Rare News Desk
Anonymous Seattle Uber driver.
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It’s a rainy afternoon in Northern Virginia and my boyfriend and I were rushing to yet another DC black-tie event. The Uber driver calls us, right on time as usual, and we pile in the car in our formal wear as he rushes out with an umbrella.
I get flustered over something stupid: I scratched my nail polish as I was getting dressed and didn’t have time to fix it.
Our driver – we’ll call him John – is from Ethiopia. He’s talkative. As he casually tells us his life story, my nail polish woes start to seem petty.
John waited ten years to come to the United States. His family immigrated first but he wasn’t able to join them. His daughter grew up without him. He’s only now started repairing that relationship thanks to her finally obtaining the proper visa.
His daughter is going to college next year and he’s very proud. John’s full daytime job will start in just a few hours, working at a car dealership. But several nights a week, he gets off work early enough to drive down to the city and make a few hundred bucks an evening.
We ask how he likes Uber. He says he’s grateful for Uber, since a regular cab company wouldn’t offer him this flexibility and that he wouldn’t make nearly as much.
John is saving up for his daughter’s college. He knows it won’t be cheap.
We eventually arrived at our destination, John promptly opens the door and we leave. I’ve taken Uber dozens of times since then, but I haven’t seen him again.
Thursday, when I heard that the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles had issued a cease and desist to Uber and Lyft, I thought about John.
I realize that my opinion is built on experience. My experiences with unfriendly and aggressive conventional cab drivers color my perspective. The fact that every single Uber ride has been more pleasant and more professional than every single cab ride I’ve ever taken certainly makes me biased.
But at the end of the day, stories do matter.
We know the statistics support ride-sharing: Uber and Lyft are almost universally cheaper, while drivers make more money and have more independence. The sensational attacks based on isolated incidents don’t change the fact that ride-sharing companies actually have better safety records than most conventional cabs.
The overwhelming growth of both companies suggests that the apps’ instant ranking systems do a better job of keeping good drivers and weeding out bad ones than a government phone number or the prospect of being placed on hold does. Their better safety record suggests that ownership of the car incentivizes safer driving.
It’s clear that Uber and Lyft represent a new wave of private transportation. Conventional taxis are simply out of date.
And now, unsurprisingly, Virginia’s government is favoring of the old way, stifling progress, stamping out innovation, as government invariably does.
But bad policy doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Paternalistic government hurts people.
When I heard yesterday’s news, I thought of my friend in California, who’s a scientist working to launch his open-source cancer research organization, and driving for Lyft in the meantime (which happens to pay more than a postdoc, if you’re wondering).
I thought of a Yellow Cab driver in Nevada who complained to me recently that no one takes cabs anymore. He was struggling. He said he had only made $14 that day. When I asked about Uber and Lyft he said the state government would never allow it because they are “too friendly” with the cab companies.
I thought about the Uber drivers I’d chatted with: The college students driving to pay for books; The military officer who drives while he’s not on duty; The young father earning a little bit extra to pay for his kids.
And I thought about John, our driver from Ethiopia and his daughter.
I’ve heard that Uber will continue to operate and pay its drivers’ fines. But after those ten years waiting for a visa, I somehow doubt John will be eager to start getting state fines. Would you?
Innovation, convenience, and cheap rides for young professionals: These things matter.
But bad government has victims. Those victims are why the fight for ride-sharing rights is so very important.
Keep the government out of it. Let the market decide. Let John help his daughter go to college.
