Uber and Lyft Have a Powerful New Enemy in Washington: Elizabeth Warren

[newblewtoo]

76. I lost a close

friend years back who had run a personal limo business for longer than I care to remember. The stories he would tell. Not an easy way to make a living, he did weddings, proms, airport runs, funerals, the whole gambit before the Uber world even existed. Literally drove himself and his cars to death. I was amazed that he carried a gun and was licensed to carry in Massachusetts as well as the rest of New England states. Yikes. He took credit cards with an old school plate machine before he updated to cell technology.

He paid a fortune in insurance and had special 'hired car' plates and chauffeur licenses. He said it was almost as bad if not worse than when he was a long haul truck driver.

When Uber came here it destroyed a long standing taxi medallion system, pretty much deregulating the industry. Not saying that was entirely a bad thing in and of itself, but, the old system did insure the cabs received periodic safety checks. Unfortunately it was a monopoly up to that point with newcomers frozen out. I guess it can cut both ways.