Taxicab vs. Uber: Demand and Safety

Justin Tsang

HSS 371-Vinsel

Blog #1 – Revolution of Transportation Service

9/13/2015

Traditional vs. Modern Cab Service

Difference in Demand

            By now, we should have all heard of Uber, a private cab service that can be requested through its mobile app. Since the rise in popularity of Uber in 2011, most economic analysts feared that Uber would overtake traditional transportation services, such as taxi cabs and limousines.

            As the number of Uber drivers continues to rise in major cities, such as New York City, officials and portion of the public worried that the demand for traditional transportation services would decrease. As of March 2015, there were over 14,088 Uber cars and only 13,587 taxicabs and limousines in New York City. The reason Uber has become so successful and demanding is because of its ease of service and the options it provides to its consumers. With Uber, people just open up a mobile application and request pickup; whether that is from a sedan driven by an everyday licensed driver or a black car driven by a licensed livery driver (Zipkin). On the other hand, traditional yellow taxi and limousine service have not done much to adapt to this technologically developed society. When requesting for a taxi at the airport, people would have to go to a taxi stand to make a request for a taxi to drive from a waiting pool outside the airport over to the pickup level where the customers have been waiting for minutes. As a result, Uber has offered this efficient alternative for transportation that has attracted over 121,000 rides per day (Huet).

In the span of four years, Uber has amassed over $18 billion in value and has reduced the demand for traditional transportation services. Consequently, new regulations were created by governmental officials in order to preserve transportation services that are already regulated by the government. With the rapid growth of Uber in New York City and the fear of traffic slowdown, De Blasio’s administration attempted to limit the number of Uber drivers permitted in the city. He argues that the increasing number of Uber drivers in the city has increased traffic and population in the city (Flegenheimer). I believe this is just an excuse from De Blasio to protect the Taxi and Limousine Commission in New York City, which is already regulated by the city. Under a capitalist economy, the government should not be able to intervene with company growth or suppress the needs of the majority of the people. With Uber, new jobs are being created and consumers have a more efficient alternative for transportation. Therefore, De Blasio’s attempt to regulate this company is unnecessary. If the demand for Uber ever decreases, the company will perform the necessary actions to reduce the number of Uber drivers. However, since the demand for Uber has been dramatically increasing, it implies that there is a problem with our current transportation infrastructure.

Difference in Employee Background Check

Although this cab service company prizes itself for having an “industry-leading” screening on its employees, how thorough is it really?

District attorneys in California stated that Uber failed to find past criminal records of over 25 Uber driers, ranging from robbery and fraud to assault with firearm. The big issue currently with Uber’s method of performing background checks is that it only dates back crimes within the last seven years (Dougherty). Therefore, people who committed crimes or felonies outside a seven year period can apply to work for Uber and Uber’s background check system would never identify them. What is worse is that over 30,000 registered sex offenders in California were not caught under Uber’s background checks. Unlike Live Scan, the procedure most traditional cab services use to perform background checks, Uber does not use biometric identifiers, such as fingerprinting. As a result, Uber cannot access criminal records of employees who may be applying under a different alias.

Currently, Uber is not legally obligated to use the Live Scan system to perform background checks. In my opinion, Uber should be required to use this pre-existing background check system because it has been proven to be more accurate and thorough in identifying criminal records, since it uses a biometric system. For example, a former Uber driver committed a second-degree murder in 1982, but Uber never identified this past crime when he applied under a different alias (Dougherty). Had Uber used the Live Scan system, it would have identified his criminal record.

Verdict

            So, should there be regulation on services through tech companies? I believe not. From my personal experience with NJ Transit, a well-regulated transportation service between New Jersey and New York, there needs to be another party willing to challenge this traditional method of service. Over the summer, I was in the city often and would often find myself in need of a cab to get to my destination. However, finding a taxicab was difficult and time-consuming. When it comes to price difference, taxi cabs were cheaper for inner city travels, with an average of $1.40 difference from Uber’s price for the same travel (Guerrini). However, the time to hail down a taxi and to pay for the ride is unnecessary and a waste of time. Therefore, I believe that Uber is a great challenger to pre-existing infrastructure in America. By having these technologically developed companies, we can question and challenge this well-regulated, monopolized service when it comes to options consumers have to reach their destinations. On the other hand, I am completely against Shuddle, Uber for children. I find the idea that a stranger is responsible for the safety of my children is frightening. Although Shuddle is a lot more thorough in its background check than Uber, there is still that slight chance that a former criminal or sex offender could slip through the system. Overall, I support Uber and other companies that promote alternatives to its consumers. However, I believe that our dependency for these alternatives should not be abused and allow these companies to prioritize financial gains over consumer safety.

Works Cited

Dougherty, Conor. "Uber Missed Criminal Records of Drivers, Prosecutors Assert." The New York Times. n.p., 19 Aug. 2015. Web. 13 Sept. 2015.

Flegenheimer, Matt. "De Blasio Administration Dropping Plan for Uber Cap, for Now." The New York Times. N.p., 22 July 2015. Web. 13 Sept. 2015.

Guerrini, Federico. "Which Is Cheaper To Use In NYC: Uber Or A Taxi? Big Data Will Solve The Dilemma." Forbes. n.p., 9 Apr. 2015. Web. 13 Sept. 2015.

Huet, Ellen. "Uber Says It's Doing 1 Million Rides Per Day, 140 Million In Last Year." Forbes. N.p., 17 Dec. 2014. Web. 13 Sept. 2015.

Zipkin, Nina. "Uber Cars Have Overtaken Yellow Taxis in New York City."Entrepreneur. n.p., 18 Mar. 2015. Web. 13 Sept. 2015.