Uber foresees possible deal with regulators in coming months
By Richard Mullins, Tampa Tribune, Fla. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Still, Uber is pursuing state-level changes to taxi rules in
"Honestly, I think we would not be as popular a company as we are nationwide if the taxi area wasn't one that needed improvement,"
Even as Uber negotiates locally with taxi regulators, Uber plans new services, besides just shuttling human passengers -- for instance picking up lunch, or a few groceries from a corner store.
Ride-sharing companies like Uber,
People who want to make extra cash can sign up, and if they pass those companies' background checks and vehicle requirements, they can start offering rides. Passengers in turn download an app on their smart phone where they can register a credit card and request a pickup. Rates are generally set in advance, and at the end of a ride, the passenger approves the fare, hops out and the software completes the transaction. Rates can rise if a wave of passengers suddenly request rides -- a method that ride-sharing companies say is a market-based system that automatically encourages more drivers to get on the road and pick up passengers.
This model overall side-steps the established rules set by the
For the past several months, PTC staff have taken a dual track. On one side, PTC inspectors are issuing fines against
Wednesday, Uber's Irvin, and
For instance, Uber is open, they say to so-called "trade dress" requirements like signs on the cars that help passengers identify a driver at a distance. Uber has already improved its insurance with a
Uber has modified its "surge" pricing, Irvin said, so that if there is a hurricane or disaster or other matter, that the company won't veer into price gouging.
Other matters are non-negotiable, they say.
Though some governments want Uber to operate a kind of limo or car service company, Uber will not accept any minimum fare requirements, as is common with limo rides.
"Safety is important to us," Gore said. "But minimum fares and minimum wait times don't have anything to do with safety. And it gets to the core of what's important to us, consumer choice, and not artificially making consumers pay more, or force consumers to pay more for a worse service than we can provide." Officials with the PTC were not available for comment Thursday evening.
Besides basic transportation, Uber is testing a few other services.
In
"In that case," Gore said. "Then the price for each person can drop to below even what public transportation costs."
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