An FSU Perspective: "The Uber Debate"

By Danielle Wirsansky on May 21, 2015

Since its founding in 2009, Uber and similar ride giving services have taken the nation by storm. But now now Uber is caught in a political storm of their own as politicians and cities work to catch the laws up with new technology and innovations. Temporary bans on the service have started in and around Florida, and most importantly to FSU students, in Tallahassee.

Should the ride giving service be allowed to continue? And what changes need to be made to keep it?  Here is a sampling of random FSU students opinions of different ages, genders, and creeds, on the Uber Debate.

An FSU Perspective: “The Uber Debate”
Britt Crafton
Year: Junior
Major: Studio Art

“Although I’m not the most politico-savvy individual, I can say that I’m aware of the concerns regarding the need to instill regulatory insurances in an event of injury, etc. This is something extremely important in protecting customers, along with the discussion of the need of intense background checking that needs to be vamped-up. Yes, I know it is of utmost importance to protect students or really any user of Uber, but I do find it to be ridiculous to take down the company entirely if a decision cannot be reached. I see this as another way of politicians trying to somehow get their hands on revenue and even possibly instill taxation on the service. I do not mean to sound against politicians, but I find that anyone who creates their own service should be entitled to it as long as standard safety regulations are put into place. I find it unreasonable to have the government seize this service from the public hand. I have a friend in fact who has created a similar service that exists within the FSU community. I imagine it would make someone feel powerless if they can’t even have a self-created gig that helps people get around town; the only thing politicians should be cracking down on is extensive background checks and push for standard insuring because the company has indeed grown in size to require such, but everything takes time and this would be a crime to take away this convenient service totally. I mean really, anyone can give someone a ride and ask for money, just because this grew so largely, I find it rather annoying that everyone has to jump on this and try to tear it down. As a college student, all I need to know is that the person behind the wheel is capable and trustworthy- I don’t have the money for the rates cabs want to charge just to go a few minutes up the road and the sometimes long wait times when I need to get somewhere asap, God forbid due to an emergency. I really do not think anyone can disagree, you can’t beat the price or the speed, just give us reassurance of safe drivers!”

An FSU Perspective: “The Uber Debate”
Adrian Diez
Year: Senior
Major: Business Management/ MIS

“I think the biggest issue the State has with regards to letting Transportation Network Companies (TNC’s) operate in Florida would be that it will undermine the established unions that have been set up for taxi or other transportation companies. That being said, the argument is also that it will eliminate pre-existing jobs and it is detrimental to the workforce. My counter argument for that would be that, that way of thinking stifles innovation. Every year new services, technologies, etc. become available to the public. These new services and technologies might disrupt existing products or markets, and that’s a good thing! Innovation comes at the expense of previous services and technologies that have no longer that much use in our ‘updated’ world. One of these new services, disrupting the taxi and transportation industry, would be the likes of Uber or my company, Party Hopper Tallahassee. These new services, in the short term, affect the labor force of existing taxi companies, maybe some of these companies go bankrupt, but that doesn’t mean that people working in these companies will be out of a job. On the contrary, it is easier to work with services such as Uber, even get paid more than a standard taxi driver. So I don’t believe that people will be out of a job, I think that people will migrate from the ‘older’ services to the newer transportation services.

“My company is called Party Hopper Tallahassee, it was started last summer between me and my friend Tyler Blocksberg. The basic idea of the company is to offer FSU Students a flat rate designated driving service, unlimited rides for the whole night. You pay once, and ride with us as many times as you want from 9pm-3am. It’s a student two student designated driving service. We want to be able to make sure our fellow noles get home safely, while being able to compensate those who give up their nights to drive people around. This in turn we believe will reduce the incidences of students drinking and driving and make Tally safer.

“Don’t be afraid to embrace change, even though companies such as Uber and mine are relatively young, we are all about servicing people most efficiently. There might be a few kinks and safety/liability issues that might arise as a result of these new services, but like anything new, time is needed to work out the flaws and make it better.”

An FSU Perspective: “The Uber Debate”
Shayna Lopez-Rivas
Year: Senior
Major: Criminology/ Women’s Studies

“I had to use Taxis when I was sans car (yay car accidents) last summer. They were super expensive, sometimes late despite me calling WAY ahead of time, and the guys were especially creepy at times. I’d rather have taken the bus, but the bus stopped running late at night when I would get off work (I was a server). So I dealt with the cabs. When I needed to use Uber, and I’ve ONLY used it one time…the guy was extremely misogynistic, not to mention creepy. I was by myself and texted my friend as we were driving where we were because I was literally terrified I was going to be raped somewhere along the way. But I couldn’t just let him drop me off in the middle of nowhere. I ended up telling him to drop me off at a light near my house instead because there was no way I was going to let him drop me off where I lived so that he’d have my address. I walked the couple blocks the rest of the way home at 4 in the morning. At least with the cab drivers, when they get background checks, the company will see a lifetime of criminal record. With Uber though, it’s only the past seven years AND there are ways to get around it. Uber needs some serious refurbishing, internally, for me to believe it’s safe enough for me to use again, seeing as though my one experience was terrible.

“I can’t really speak to the politics because I haven’t been paying attention to it. I don’t know if banning Uber would be a good idea, because it’s just one less ride service available to drunk college students and generally is cheaper than a cab. But the company really needs to do better background and safety checks on their drivers. And maybe implement other safety precautions like giving Uber drivers some sort of tag or medallion that we can use to report to the police if needed.”

An FSU Perspective: “The Uber Debate”
Iman Bethel
Year: Senior
Major: History

“What my Uber drivers have told me is that the corporations that own taxi cabs are lobbying the government to remove Uber and Lyft etc. because it is decreasing their business in an unfair way. However, I feel in America, in a truly a free-market, that there must be a cheaper way to offer ride services.. For example: I have taken a cab from my house in Tallahassee to the greyhound and it cost be $25 (because he took his own tip instead of giving me change). The same trip with Uber barely cost me $12. In Tallahassee, with the great bar and club scene we have combined with generally broke college students having access to low-cost transportation on after a night of partying should be seen as a social service! More importantly, people who don’t have cars or don’t have the time to catch the bus in between obligations can look to Uber as a cheaper form of transport to and from work or school. For hard-working people, they shouldn’t have to spend exorbitant amounts of money to move about the city. It decreases drunk driving and keeps more money in the pockets of the consumer. I think taxis should figure out how to decrease costs and make their product better. There are times where taxis never even show up or take hours to come.

“[Politicians] are actively trying to take Uber away. And students have one of the biggest unheard voices in the matter. We use Uber like crazy especially on weekends. I’ve met drivers who come from out of town to help meet demand. But us students, don’t go to the hearings or write our representatives or call the government and leave a message of dissent. So no matter how great the numbers are showing that Uber is in demand the taxi industry has way more money and corporate power right now… And that will win in the long run.”

 

An FSU Perspective: “The Uber Debate”
Maxwell Curtis
Year: Senior
Major: Political Science

“I feel that the biggest issue Florida politicians have with Uber is that they don’t actually understand what it is. For instance, during Spring Break in PCB Uber had to stop operations because they didn’t have the proper taxi permits necessary to operate in Bay County. But Uber isn’t a taxi service by any means, it’s simply a ride service, anyone can apply to be an Uber driver and they can choose when they want to be on duty to give people rides. A lot of politicians would argue that there’s a lot of liability issues with it, but Uber does their background research on every applicant and every Uber driver is insured by the company. To a certain degree I can understand the Florida politicians take on it, but I don’t agree with it as they clearly haven’t done the necessary research on what Uber is. Personally, I also believe that they dislike it when people take Ubers over a city taxi service where there’s possibility for some type of tax…. Uber is simply a ride service, it’s no different than you or I going to give someone a ride and they happen to give us cash for it.”

 

An FSU Perspective: “The Uber Debate”
Alexis Gayda
Year: Junior
Major: IT/ Communications

“I feel like there’s only opposition because [Uber] takes away from the taxi cab business. The taxis normally have to pay all these fees and have special insurance and ride in only designated taxi vehicles Where as the Ubers don’t have to pay for all these special licenses and insurance on their vehicles. Because they aren’t technically commercial vehicles they’re just consumer vehicles. Which technically is what makes it illegal. And Uber doesn’t tell their drivers very up front about the legalities of not having these special insurances and then when they get in trouble from police officers Uber just pays off their tickets but it doesn’t address the actual issue. But from a college stand point, I just like Uber because I can share my promo code (alexisg28 if you were wondering :p) and get a bunch of free rides everywhere. And yellow cabs or just taxis in general in this town are 90% really old, run down vehicles with very sketchy drivers that don’t make me feel very comfortable or safe as a girl by myself whereas with Uber I can see exactly who is picking me up. Their name, the car they drive and I know that Uber holds their cars to a certain standard where they will never be grimy run down vehicles. Uber drivers go through extensive background and vehicle checks that make them much safer than driving in a cab.”

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