERICA" BY MAKING AMERICANS WORK LONGER HOURS, IN SWEATSHOP CONDITIONS AND WITHOUT PROPER PROTECTION FROM LABOR REGULATORS.

"(4) Work with Congress to repeal Dodd-Frank’s notorious Durbin Amendment. It restricts fees banks can charge merchants for use of their debit card networks — which just meant banks passed on these extra costs in the form of higher annual fees, offered fewer free checking accounts, and ended debit card reward programs. By one count, these extra costs may have forced a million poor Americans to stop using bank accounts at all. It’s time to recognize the Durbin Amendment is a failure and get it repealed."

NO WONDER WHY OUR POLITICIANS ARE SO IGNORANT, AFTER READING COUPLE OF ARTICLES LIKE THIS PROMINENTLY DISPLAYED IN GOOGLE SEARCH FOR "TRUMP ON SHARED ECONOMY" AND ACCEPTING THEM AS A LEGIT ANALYSIS.

"(5) Negotiate a free trade deal with Brexit Britain. The president-elect may look askance at trade with China and Mexico, but he has no such worries about Britain, one of America’s biggest mutual trading partners. And as luck would have it, Britain is now looking to conduct its own trade deals following its exit from the European Union. Mutually beneficial exchange of goods and services could easily generate billions of dollars of wealth on both sides of the Atlantic, instill market confidence, and help quell worries about a global trade war. President Trump’s new U.S. trade representative should invite U.K. Secretary for International Trade Liam Fox to Washington for talks, ASAP."

WITH US/UK TRADE AT FRACTION OF TOTAL US INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE, #5 IS OBVIOUS SMOKESCREEN TO COVER SMELL OF BS THIS ARTICLE IS ALL ABOUT,

"Trump could set these measures in motion very quickly, and hard-strapped Americans would start to see real change. We must begin to lift at least some of the $1.9 trillion burden regulation imposes on the economy every year. All Americans, whether they voted for Donald Trump or not, could get behind that."

VOTERS CAN NOT POSSIBLY GET BEHIND IT, BECAUSE THEY ARE ALREADY IN FRONT OF IT GETTING SCREWED BY SHARING ECONOMY, OWN POLITICIANS AND GOVERNMENT.

Commentary, by local taxi driver in Tampa Bay

Uber drivers are 21st century sharecropers or slaves?

 

Picture by QZ.com

Uber’s car leasing program turns its drivers into modern-day sharecroppers

Behind the shiny veneer of Uber’s venture capital–backed technological innovation lies a time-tested business model: labor exploitation. Uber’s latest scheme is a new spin on the age-old practice of sharecropping. Struggling to find enough drivers willing to put miles on their own cars, Uber recently began offering subprime auto loans to would-be drivers, conveniently extracting payments directly from their paychecks, or (because Uber insists its drivers aren’t its employees) their “Uber earnings.” Since last July, Uber and its wholly owned subsidiary, Xchange Leasing, have partnered with auto dealerships, advertised to drivers, and even repossessed cars from drivers who lag in their payments.

Uber isn’t the only company to resurrect sharecropping in modern industries. Lyft is working with investor General Motors to rent cars to its drivers. Until 2008, FedEx purchased custom-made trucks and sold or leased them to potential drivers. Janitorial companies have gotten into legal hot water for requiring their cleaners to buy franchises and charging them additional fees for clients.

These are just a few of the companies that insist their low-wage workers are independent business people. Here’s the rub: independent business people make capital investments in their businesses. But these workers lack the heavy capital needed to start a business and can’t afford to pay upfront. So the company conveniently arranges for them to buy or lease equipment, often through an exploitative deal. These ......

>>>Please read more at Quartz

This article was brought to your attention by Legal Taxi Drivers Association of St Petersburg, FL
Please feel free to leave comments at:
http://saint-petersburg-florida-taxi.blogspot.com/2016/08/uber-drivers-are-21st-century.html#comment-form
. 

Uber Drivers Union and Why they should Unionize

uber drivers network

Uber drivers are going Union

• Why the Uber drivers want to Unionize – The reasons the drivers list for their desire to unionize are very similar to most workers who join unions; exploitive practices by employers, including unfair pay, arbitrary firing policies, and in the case of Uber drivers claims of racial discrimination.
Another major concern of Uber drivers everywhere is liability insurance. Currently, Uber requires the drivers to bear the responsibility  and expense) of liability insurance. This is a big deal financially since regular personal  liability does not cover a driver or vehicle being used in a rid-for-hire situation. The cost for commercial liability insurance is typically 3-4 times as much as personal liability insurance, forcing some drivers to choose between quitting Uber or driving around under insured or even not insured at all.
The driver rating system has also come under fire. Uber drivers get rated by their passengers, which is normally not a problem. The thing is, the current system does not allow drivers to challenge bad reviews, such as negative reviews from drunk passengers who file inaccurate, and undeserved, negative reviews. It has also been said that unscrupulous drivers will sabotage other drivers’ ratings by having bogus negative reviews submitted either by themselves or by people they hire to ride in and negatively review other drivers’ performance.
By unionizing, the drivers hope to be able to address, and correct, many of these issues.

• The Teamsters Union is lending a hand – The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is one of the largest, most powerful , and well known unions in the world. With their immense resources and vast experience, they will be a formidable adversary for Uber to do battle with.  A recent demonstration by over 500 Uber drivers  in front of the Santa Monica CA Uber offices made headlines throughout California and throughout the rest of the country as well.

• Ubers response to the drivers efforts to Unionize – Uber claims that the drivers are not employees but rather are software licensees, and thus do not constitute a legal bargaining unit and so are not eligible for membership in the Teamsters, or any, union. This sleazy tactic has been used before by slave driving, selfish companies who don’t seem to care about the happiness or welfare of their drivers or employees.
 An Uber spokesperson recently told a reporter from VentureBeat that “If an Uber driver wants to make a change they can talk to us directly- they don’t need a bogus organization like this to do that”.   It is exactly this kind of arrogant, selfish attitude which is rapidly eroding the public image Uber presents and causing drivers to unite and unionize. Exploitation of this type has been attempted, and declared illegal many times in the history of labor relations in the United States. It often happens that rival companies in the same trade will emerge with a business model more favorable to the workers and drive companies like Uber out of business entirely. If that should happen to Uber it will be exactly what they deserve for so blatantly and greedily disregarding the rights of the very drivers who have put them in the position to be valued at billions of dollars. The day of the capitalistic robber barons has long passed, and it is high time that invasive parasites like the people running Uber are made to conform to the law of the land just like every other business in America is required to do.  California Lawsuits – A number of lawsuits currently pending in the California legal system will help to determine the future of the drivers’  union status, and the future of Uber  itself; California Assembly Bill 2293, for instance, addresses the liability insurance issue and is being steadfastly opposed by Uber. With an estimated value exceeding 18 Billion dollars, Uber can and does retain powerful legal guns to oppose these court challenges. Only time will tell who will prevail- justice and fairness or money and clout. Hopefully Uber will be forced to adopt practices that are both legal and ethical and begin treating their drivers more fairly in the future. This would include addressing issues such as job security, liability insurance, false promises made to recruit new drivers and all of the other topics which have garnered Uber negative headlines all across the nation.

Conclusion – With the powerful Teamsters union on their side, and the spate of legal challenges cropping up in California and elsewhere across the nation, many feel  that it is only a matter of time until the drivers prevail against Uber and get accepted as a union organization.  Historically the courts in California and in other states as well have sided on the side of the employee (A district court in Frankfurt Germany even went as far as to ban Uber from operating anywhere in Germany for infringing on the operation of legit, legal cabs. After nearly a month an appellate court eventually lifted the ban due to a legal technicality). If this prediction of redemption for the drivers and unions becomes a reality, it will undoubtedly change the playing field, and force Uber to play fairly or get out of the ride for hire business altogether. There is little doubt that Lyft drivers are soon to follow with lawsuits and unionization attempts of their own if the Uber drivers prevail in their attempt to be treated fairly. I for one cannot wait for this day of reckoning to come!

please watch this:

UBER BANNED IN TAMPA BAY

  Hopefully, this will force Uber to comply with all the Tampa Bay taxi regulations like getting commercial insurance for all cars, pay city taxes, DO REAL Background checks for drivers, do regular inspections on cars, stop lying to drivers about possible income, stop lying to customers about "tip is included policy", stop lowering rates on a whim with disregard for drivers livelihood, etc.

Hillsborough decides uber just like cabs


"TAMPA — Uber has lost a battle Wednesday in its fight for open competition on streets as Hillsborough County's Public Transportation Commission decides that the ride-sharing company is a taxi company and faces the same regulations as other such firms.

The hearing was a continuing appeal process of five tickets inspectors wrote to Uber drivers for two violations: operating a for-hire service without a proper permit, and allowing or causing drivers to operate a public for-hire vehicle without the proper driver's license, according to the Tampa Bay Times........"


>>> Please Read More


University of Tampa Bans Uber and Lyft because of students safety concerns.

and please watch this:

Uber,- Insurance and Integrity Problems

Uber is up to it's old tricks again, advertising 'facts' that are not even close to being 100% factual. In this case Uber claims that they perform background checks that exceed the checks performed by conventional taxi companies, and they also  claim to have 1 million dollar per incident liability insurance. A recent NBC investigative report from a San Francisco TV station exposes the fallacy of these claims.

  It turns out that when you ride in an Uber car, you are typically not covered at all, neither by the drivers personal insurance nor by any insurance whatsoever from Uber. If you incur any injury while riding, or crashing, in an Uber car, you or your family will be stuck paying the entire medical bill yourself. This type of expense, potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars, could of course bankrupt even a well to do person. 

The insurance that private drivers carry does not cover the car, or the driver, if the car is being used professionally to provide transportation for hire. This kind of coverage requires commercial insurance, the type required by law in conventional taxi's and limo services. This commercial insurance is
significantly more costly than standard personal coverage, and to purchase this kind of insurance would render the driving of an Uber car economically unfeasible.

As for Ubers claim regarding extremely thorough criminal background checks, it seems that Uber is not being totally honest with their claims in this area either. They are clearly not more exhaustive than those required for legitimate taxi companies, and there is some question as to whether Uber performs any criminal background checks at all. NBC reports that they found drivers with criminal histories not only in San Francisco, but also in LA and Chicago. These drivers, some of whom were still on probation, had past convictions that include burglary, assault, and drug trafficking charges.  NBC even went as far as to have undercover felons apply for employment, and Uber hired them without question.

 Given these facts, I would not want my wife, child, or other loved ones to ride in an uninsured car
with a convicted felon which may very well be the case with an Uber ride. I'll stick with the traditional taxi companies who are required, by law,  to have proper insurance and also required by law to conduct a thorough background check performed by an accredited agency.

The truth about UBER,- video

Four Myth’s That Uber is Spreading

Myth #1 – Uber is a Tech company

Uber is nothing more than a new way to dispatch taxi cabs. All of the “ride sharing” propaganda is just that;the fact is when you order a ride for an agreed upon price to a specific destination, you are acting as a taxi cab. Simply calling your taxi service a “ride sharing service” does not make it  a new and revolutionary product. As the classical wisdom says “ If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck” then it is most likely a duck. Uber’s claim to be a tech company providing a software service is just a very transparent attempt by the billion dollar company to avoid acting like a responsible business instead of a shifty, fly by night outfit. Uber is using this flimsy excuse to bilk local governments out of millions of dollars in revenue while lining their own pockets with Billions of dollars in ill-gotten profits. One day soon the hand of fate will deal the crushing blow to Uber, and I for one think it will be fitting and proper when it does finally happen! Uber has been making profit at the expense of honest, hard workibg people long enough and it is high time that it stops.

Myth#2- Uber and it’s drivers carry adequate insurance

Time and time again Uber drivers have been involved in accidents, including accidents that involve serious injuries and deaths, and Uber has consistently denied any responsibility or liability in these cases. Their claim of fully insured cars and drivers have been proven false time and time again as Uber drivers are involved in accidents and left to fend for themselves when it is time to appear in court. More than one Uber driver has had their lives ruined because of the company’s refusal to stand behind their drivers when the chips are down. A drivers personal insurance will not cover any injury or damage that occurs to the driver, his car, or the other party’s car or occupants because their personal policy specifically excludes any situations where the car is being used for commercial purposes. This has been the unanimous opinon of every sing insurance company involved in such a case, and has also been unanimously upheld by every court these cases have come before. Once again, it is the driver, and sometimes the other party’s in the accident, that end up paying the sometimes heavy price for Uber’s total disregard for decent and responsible corporate behavior. If you drive for, or ride in, an Uber car you are taking a very serious risk that could result in millions of dollars of debt as well as serious personal injury or even death. Do not be mislead by the outright falsification Uber presents regard the insurance issue, they have proven over and over again that they do not stand behind anyone and are only out to make a quick , and dishonest dollar.

Myth#3- Taxi laws do not apply to Uber ?

 – Despite Ubers claims of “not being in the transportation business” , and thus exempt to the rules and regulations governing the taxi industry, lawmakers across the country are realizing exactly what Uber is up to and are enacting laws to force Uber to play fairly.The fact is that Abe Lincoln was right when he said “ You can fool all of the people some of the time, or you can fool some of the people all of the time, but YOU CAN’T FOOL ALL OF THE PEOPLE ALL OF THER TIME. Uber has been playing their little game of legal cat and mouse for too long and in too many places and their house of cards is begging to rapidly fall. In the end of course it will be the drivers who suffer for Uber’s reprehensible tactics, just as it always has been their drivers who bear the brunt of the punishment for Uber’s transgressions. This abhorable, cheating organization will get what it deserves in the end, of that we can be certain.

Myth#4-  Uber drivers are thoroughly screened ?

- Murders, rapists, and undesirables of every description have been able to find employment with Uber. Apparently Uber’s “thorough screening” process is just like their “adequate insurance coverage”, a deliberate and brazen lie concocted to allow them to take unfair advantage of the legitimate, established taxi and limo companies by usurping the spirit, and the letter, of  local laws and regulations. Little, if any, screening of applicant is done, and certainly nothing even close to the rigorous and thorough legal screening required for taxi companies in virtually every municipality in America. If you are a shady character with a long criminal history, you need look no farther than Uber for your next job. Uber drivers have been accused, and convicted, of every crime you can think of, including sexual offenses, assault, and even murder. The shame of it is that it is Uber’s unsuspecting customers that ultimately pay the price for Uber’s disregard for their safety.

UberX expanding its operation to Toronto Canada on pile of BS and Lies

Well it looks like Uber is continuing their expansion  policy, this time riding their magic carpet of lies and deceit into the beautiful Canadian city of Toronto, Ontario. Toronto is the largest city in Canada, and is also the provincial capital of Ontario. Now it is the arena where an oft repeated scam is about to unfold.

Using the all too familiar practice of paving their way into a new city with an onslaught of bogus claims and false advertising, Uber hopes to exploit the good people and local government of Toronto as it has across the United States and much of Canada. Grossly exaggerated claims of income, and outright lies regarding safety concerns and insurance policies are being proffered in Toronto as a matter of policy.  Uber has been using this method of moving into cities for several years now and they have refined the process into a highly effective one; They lur in hundreds of drivers with their unsubstantiated claims of outrageous earnings and low hours, while at the same time placating the local government with empty promises about safety and insurance concerns. It is a strategy that has served them well, and the billion dollar industry that has sprung up in their wake is motivating other illegal and unsafe copycat organazations. Lyft and Sidecar are two such outfits, and they invariably follow Uber when Uber infects a new city much like jackals follow lions to share in their kill. It is only a matter of time before honest, hard working drivers in the Toronto area start to come forward with stories of how Ubers dishonest and illegal practices have left the without a car, a job, or even a place to live. Uber drivers who are involved in accidents often lose their car, go deeply into debt after being sued, and are unable to find work as a result of their damaged driving record. Uber tells prospective drivers that they will be fully insured and that their lives and their personal safety are priorities at Uber, only to find that these are absolute falsehoods and that Ubers only true priority is the almighty dollar. Ubers rise from obscurity to fabulous wealth has been paid for by the pain and misery of the very employees that made that success possible. By the time the Toronto authorities catch on to Ubers treachery and finally put a stop to it, many hundreds of people will have had their lives irreversibly ruined as a result of choosing to drive for these scoundrels.

Uber drivers are not the only group to suffer as a result of Ubers abhorable practices; due to weak, and often non-existance criminal  background checks, the general population will be at risk as they get into cars being driven by drug dealers, thieves, even murderers and rapists. Innocent consumers, who’s only crime has been to use a new and purportedly safe alternative to traditional transportation options have suffered pain, financial harm, and even death due to Ubers lack of social responsibility and professional ethics. While they are claiming in their current publicity blitz to conduct background screening that exceeds industry standards as well as Toronto licensing requirements, the fact is Uber will hire virtually anyone with a drivers license and a car that runs.

If you are a professional driver in Toronto and you are being tempted by all of the smoke and mirrors of the current Uber recruiting drive, please do yourself a favor and look for employment instead at legitimate taxi and limo companies. These companies are regulated by the local Toronto municipal and civic codes, and are much more reliable and conscientious than Uber. They provide their drivers with safe, insured, company owned taxis and they insure both the car and the driver at all times. Of course, if you are a criminal, or have a poor driving record and a history of safety violations, you may want to consider working for Uber or one of the other ride-share outfits  because you will not be able to pass the criminal background check nor meet the high standards that the legal, conventional transportation companies adhere to.  Uber is setting up shop in Toronto, and if past experience is any teacher, there are going to be a lot of disappointed drivers and eventually a lot of outraged citizens and lawmakers that will soon see that Uber is not playing fair. The world is becoming increasingly aware that these ride-share scams are just that, scams, and are not living up to their promises, and are once again lying and cheating their way to financial success. Don’t be fooled, don’t become a pawn in this tragic game of bait and switch. Whether you are a driver or a customer, the hidden risk that lies behind the whole ride sharing concept is simply too big of an issue to ignore just to save a little bit of time or money;in the long run, you may lose in a big way

Uber safety concerns becoming more serious and more frequent

picture by foxnews.com

Uber safety concerns becoming more serious and more frequent

Traditional taxi cab companies have opposed the shady, corner cutting practices of ride-sharing operations like Uber since the San Francisco based software company began operating cut-rate transportation services to the northern California city. Now that companies like Uber and Lyft and Sidecar, the three giants in the billion dollar ride sharing business, are openly defying both the law and the establish ride for hire industry, legislators and lawmakers are beginning to see the importance of making these new kids in town pay the piper like their traditional transportation industry counterparts have been doing for many years.
District attorneys from both Los Angeles and San Francisco to the app-based transportation companies with stern warnings about their misleading statements to their customers and the public in general concerning what many see as serious safety issues. The letters to the three largest ride-share companies also contained accusations that the ride-sharing organizations are guilty of refusing to follow state laws and of incorporating illegal practices and the corresponding fines and penalties as a normal cost of doing business. In many cities Uber actually pays the fines imposed on their drivers by local police and courts.
San Francisco Dist. Atty. George Gascón has stated that Uber, Lyft and Sidecar need to correct multiple civil violations of state and local laws. He promised that if the app-based companies continue to disregard the law prosecutors will begin filing restraining orders as well as begin to assess the companies heavy fines.
The prosecutors' letters are the just  latest salvo by local governments in the ongoing war over how these Johnny-come-latelies to the transportation business attempt to undermine the existing structure of the industry by circumventing safety and permitting procedures that are designed to protect both the customers and drivers of these scofflaw companies. The companies allow customers to summon rides using smartphones and mobile devices based apps, and drivers transport passengers in their personal vehicles rather than licensed and inspected vehicles like traditional taxi companies are required to use. The services are often deceptively marketed as a safer, and The prosecutors' letters are the just  latest salvo by local governments in the ongoing war over how these Johnny-come-latelies to the transportation business attempt to undermine the existing structure of the industry by circumventing safety and permitting procedures that are designed to protect both the customers and drivers of these scofflaw companies. The companies allow customers to summon rides using smartphones and mobile devices based apps, and drivers transport passengers in their personal vehicles rather than licensed and inspected vehicles like traditional taxi companies are required to use. The services are often deceptively marketed as a safer, and cheaper alternative to taxis. These companies have been rapidly gaining popularity in San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as all around the world.
The latest investigations began in response to "a multitude of very serious complaints from both customers and legitimate taxi and limousine companies." Gascón said. The charges leveled by lawmakers include allegations  that the firms have failed to comply with multiple laws and local regulations that govern airport pickups and fare pricing. A recurring concern expressed both in California and nationwide is the fact that the ride-share have falsely told consumers that they perform background checks that  ensure their passengers that the drivers have no criminal record or previous driving violations.
Uber and Sidecar representatives said their firms' background checks comply with state law although they did not provide specific details regarding either the statutes they refer to or the exact background check process they claim to be employing. Echoing the vague defense the companies have been using in other cities, the reps for these companies claim that the charges are a result of misunderstandings. Their standard line is always something along the lines of this recent quote from Sunil Paul, the chief executive and founder of Sidecar:"We have a common interest," Paul said before a meeting with prosecutors "They have a high priority on safety, and our No. 1 concern is safety for riders, drivers and the public." Most experts agree that there is little truth to this claim and that the ride-share companies have historically shown little or no concern for the safety of either their passengers or their drivers. I think it is painfully obvious that their “No. 1 concern” is the billions of dollars of revenue at stake. Another commonly used, but inherently flawed defense used by the scofflaw companies is that they are merely ‘software providers’ and thus they are not really in the transportation business at all. Their flawed logic wears mighty thin under even the most casual scrutiny. It is no surprise that again, virtually all of the legal experts that have spoken out on the issue consider this line of reasoning unfounded and without any legal merit whatsoever.
What has become increasingly clear is that these companies are getting what they deserve and their time of making billions of dollars at the expense of legitimate transportation providers and local governments is quickly drawing to a close. If  California, the most supportive and lenient entity in terms of trying to work with these companies, has finally had enough of the lying and circular legal arguments Uber and their ilk employ, the rest of the country, and the world, can’t be far behind. I guess that is what happens when you bite the hand that feeds you, isn’t it?

Jacksonville to lead Florida in dealing with Uber's corporate terrorism?

picture by http://angieaway.com/

Jacksonville City Council Wants Uber and Lyft to Pony Up 

In a move that many citizens and city council members feel is long overdue, the Jacksonville city council is planning to introduce legislation that will require ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft to go through the same permit application process as do other local transportation providers such as taxi’s and limousine services. Currently the ride-share outfits are sidestepping the permit process, claiming they are software services and as such they are not subject to the same rules and regulations as conventional  taxi cab companies. The taxi companies, and many in local government, claim that the result of this quasi-legal practice is an unfair trade advantage for the ride–share organizations because they do not have to pay the significant fees required to obtain and maintain the permits. Another issues often associated with Uber and other similar companies is that they are not currently required to perform the same level of background screening that the traditional transportation providers are subject to when applying for the permit. Proponents of the new legislation  claim that this results in both an unfair business advantage for the ride-share companies but also poses a significant public safety risk because the drivers for the ride-share companies often have been found to be employing felons; burglars, rapists, child molesters and even murderers have been alleged to be in the employ of Uber. 

Jacksonville City Councilman Stephen Joost recently announced that he plans to introduce new legislation that would give the city the power to impound unregulated vehicles using the Uber or Lyft software apps. The proposed new regulations would also allow the city to seize the vehicles of repeat offenders. Joost said the more stringent  sanctions  are what is necessary to motivate the drivers of ride-share cars to follow city laws.

These companies, with “ride share” models that allow people to arrange and pay for transportation with their smart phones, have come under increasing scrutiny  in recent months for employing drivers who have not been screened for criminal backgrounds and also not permitted or regulated by the city of Jacksonville..

City Council members and citizens alike say the unregulated vehicles pose a safety risk. They’ve also accused Uber of going back on an assurance made last year to not bring its unregulated driving service to Jacksonville. There are currently well over 100 Uber drivers operating in the Jacksonville area, some sources claim as many as 500.

Lyft and Uber spokespeople insist that they provide a popular and innovative service to a willing market among the residents of Jacksonville. They say their services may differ somewhat from  traditional taxi operations but they insist that their new model can be implemented in a manner that takes all necessary safety precautions and screens and insures their drivers.

In a recent email, Taylor Bennett, an official Uber spokesperson was quoted as saying “If the council’s true concern were safety, then it would embrace Uber for being the safest ride on the road. Instead, this proposal is nothing but an attempt to stifle free market competition on behalf of special interests, which have over time increasingly failed to innovate and meet consumer demand.”

Uber  first appeared on the scene in Jacksonville in 2013, and began allowing travelers to arrange high-end rides with local transportation companies through a cell phone app and arrange for  payment with a credit card kept on file in a database maintained by Uber.

In an effort to be fair to both sides of the ride-sharing issues, the city of Jacksonville  changed its vehicle-for-hire regulations to accommodate the high end lxury ride-sharing service, which the company calls UberBlack. In return for this concession, Uber promised the city it wouldn’t introduce its lower-cost uberX service to Jacksonville. As it has done in cities across the nation, and around the world , Uber has reneged on it’s promise and thumbed it’s nose at local government.

As with UberBlack, passengers can order uberX rides through their phones and do not need to pay with cash. But the drivers typically own their vehicles and they tend to be part-time drivers who pick up passengers to earn extra money..

Local police conducted an undercover operation during an august Jaguars and issued civil citations to both uberX and Lyft drivers. A judge is expected issue a ruling on those cases next week. The city also issues citations to the companies each time a driver receives a violation. Each violation can result in a fine of  up to $500.

Both Uber and Lyft pay their drivers’ fines, companies consider the fines as a cost of doing business and this  concerns  councilmen Joost and Lumb because the policy of these companies is accepting illegal behavior as part of their operating model.

Joost said his legislation would provide increased  motivation for prospective Uber and Lyft drivers to get permits if they knew their vehicles could be impounded and the could be charged with criminal violation of misdemeanor, if they didn’t. start to comply with local laws

It is becoming increasingly clear that local governments around the country are beginning to see through Ubers “tell them what they want to hear”  policy of making promises they never intend to keep, and to routinely breaking civil ordinances and pay the resulting penalties as a normal part of doing businesses.

Can You Make Money with Uber ?

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Uber is not all it is Cracked up to be

If you are a professional driver who is considering a job driving with Uber, there are some things you need to know. Do not be fooled by their deceptive and sometimes downright dishonest, claims about the benefits of joining Uber.  Ads in most major cities are claiming incomes of $1000 per week, while in reality Uber drivers are earning less than half that amount even working 50-60 hrs. per week. The Uber concept is good for the consumer, great for Uber, and horrible for the driver.
In an article that appeared recently in Business Insider , the author interviewed several Uber drivers and they uniformly stated that they have never come close to earning what Uber ads claim, and that earnings have been steadily decreasing for some time now because  Uber has flooded the market in most major cities resulting in less than 50% occupancy for most  Uber drivers.  Not a single driver reported making anywhere near $1000 a week after subtracting gas cost and fees paid by the driver, and of course after Uber takes their 20% right off the top. Add to this the wear and tear on your vehicle and it turns out the driving for Uber pays significantly less than driving for a conventional cab company.

Uber also employs a bait and switch tactic when trying to attract new drivers;  In LA, for instance Ubert started out with a $2.50/mile rate that attracted many new drivers, since at $2.50/ mile the drivers could earn a living without working  a ridiculous number of hours. Once the needed drivers were hired, Uber dropped the rate to a measly $1.10 per mile, not enough to make a living no matter how many hours the driver works. The chart below shows how Uber empoloyed the same tactic in NJ:

NEW JERSEY:
Original Price          Summer 2014 Price              Fall 2014 Price
$2.25/mile                 $1.90/mile                    $1.64/mile
$0.30/minute               $0.20/minute                  $0.20/minute
$3.00 base                 $3.00 base                    $2.00
$7.00 minimum              $7.00 minimum                 $6.00 minimum

As this chart shows, Uber started out advertising reasonable rates that would provide a full time driver with a reasonable living, and within the space of a few months dropped the rates so that the same driver working the same hours would make 28% less; Thus a driver making $50,000/yr gross to begin with would make only $36,000/yr after the rates were lowered.

Another move by Uber to attract more business was to cut rates in major markets to well below -market levels, attracting new traffic (which Uber profits from) while forcing  drivers  to drive longer hours at the reduced fares to make the same amount of money.  Once again, Uber wins, the consumer wins, and the drivers lose.

It is also worth noting that Uber discourages tipping, and didn’t even include the tipping option in the app until very recently. That is because tipping doesn’t benefit Uber, and by not encouraging tipping the service appears more economical to the consumer.

Probably the best indicator of how Uber views their drivers is the fact that they try to convince their drivers that all of their sleight of hand concerning rates, fares, and commissions is actually in the driver’s best interests. Not only do they brazenly exploit the very drivers who have made them rich, but they treat them as if they are ignorant fools who will believe the wild claims that Uber has been making a standard component of their business model. Compare this shady way of doing things with the legal, moral, and business philosophy of the traditional cab company or limo service, and I think you will agree that there really is no comparison at all.

This is also true when it comes to vehicle maintenance and replacement costs since with the legal cab company the driver does not incur any repair or replacement bills like the Uber driver will encounter as his car ages rapidly from the grueling regimen a commercial car endures. The expense of having to purchase a replacement vehicle is enough to put most single car Uber drivers out of business, or at best deeply in the red for a considerable time.

After taking all of these  factors into consideration, it becomes clear that driving for Uber has absolutely no advantages over driving for a traditional, legal, cab company. The cab company’s rate ( currently around $2.40/mile in most urban markets) is not going to fluctuate wildly. This provides the driver with a stable income allowing them to make future financial plans with a reasonable amount of confidence that their incomes will remain stable moving forward. The cab company is unlikely to flood the market with excessive cars/drivers as has been the case with UBer in several locations. The bottom line is that Uber does not live up to it’s claims and there is more money and more security driving for a legitimate, legal cab company.

Request your local Uber drivers in Tampa, Miami, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Sarasota, Jacksonville, Ocala, Naples, Gainesville, Tallahassee, Fort Lauderdale, Cape Coral  and ask how much money they really make......

Taxi Driver on Uber and Lyft / Opinion

"The commission’s executives are continuing to negotiate with the ride-sharing businesses over ways to help them operate legitimately, and many of the key issues, including more thorough background checks, commercial insurance, vehicle inspections and whether the commission can impose pre-determined rates on rides, have been worked out."

Neither Uber nor Lyft want to communicate with PTC, why?
because 3-6 months from now, when they are going to be forced to accept conditions imposed on them by court, they also will be forced to raise the rates to compensate drivers for extra expenses like commercial insurance, city license, hack license, car inspections, etc.
............but,.......... by then , their market share in local personal transportation field will be substantially higher, build on $1.20 a mile rides they advertise now.
Needless to say, when they are going to rise rates, they also  will be blaming "bad" PTC for that, making uber look like "Robin Hood" company FORCED TO COMPLY WITH EVIL GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS.
............a cinderella, fighting "corrupted taxi cartels"........?   

picture by TBO.com

"Fight-between-hillsborough-and-ride-sharing-services-goes-up-a-notch

By Keith Morelli | TBO.com

TAMPA — The simmering feud between the agency that regulates cab and limousine services in Hillsborough County and a handful of upstart ride-sharing companies escalated Thursday when a Lyft driver refused to take a plea on a misdemeanor of driving a taxi without a license and demanded a jury trial.

Farhad Kazemi, 42, rejected a misdemeanor intervention program that could have resulted in a dismissal of the charges and said he wanted his case heard by a jury. Hillsborough County Judge Lawrence Lefler set a trial date of Oct. 20.

Another Lyft driver, Darrell Rogers, was scheduled to appear in court Thursday on similar charges but failed to appear. Lefler issued a warrant for his arrest.

The two are the first of nearly two dozen cases made by local transportation inspectors over the past two weeks that now are wending their way through county court. The court cases began after the Public Transportation Commission, which has been locked in a dispute with Uber and Lyft over what level of regulation the ride-sharing services should be subject to, set up an operation to cite the drivers.

“I guess it was a sting,” Public Transportation Commission Executive Director Kyle Cockream said of the operation that netted Kazemi and other ride-sharing drivers. “That’s the closest thing to describe it.”............"

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Canada vs Uber Con Artists

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Uber In Canada


Uber has become one of the fastest-growing tech companies of the past year. It seems you are hearing about it everywhere, and it has even launched in Canada. This year, the company has raised $1.5 billion in venture capital, and it touts itself as a cheaper alternative to taking a taxi, while also laying claims that it is possible to make $50,000 to $100,000 a year as an Uber driver.
The road for Uber has not been an easy one, especially in Canada. In September of 2012, it was reported that Uber was in a dispute with local regulators, and two months later it was announced that the company was raising its rates to $75 per hour to comply with regulations. By December, Uber had chosen not to get a licence from the city. That same month, Uber was charged with 25 municipal licencing offenses in Toronto, including having an unlicensed taxi brokerage and unlicensed limo service.
Uber has touted itself as an alternative to taxis, but many have found that just getting an Uber ride is very difficult. In a piece in the Financial Post, published in September of 2014, a reporter attempted to compare different transit options, including Uber. Depsite checking several times between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., he found no cars were available and the reporter had to take transit to work. As a result, the reporter could not verify the claim that it is 40 per cent cheaper than a Toronto taxi.
What about the claims of making $50,000 to $100,000? These claims seem to be greatly exaggerated upon. For one, there are often too many people offering the service now to actually bring in that much money. One driver stated that they work the busiest hours of the day for Uber, driving people around, and clear around $1,000 a month. That comes to $12,000 a year, far below the average and only in the busiest place at the busiest time.
The road for Uber has not been a smooth one, with many controversies surrounding the company, including in Canada. In December 2013, a person who was working as an Uber driver struck and killed a six-year-old girl with his car. The driver was not carrying a passenger but because the driver was checking the Uber mobile application at the time, the family launched a lawsuit against Uber.
The National Federal of the Blind has also filed a lawsuit against uber claiming that the company violates the American with Disabilties Act. There was one reported instance of a service dog being stored in the trunk and the refusal of the driver to acknowledge the concern of the blind passenger. Another case showed a driver getting into a verbal exchange with a blind man, and accelerating quickly, nearly injuring the guide dog. Cab drivers in Paris have also protested the competition created by the startup. Drivers blocked roads of many European cities in protest of what they see is a threat to their livelihood. They state that Uber, due to it being app-based, is not subject to the same fees and regulations they face.
Uber has also been cited as sabotaging other competitors. Uber employees in New York City were reported to have ordered rides from Gett, a competitor, only to cancel them later. This wasted the time of the drivers to get actual customers, and it lowered the incentives of the drivers to keep with the company, causing them instead to go to Uber. Lyft has also been subject to sabotage. A CNN Money story in August of 2014 found that 177 Uber has also been cited as sabotaging other competitors. Uber employees in New York City were reported to have ordered rides from Gett, a competitor, only to cancel them later. This wasted the time of the drivers to get actual customers, and it lowered the incentives of the drivers to keep with the company, causing them instead to go to Uber.   Lyft has also been subject to sabotage. A CNN Money story in August of 2014 found that 177 Uber employees ordered and cancelled 5,560 rides with Lyft over the past year. One Uber recruiter canceled 300 rides in the space of two weeks. Uber did not issue an apology for this.
With Uber in Canada, many see the company threatening the livelihood of taxi companies, when rides can be found at all. Many complain that all that is needed to be an Uber employee is a background check, but little else, which can put people at risk when getting in a car with someone who is not working under a regulated taxi cab service.
Uber has had many problems in the past, and their claims of paying upwards of $50,000 or more to people who drive for them seem to be greatly exaggerated. Many feel that the company has grown too fast, and has no real regulations to keep things in check. Coupled with its business practices, or the practices of its employees, when dealing with competitors, and it is clear to see that Uber has several black eyes for its business so far.
If you are thinking of being an Uber employee, don’t waste your time it seems. If you are thinking of using Uber, it might be best to just choose a regular taxi cab company.

Toronto, Ontario,
 Montreal, Quebec,
Calgary, Alberta,
Ottawa, Ontario,
Edmonton, Alberta,
Mississauga, Ontario,
Winnipeg, Manitoba,
Vancouver, British Columbia,
 Brampton, Ontario,
Hamilton, Ontario,
Halifax, Nova Scotia

Uber Plays Stupid in Tampa Bay

Uber Plays Stupid in Tampa court hearing. "we don't use taxi meters, we just use "stupid" phones, which computes distance, time and price somewhere on servers in California and that's how drivers get paid and customers get charged" ..................IS THIS FOR REAL?  ..........DO UBER THINK, THAT PEOPLE IN FLORIDA ARE STUPID?

picture by techcrunch.com

Uber-and-Ptc-square-off-before-hearing-officer-over-tickets

"...............Much of Monday's hearing centered around determining if a smartphone app can be considered a meter. If so, regulators argued Uber's drivers are operating in the same fashion as cab drivers, and thus subject to the same rules. But Uber representative Matthew Gore, general manager in Florida, said the rate is calculated by an algorithm on the their servers in California, not in the app.

"The vehicles are not taxicabs, and there is no meter installed," Gore said after Monday's hearing. "It's a new category of service that the regulators never wrote into their laws."............"

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What I hate about UBER Idiots?

Their lack of understanding and unwillingness to research social issues related to Uber,
 association of their own stupidity and ignorance with "PROGRESS",
Constantly miscategorizing Uber as a Godsend instead ROBBER BARONS,
refusal to understand dynamics surrounding UBER expantion and how Uber treats their drivers, communities, competition, customers, and local laws...........

picture by blindgossip.com/

"You-hate-uber-then-you-hate-america

.by (head in the butt) Lewis Krell / huffingtonpost

Portland, Ore., is a charming place with plenty of green trees, street names that inspired Simpson's characters, and people who still claim that drafting Greg Oden over Kevin Durant was the right move. Business took me to Portland last week, and despite all the wonderful things about the city, there is one major flaw: Portland hates progress. More specifically, Portland hates the taxi app Uber. The municipal government has caved to the taxi unions, and Uber is not allowed to operate in the city at all.
I looked down on these poor Portlanders, and I pitied how they lived quaint lives in a land that time seemed to have forgotten. These people still call dispatchers or, even worse, stand on street corners attempting in vain to hail cabs that they pray will happen to drive by and rescue them. Their own government has forsaken the population and forced them to live in a city filled with inconvenience rather than its much, much more popular counterpart, convenience. I couldn't wait to get back to Seattle, where I currently reside, so I could re-enter a world that embraces innovation and the disruption of broken, legacy systems. Surely, I thought to myself, Seattle would never make a mistake of that magnitude.
Last Monday Seattle made a mistake of this exact magnitude. My worst fears came true when the city council of Seattle passed a resolution that drastically reduces the number of Uber drivers who are allowed on the road at any given time. Living for a few days through the traditional taxi-cab system of Portland made me realize two things, the first being that I really, really love Uber, and the second being that I could not stay silent as these cities stifle innovation and ingenuity in a country that is supposed to admire and promote these attributes.
Companies and industries fail when they stagnate from an innovation perspective, and when they stop listening to, and caring about, the end consumer. At its best, capitalism solves a problem by disrupting an old and broken system and creating in its place something new and useful and better. The taxi system is the very definition of an old and broken system. Instead of continuing to rant like a lunatic who sounds like he must have worked as a speechwriter for the Romney campaign, let's go into some analysis of the best- and worst-case scenarios for an intoxicated person needing a ride home on a cold, winter night.
Best-case scenario using the current taxi cartel: Call a taxi. Wait on hold for 10 to 20 minutes. Finally talk to a human being. This human being hates you. This human being hangs up on you before you place an order. Call again. Wait on hold for 20 to 30 minutes. Finally talk to a human being again. This human really hates you. Eventually order a cab. You are........."

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Corporate Terrorism in UBER Style

The words describing UBER: -dishonesty, deception, treachery, subversion, lies to drivers, lies to customers, constant conflict with local laws, unfair competition, organized crime, mass media manipulations, corporate terrorism and sabotage?

........a new era of Robber Barons ?

picture by: 2.bp.blogspot.com/

This is Uber's playbook for sabotaging Lyft

'Brand ambassadors' with burner phones and credit cards attempt to #shavethestache

By Casey Newton / The Verge

Uber is arming teams of independent contractors with burner phones and credit cards as part of its sophisticated effort to undermine Lyft and other competitors. Interviews with current and former contractors, along with internal documents obtained by The Verge, outline the company’s evolving methods. Using contractors it calls "brand ambassadors," Uber requests rides from Lyft and other competitors, recruits their drivers, and takes multiple precautions to avoid detection. The effort, which Uber appears to be rolling out nationally, has already resulted in thousands of canceled Lyft rides and made it more difficult for its rival to gain a foothold in new markets. Uber calls the program "SLOG," and it’s a previously unreported aspect of the company’s ruthless efforts to undermine its competitors.

Together, the interviews and documents show the lengths to which Uber will go to halt its rivals’ momentum. The San Francisco startup has raised $1.5 billion in venture capital, giving it an enormous war chest with which to battle Lyft and others. While the company’s cutthroat nature is well documented, emails from Uber managers offer new insight into the shifting tactics it uses to siphon drivers away from competitors without getting caught. It also demonstrates the strong interest Uber has taken in crushing Lyft, its biggest rival in ride sharing, which is in the midst of a national expansion.

After The Verge asked Uber for comment on its report, the company stalled for time until they could write this blog post introducing Operation SLOG to the world. "We never use marketing tactics that prevent a driver from making their living — and that includes never intentionally canceling rides," the company said.

‘A SPECIAL ONGOING PROJECT’

Earlier this month, CNN reported that Uber employees around the country ordered and then canceled 5,560 Lyft rides, according to an analysis by Lyft. (Lyft arrived at this figure by cross-referencing the phone numbers of users who tried to recruit Lyft drivers to Uber with users who had previously canceled rides.) ..............

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Uber Drivers are going on Strike

Uber Drivers are Going on Strike

picture by media.cmgdigital.com

"UberX drivers turn in company phones, effectively going on strike

by Graham Johnson

SEATTLE — 
More than a hundred Seattle UberX drivers turned in their company cellphones on Wednesday, effectively going on strike because of a pay dispute with the company.
Drivers are upset about Uber's 20 percent fare cut earlier this month and say it is making it more difficult for them to earn a living.
Because they are independent contractors, Uber drivers cannot unionize. But they have formed the Seattle Ride-Share Drivers Association to collectively pressure the company.
City Councilmember Kshama Sawant spoke at a meeting in support of the drivers Wednesday.
The attorney representing the association told KIRO 7 Uber drivers are paid 80 percent of the fare, and when the company reduced the price, drivers have been forced to work longer hours for the same pay.
The company told KIRO 7 it has more than 1,000 in the Seattle area........"

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