New York has several taxi problems that are unique to it - such as the rush hour shift change - but many of the problems related to taxis and ride share companies are the same across all cities.
Contrary to what some commenters have implied - or outright stated - I don't think anyone is saying that progress must be stopped. But part of the rule of law is applying the law equally to all parties. In that regard, most American cities have abdicated their responsibility to apply law to all. Laws can -and should - change as new technologies arrive and new social mores develop, but it should be done intentionally, with consideration of all sides and as many of the relevant factors as can be addressed. Again, in both those ways, cities have failed their citizens by allowing ride share companies to operate as scofflaws and then often codifying that behavior without full consideration. It's not just taxi drivers who are hit by the impact of ride share, but also public transit, and general traffic congestion in many cities. In my Op-Ed written for Chicago's Crains business periodical ( http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20180131/OPINION/180139999/one-wa... ) I advocate for using the same technology that enables ride share companies to operate to levy taxes in new and creative ways to reduce the impact of ride share on congestion and public transit, and they could also be used to mitigate the impact on medallion owners.
2
If these men and women were a significant voting block that had supported Donnie, he would have made them an audience for another pep rally and tossed them some promises for legislated relief, plus national media attention.
Every time I've reserved a ride with our local cab company, they never showed. Even when I reserved on their website several days in advance, or called them several hours beforehand. One driver became obnoxiously homophobic while on the way to the airport (no tip for him). Another cabbie said he 'didn't take cards', and didn't have change for the cash I gave him.
The first time I reserved a ride with Uber, they were on time. The app let me track the driver's progress on his way to my location; no cab company has that. I've never had to hand any money to my Uber driver, or worry about whether they 'take cards'. I've never ridden with a ride-sharing driver who was rude obnoxious.
I would use cabs if I was ever happy wirh their service; they consistantly fail, and ride-sharing is much better. If cabs want to compete, they need to start caring more about their service and their customers.
4
I went on a business trip to New Orleans in December. On day one, I took a traditional taxi from the hotel to the convention center where my event was held.Taxi driver did not seem to know the direction. He had no GPS navigation. We got lost, Made a few u-turns. Then finally found the place. My fare was $14. on day two, I took Uber. driver came on time. Clean car, knew exactly where she was going. Had GPS. Got to my destination in half the time. Cost me $7. I will leave it up to you to figure out which was the better experience.
For many years now, taxi drivers, especially in NYC, were banking on a system that the government put into place that they benefited from where there were artificial barriers to entry into the market to limit the supply of a service in high demand. Now, they are blaming the same government for their woes now that they are down on their luck.
Frankly, if the medallion taxi industry offers a service that is more convenient for their consumers at a competitive price than Uber, no one will be using Uber. The fact is that they do not, mostly because they were never driven to innovate and improve service by market forces.
Understandably, taxi drivers are looking out for their own economic self-interests. As are we all. But clearly the way they are running their business no longer serve the consumers. So what to do? How about providing a service that Uber and other similar services do not offer. I will leave it up to. you to figure it out.
4
I'm sorry for these drivers, but very few taxis - compared to the people who wanted to pay for rides in them - were available pre-Uber because the city limited the number of cabs on the streets, thus increasing the value of each cab owner's taxi medallion. Allowing more cabs on the street to serve a growing population would have diluted the value of these medallions and cost drivers and owners money. Greed leads to unemployment.
1
We see this happening in cities all over the world. The same scenario repeating itself over and over. Total destruction of the cab industry and the ability to earn a livable wage, see the destruction of the value of a taxi plate/medallions, the loss of pensions because license owners cannot sell their plates. Their futures are being destroyed and there is despair. This is happening because politicians allowed Uber to operate without any compliance to regulations are doing nothing to force change to correct this horrible situation. It is a shame and terrible to watch.
3
When the automobile came along, was there a notable rise in the incidence of suicide among blacksmiths? If so, would we all be better off still depending on horses as our best means of transportation. Mr. Schifter's suicide was tragic, and certainly misguided in its purpose, as it will not stop progress - and, like it or not, Uber is progress. I hate to admit it, but Mayor DiBlasio is right on this one.
2
Driver's suicide is tragic, as are all suicides. But this suicide should not be used to further the narrative that despises Uber, Lyft, or other ride hailing businesses. The charge to ride in a taxi from the airport to your destination in most cities is an outrage. I get that taxi drivers are not getting rich off this; the cities are. As are the owners of the Taxis.
But, let me remind Ginia that all industries change over time, many have been put out of work as requirements changed, and many businesses close down entirely as they are no longer needed in a 'global' economy where labor is cheaper somewhere else. This has always been true to a degree, it's just that on in the 21st century, it happens more rapidly. Technology was a promise that has turned to an evil for many, especially those 40+.
2
Where is the safety net in our Judaeo-"CHRISTIAN" country that helps people transition with dignity to new roles in our ever-changing, ever-modernizing economy so they don't end up living (or taking their own) lives of desperation??
Oh wait, the money for it went to the uber-rich because they needed a tax cut...
4
It's true that service, value and courteousness were "wanting" among the cab drivers.
That said, it want all of them and it does not excuse the gutless void of care that political leadership shown the drivers during the transition to disruption.
For a guy who spouts his caring of people, deblasio demonstrated none of that. The disruption could have been handled so much better with little effort.
Now, you have people defaulting on loans and lenders losing money and laying people off.
Nice job deblasio, nice (lack) of care.
Now have your 3 cars drive you to the gym everyday because you're too good for the subway that rots and while you screech about global warming.
3
I'm sorry for these drivers, but they, the taxi companies, and their union didn't help themselves at all by rigidly adhering to a shift-change schedule under which thousands of drivers returned their cabs to their garages during the daily 5 p.m. rush hour. For years and years, hundreds of commuters who wanted to take cabs flagged down empty taxis only to be told that the drivers were returning them to the garage because their working day was over. This was during rush hour. Arrogance leads to unemployment.
3
I hail taxis in Manhattan, a relatively easy task here, except when it's raining. I'm a curmudgeon who's old school. I want a professional behind the wheel, someone who does this for a living, not an amateur. Hailing cabs in NYC is a grand tradition. You don't need a smartphone, or preregister to make sure you're qualified to be a passenger. You walk to the curb, raise your hand. What's not to like?
When in London, riding in a taxi is an art form. Taxi drivers who have mastered The Knowledge are a treasure. Why in heaven's name would I jettison this and settle for some simpleton who does this as a side endeavor?
When in cities that are not densely populated like those in the Northeast, but are massive sprawls, I go with the flow, adapting a "when in Rome" attitude. What I don't understand is why so many folks who themselves live from paycheck to paycheck would not want to support professionals who are doing the same.
Uber et al. are rip-off artists. They take most of the profits while assigning all responsibilities to the driver whom they treat as independent contractors. I know there are success stories, but I view them as chumps and Union breakers. Until I'm forced to, I'm taking a taxi.
DD
Manhattan
8
The taxi industry had long been a protected monopoly delivering inferior service with no impetus to change. No amount of rhetoric can refute that simple fact. Now we see writ large the fate of public-sector businesses that had the arrogance of never adapting to the needs of the customer, operating on the assumption that they were entitled to their jobs. Even now, the only solution the taxi industry can propose is "more protection" from government. Maybe they ought to try and compete on price and service.
3
For the record, in regards to what the late Doug Schifter wrote, Mayor Bloomberg had signed a law allowing a new type of taxis: the green taxis in the outer boroughs can pick up passengers who hail them and they can operate I believe above 60th Street in Manhattan but never midtown or below. This was done to bring in revenue to make up for deficits in the city's budget. De Blasio never supported the green taxis. And as for Cuomo his late father and former governor was on the board of the yellow taxis. So I don't recall the Andrew Cuomo not supporting the yellow taxis. The livery taxi always had to work out of a base even the new green ones. I think Uber was able to win in court and that had nothing to do with politicians. Uber is seen as a threat all over the world. I was in Vietnam last December. I took a taxi to visit a friend the fare was around $8.00. Going back to my hotel she called Uber. The fare was 18,000 dongs which is the equivalent of 79 cents. It took close to half hour to get back to the hotel due to the massive amount of traffic in Saigon. It was hard to comprehend paying $0.79 for a ride close to half hour.
As for Ms. Bhairavi Desai she has to remember the yellow taxi members she represented had the luxury, for many years, of refusing to take passengers to the outer boroughs. And even for failing to pick up black passengers in Manhattan. Those were the good old days when they had no competition. Uber had even the playing field. They've themselves to blame.
3
de Blasio's comments show what a true lout he is. Suicide has absolutely nothing to do with "underlying mental health challenges." It has everything to do with, as Mr. Schifter pointed out in his FB posts, the structural, economic and societal challenges we face in a 21st century evolving economy.
Sure, ride sharing is the wave of the future (although you Uber users should be ashamed of yourselves for supporting a company rich in misogyny, exploitation, and greed; I prefer Lyft frankly). But the workers being displaced need our help in transitioning to adopt new skills and move on to other lines of work.
This cold shoulder "hey stuff happens, good luck" stupidity is precisely what's wrong with our society today.
6
One harsh reality in a capitalist economy with a logarithmically expanding population is that in the ever evolving world of labor , those tasks with the least skills will have the greatest competition .
There are brief periods where the groups will find some financial success but ultimately a new operating system comes about .
Driving is like factory assembly work . . . skills that can be learned in a relatively short period of time .
It is better to see the hand writing on the wall and either learn new skills in another trade or adapt to the changes in the existing one .
Maybe someone could focus on helping adults who have settled into a rut develop the ability to adapt , learn & grow ?
It's Not easy but can be done ( speaking from 1st hand experience here )
2
Since it wasn't quoted in this article, I just read an earlier NYT article to find the price of the medallion. It quoted $335,000 for a medallion to drive in NY. Am I the only one who thinks that's outrageously high? And who was the recipient of all this medallion money? In fairness, it should be rebated back to the drivers.
3
I feel for you & your dilemma Taxi drivers. But here's a short little story about our rare use of Taxis in the "world class" city of Seattle. A few years ago -Pre-Uber.
We got tickets for my wife's fav band playing their semi regular twice yearly gig at a club on the Seattle waterfront. We stayed at a hotel up the hill approx 6-7 blocks away. Did what any person would do in a supposedly "world class" city - took a cab down to the club. Great night. Good show. We come out expecting to hail a cab back up to the hotel. No cabs. It had snowed lightly. Slush on the roads. But there was no way my wife could walk that distance back to the hotel with her having to carry an Oxy tank.
Called the cab company and they REFUSED to send a cab out in the "storm". Seriously. It wasn't snowing .Maybe an 1" on the ground with slushy roads.
We were waiting out front of the club trying to figure out what to do. The only choice would be for me to book it back up to the hotel and get the car, all the time my wife standing out in the cold after hours alone.
One of the horn players from the band was packing out and kindly offered to take us up the hill on his way home past our hotel. There were NO problems getting there.
Way to go Yellow Cab of Seattle !
3
This is how capitalism works, my friends.
I wholeheartedly welcome Uber. I am a native New Yorker who has spent most of my life having yellow cabs refuse to stop for me. I can only assume it was because I am a black woman. It is so humiliating to hail a cab and have it pass you by, only to have it stop for the person 20 feet away...
8
This is a small glimpse of the future. Driver-less cars are next. The labor market will shrink and people will need to adjust.
Politicians are for sale yo the highest bidder.
1
I drove a cab 50 years ago to help put myself through college. It was miserable work then, and must be horrible now. It was the motivation to not have to do that as an occupation that helped me finish college.
4
Uber drivers should be licensed and feed just like taxi drivers. This should reduce the competition.
1
I have been saying for years how destructive this "Gig" economy is, and unfair. Powerful lobyyist have bought our government, and moved work to 1099 contracting, avoiding taxes, and paying pittance for all types of work, from plumbing, telecom install and maintenance, to Taxis. It is wrong, it should be illegal. During the downturn, from 2008 to around 2013 gig work was all I could find. I would get a few hour's work here, a week there, two months here. And a lot of time sitting at home combing the work websites, most of which are cick bait. I am a Network Engineer, I have invested much time and energy into my skill set including two degrees, sixteen years serving the military. I believed the axiom, "Get an education, work hard, and you will go far." I have indeed gone far, in a long roller coaster circle. I have had a good job for three years now, but it too is a tenuous contract, and I fear everyday the bottom will fall out. Reagan's dream of crushing the blue collar worker's strength and dignity is complete.
2
The scene: Newark Airport arrival platform, a Tuesday at midnight.
I asked a waiting cab driver, "how much to East Brunswick?"
The answer: "$65 plus tolls."
I checked the Uber app on my phone: "$28."
Within 5 minutes the Uber driver arrived in an almost new Lexus.
The driver, from India, was courteous and efficient.
He told me that most of the men in his family drive for Uber and/or Lyft.
20 minutes later he dropped me off in front of my home and helped me carry my luggage to the front door.
7
The majority of posters, empathize with Doug Schifter’s sense of betrayal as his livelihood was diminished on account of NYC’s govt. allowing a flood of cheaper competitors.
But where is the concern for America’s millions of lower wage citizens and legal residents who’ve had their employment opportunities and wage growth compromised by the country's 10-11 million undocumented workers?
The argument that American employers require millions more immigrants for jobs that Americans "won't do" is their code for wanting an expanded labor pool comprised of people who will work for lower wages and fewer benefits.
If a completely uncontrolled free market system is all that America wants, then say goodbye to your middle class because there are few professions that can’t be filled by millions of potential applicants from abroad who will gladly work for less.
Your country is turning into a rich vs poor nation that bears far more resemblance to Mexico than Canada.
3
As a black man, I think of all the yellow taxis that passed up men like me (even in a suit) and would barely take you to a diverse part of town. That's really no longer an issue thanks to Uber, Lift, etc...
7
You laugh at the ignorance of out-of-towners who get out of a Manhattan business meeting at 5 pm and actually want a cab to get them to the airport! Hahaha, it was so funny that not a single cab was on the island at the most highly expected hour, wasn't it?
Someone else filled a key need that the entrenched comfortable cabbies refused. That's how it works.
We have bank cashiers annoying with bad service and driving us to use ATMs. We have postal workers doing an excellent job of driving people away from using the USPS. It's sad when hard-working people are laid off because their expertise is no longer valued. Even when people drive customers away, it is not cause for celebration...but the result is guaranteed.
3
Competition disrupting a cronyist industry is "dark"? It is positive.
2
Yes, Mayor DeBlasio, there may be an underlying mental health issue...that at age 60, still unable to retire or collect social security, that the rules and regulations which the livery drivers abided by and money extracted from them by the city, the state and federal government, are of no matter. They were suckers for abiding by the regulations. That if it is in fact every person for themselves, they can choose to thrive, or at least exist and get by, as someone who lives outside the rules they were taught was proper...or take his life. I suppose he could have submitted to homelessness....but, for someone who had made a decent living to have that paradigm change that quickly, ....very difficult. I hope many have the courage to declare bankruptcy and find a new way of life.
1
Doug Schifter's suicide is truly depressing,an act of utter helplessness in face of manmade technological shifts in the way we commute.
An handsome,principled man,I convey my heartfelt sympathies to his bereaved family.
The photo is very heart touching.
However,i have to say that cab/taxi days are over & for good.
Riders have got used to the professionalism & transparency of riding with Uber.
In light of this terrible toll that's effected the Cabbies,the government can issue orders for a certain percentage of money be kept aside by Uber as 'Contingency relief fund'for Cabbies plying in the area of its operation.
Also,the government should not issue anymore cabbie license & if issued it should carry statutory warning "BEWARE OF ....,risk at your Cost"
For many years I never took cabs. I made other arrangements. Here in California, outside the downtown blocks of San Francisco and the airport, you could not get a cab. You could call them, yes. They would promise to show up in maybe 45 minutes (if you were lucky). But half the time they just didn't show up, then or ever.
If you hailed one downtown, often they would refuse a fare to the residential areas of the city, because they couldn't get a fare on the way back. My black friends tell me they often would not stop for them at all. The credit card readers were "broken," so you had to have cash. The cabs, in the unlikely event that you managed to get one, were dirty and smelly inside. They smugly engaged in all these practices because they thought no one could do anything to them to make them stop.
Now if I need to go somewhere, even from my new suburban home, I just log onto my smart phone. The car, clean and well maintained, will be at my door in certainly no more than 10 minutes. The driver will be pleasant. When I get out the phone takes care of the payment. I always tip. Cost is not a big factor for me.
Uber and Lyft did not steal me from the cab companies. I'm a new customer. The cab companies did it to themselves. I'm supposed to feel sorry for them? We're supposed to go back to those days? Sorry, no.
8
Uber has its place in the world, but it is not New York City.
1
As the daughter of a taxi driver when cabs were all yellow, my dad worked for almost 25 years as a cabbie after he lost his fur business at age 50. Driving a cab, he was able to pay off the mortgage on his house & raise his late-in-life baby boy. I made dad retire at 75 when he was badly mugged on the way to work at 4 AM. After that concussion & skull fracture he was never the same. He loved driving & had decent & caring employers in a Bronx garage (unasked, they gave dad $50 for my baby brother's bar mitzvah & gave dad the day off from work.) Dad was loyal to the taxi union because the union made their working lives better, fairer, and they were able to have a decent middle-class family economy.
What's changed? Over the decades the capitalist class has gotten meaner & richer off the working men & women of this city & country. They welcome the gig economy everywhere because it spares the once-traditional employer having to care about the people who work for them. They love the tax cuts they just got & bemoan the working people of this country - born here or brought here - as lazy, rapists, criminals, dangerous, job stealers, unpatriotic & any other names that come to mind. They busted the unions, withheld decent raises, & got many nativist workers to hate Obamacare, immigrants, women & education. The result is people suiciding because their 100 hour a week jobs still don't support their families. A military parade? Those in military ranks mostly came from the working class.
38
This is the kind of story I wish the New York Times would frequently cover. People need to be aware of the "misery" wrought by the economic policies of neoliberalism on the working-class, and and how that misery is reflected in the "shared economy,"
29
Yea...forget all the billions of people who've benefitted from cheaper and more efficient transportation around the world.
6
Let's see what everyone has to say when more jobs, your job, get(s) 'uberized' and people can't figure out the puzzle of how to move on, adjust, survive. Everyone will become an independent contractor/subcontractor. No benefits, no healthcare, no vacation. You know, utopia. Survival of the fittest, with the fittest being those at the top of companies like ............
4
I have had awesome cab service in DC, Denver, and Portland (and NYC actually). The few times I've been in Uber were when we were with others who called the service, and the young guys (it was always young guys) who picked us up didn't like the work or the company but needed the work they could get. To me, using Uber is like going to Walmart. You might get your products cheaper in the short run, but we all pay for it eventually.
1
Could the City be held liable for breach of contract with taxi drivers? Since they charged an exorbitant fee to do business, maybe they should "buy back" the medallions, relieving the drivers in debt of that burden, but also compensating older drivers like the one whose son wrote about here who thought his medallion would finance his retirement.
2
Ive always tried to support the taxis,yet now when you go through a rental agent pick up ect. they have contracts and accounts with uber ,lyft ect. The ones I had were absolutely filthy from god knows what they do with their personal vehicles outside of pt driving. Yellow taxis and their owners are generally used to clean maintenance. You can still get burned on the fares from the others .
1
Hostage taking can be profitable but if you the hostage you are glad to see it go.
2
On the one hand, taxis are a wicked industry: an oligopoly protected by the public sector. Taxis got exclusive access to tap that market while the public sector profited from the situation by selling the membership to the exclusive club (come on: 1 million dollars for a permission to work??? Something cannot be right...).
And the victim used to be the consumer. So I'm glad the dinosaur is going extinct as a concept: it's a beautiful example of capitalism empowering consumers to choose what they consider best for them (and, voila, quite expectedly they are not choosing taxis...).
On the other hand, the little guy who works for the industry and is caught in the middle of the process is the biggest victim. The sudden disruption of a system, even if old and unreasonable and deserving of going kaput as a concept, also takes with it a social toll that must not be overlooked.
I believe the same public agencies that profited from the taxi industry should help finance and relocate the workers who will no longer have a future in a dying industry. In previous centuries, disruptions like this took more than one human generation to mature: now it takes 10 years!
As a side comment, Uber and the likes, as effective employers, also need to follow regulations that apply to other sectors of the economy. The public sector also needs to curb the excess of capitalism to indirectly shrink the pool of drivers to a level that would allow workers to have decent salaries and benefits.
7
“Half my heart is just crushed,’’ she said, “and the other half is on fire.” Profoundly beautiful description. I ache for Mr. Schifter and others seeing their livelihoods slipping away, but I also keep wishing I could go back in time and take broadband with me.
Maybe taxi drivers are the urban version of coal miners.
6
I don't use Uber or any other ride sharing services - I call a taxi service. I also don't shop at WalMart - instead opting to shop at stores that pay a living wage. l work hard to buy Made in America and locally produced goods. It's not easy, and it's not the cheapest, but I know all are in the best interest of my community, my state, and my country.
9
Mayor de Blasio is absolutely wrong to denigrate Mr. Schifter as mentally ill. The cause of Mr. Schifter's suicide was purely and simply as he stated: The disruption of his life's work. Mentally healthy people can and do commit suicide for much lesser reasons, and Mayor de Blasio's denial of the essential nature of this tragedy is shameful on a purely humanitarian level, all politics aside.
13
OK. So we know the gig economy is horrible and will most likely someday turn us all into slaves. The question is: What safeguards do we have or can we create to care for ourselves and people such as the man in this article who believe there are no other options? Perhaps there were services or rights he wasn’t aware he had? Loose your home, find cheaper more affordable housing, stay with friends family, other shelter? Credit card debt, no money for food? File bankruptcy (like our President has), plenty of free food services. Sure, dealing health and health insurance are a nightmare, but there are services for all types of people in a variety of situations. Think others will only love you if you are the provider? Maybe you haven’t given the your loved ones or the world a chance. Who and what gives us hope, when life doesn’t go as planned, as it will for so many of us?
3
6 1/2 years behind the wheel of a yellow cab in Gotham and the only surprising part of this story is that it hasn’t happened sooner.
Anyone who thinks that the gig economy is good for society is kidding himself. Companies have zero interest in the well-being of their workers and those same workers are left out to dry when it comes to benefits, healthcare, overtime, or getting any matching funding for retirement.
Many people think that our industry brought this upon itself. Most drivers I know put in a long day’s (or night’s) work while dealing with fees, taxes, insane rules, and outdated regulations; all while doing our best to handle with everything that the riding public throws at us ad infinitum.
Even if you think that the yellows provided horrible service or were permanently turned off by a trip in a cab eons ago, no one deserves to face a decision like the one that Mr Schifter had come face-to-face with. For him to bear the burden of decisions that Politicans foolishly made is nothing less than criminal.
It’s a shame that no one in power will take the fall for a situation that should never have happened in the first place.
http://gothamchronicles.net
15
If Yellow Cab drivers were courteous, knew where they were going, spoke passable English and kept their hacks free of garbage and bugs, it would never have come to this pretty pass.
Uber is not to blame. Desai's "heartbroken" followers are.
3
This man is a hero who felt like this was the only way to meaningfully protest because politicians and government officials pretend nothing is wrong, its not grown men haven't been literally crying for some time now about this to the City- they just want to milk these people for cash #neoslavery
2
The economic fallout in the taxi industry is real. Yellow medallions that were worth more than $1 million are now worth a small fraction of that figure. Owners of yellow medallions can't find drivers; they've all moved on to Uber and Lyft. The remaining yellow drivers can't make money on the reduced volume of fares, and they're getting killed on their medallion loans. The bankruptcy courts in SDNY and EDNY have seen innumerable taxi driver cases in the past few years.
2
The stress and strain isn't just limited to NYC cab drivers. I drove for lyft and uber in NYC. It costed almost 2 thousand to get started because NYC requires drivers to get something called a TLC license. After that you have to pay for commercial auto insurance to drive for uber and lyft in NYC which is about five hundred per month. The wear and tear on your vehicle is very high due to the terrible road conditions. The city requires you to get your vehicle inspected every four months which makes every auto shop rip you off by telling you that you need unnecessary repairs because they know NYC won't allow you continue to drive without passing inspection. This is on top of the cost of the inspection itself. The city then takes a portion of your fare for something called the "black car fund", after they already charged you 2 grand to get your TLC license. Your vehicle is often targeted for tickets and fines because you're considered to be a commercial vehicle and they think you are making money hand over fist. To make any decent money you have to work 10-12 hours a day in the worst traffic conditions in the entire country. After all the expenses and effort that you put in, drivers often end up in the red. I drove for one year and pulled out because of the stress and hassle. It was the worst year of my life and it made me absolutely detest living in NYC. I moved to another state and getting those NYC license plates off of my car was an absolute relief.
14
As the former owner of NYC taxi medallion (in the '80s) I can vouch for this regarding what it's like to be in the taxi business in NYC as an owner-driver. Every person who is considering driving for Uber or Lyft should read this comment and realize that your own company is actively engaged in creating your misery by a) constantly promoting for a limitless number of competitors (new drivers) and even by b) openly planning to make you obsolete by replacing you with driverless taxis.
3
Former cab driver of nine years here. I left because I couldn't make money at it anymore. Occasionally I run into Uber drivers who tell me they make poverty wages and deliver for Amazon on the side, which also pays very little. Some think cab companies got themselves into this mess, and there is some truth to that. In my opinion, the city cab companies are just Uber, et al writ small. They got their own employment rules changed in the seventies so they could say their employees are really "independent contractors". This lets them avoid such responsibilities for their employees as health insurance, unemployment insurance and retirement benefits. But at least the job paid well. No longer.
I see some comments that folks like Uber because they are available. Well, yeah, you can make cars more available when you oversaturate the market, and you can do that when you pay your employees slave wages. I remember a couple years ago Uber had reduced their base rate to 65 cents a mile. Well, the federal government says it costs 56 cents a mile to operate a car. After Uber takes their twenty percent cut, that leaves the driver with negative earnings. They are essentially paying their passengers for the privilege of doing work for them.
Why should our society allow such jobs to exist? Another question is why do we let private companies run things that should really be public services?
15
I blame NYC government, if they take money from Medallion, they should protect taxi drivers by banning Uber/Lyft, since Uber doesn't pay for this special license. If they don't charge Uber for that or don't ban Uber, they should return money for Medallion and let taxi driver compete with Uber in a fair way.
11
Welcome to technological disruption. No job is guaranteed to last forever and with the increasing pace of technological advancement (especially in terms of ML and AI) we're only going to see more of this disruption going forward. Trying to stop it is futile (and counterproductive). People need to be able to adapt in the future.
3
When a working person kills themself over an inability to make a living, it says far more more about the politicians who allowed or even encouraged their ruin than it does about the mental health of the dead person.
79
I cant help but feel that blaming Uber/Lyft is disingenuous at best. There are a number of reasons that I avoided taking cabs in the City. Two of my largest reasons was dealing with rude drivers, and difficulty hailing cabs (another discussion in itself that has been had time and time again).
Charging by the minute (in addition to the mile) gave drivers no incentive to get you anywhere efficiently. No creature comforts in the cab itself (even as small as mints or water bottles). Being virtually ignored wile standing street side trying to hail a cab. Literally having cabs stolen from me by others with no sense of honor.
Ultimately, the taxi business seems to have gotten comfortable and did nothing to keep up with changing times.
8
This is just another corporation finding a way to reduce the wages of workers Ina specific industry and keep the profits for itself. That is the huge tech advancement here. There could have been reform of the taxi industry of customers organized to advocate with politicians instead of embracing another corporate labor force destruction.
2
And herein lies the problem with capitalism. Competition. It is inhuman. Instead of an opportunity to make transportation easier for all, utilizing modern technology is used to drive others out of business and jobs. Dog eat dog. Doesn't matter who gets hurt in the process. This story plays out everywhere and it has put humans on the globe at the verge of extinction.
Capitalism has produced great strides for civilization. It's usefulness is gone and it's time to use our intelligence, caring, wealth of information and scientific advances to build societies that place the welfare of each and every person above all else.
9
I would argue that "capitalism," as you have phrased this, is the reason our species has evolved rather than putting us at the verge of extinction. Everything evolves and advances, including technology. The same cries about "extinction" were heard when we went through the industrial revolution and every other technological revolution. Yes, some people will lose their jobs. Some people will adapt, some will not. But stagnation is far more likely to lead to extinction than capitalism.
1
Ah yes, capitalism has done so well for the world, with its endless cycle of wars and conflict engineered for profit. Capitalism is continuing to fail. When will the world wake up and see that a different system is required?
This is really a tragedy and I can see how professional drivers are struggling. As a customer, honestly, I do miss the taxi drivers because they knew how to drive and they knew the city and they didn't need a GPS to navigate around town. I have used both Lyft and Uber and there are many times I have felt unsafe with the drivers. I try to walk, take public transportation or have my husband drop me off - ride sharing is my last option that I use because frankly I don't trust who I'm going to get.
That being said, the taxi industry missed the boat on this because all customers really wanted was the ability to get a taxi easily and that was impossible to do. Most cab companies never even answered the phone so you would wait in the street and hope you could flag someone down. The technology has been there for quite some time to allow passengers to connect to drivers but the taxi companies refused to use, incorporate and adapt to the changing needs of customers. No one I know of really complained about the pricing, they complained about availability. The cheaper pricing with ride shares has been a bonus. But on the other hand they don't deserve full pricing because they are not professional drivers.
I still think the taxi companies have a chance if they are willing to spend the money to show the benefits of being with a professional driver. And I believe there are other opportunities out there and niches that can be carved out.
4
I turned a friend on to Uber; we were to share a ride from Costco to Ft. Greene and Prospect Park together; the Uber driver drove up to Cost Co, saw too African American women and lied; he parked in the back of the parking lot, someone else had to pick us up.
From that moment, I've refused to use Uber. I use the green cabs in the outer boroughs and use yellow cabs in the city. The last time I was in a yellow taxi, a driver was telling the horrific tales, same as Mr. Schifter. God Bless his soul;
DeBlasio is no better than the Republicans he claims to be against; to say this man had mental issues because he was trying to make an honest living just drops him another peg in this citizens book.
11
It is so insulting for the Mayor to say that "for someone to commit suicide there's an underlying mental health challenge". This REALLY put me off!!
Please honor Mr. Schifter. Please.
16
I got into a yellow cab once and asked to go to Broadway and Houston. The driver said "Houston?". He had to look at a map.
Another time, I needed to go to the airport. I hailed a cab and asked to go to Kennedy. He pulled over at Houston and about Avenue D and said "either you pay me $50 (this was 1990) or you get out." I protested, but gave in, but told him to leave the meter running (which he'd tried to shut off). He weaved through side streets and we were quickly at the airport, grand total on the meter: $23. Which I paid him, leaving him sputtering in anger at the curbside.
Yet another time, coming back from a long trip abroad and not yet in the NYC frame of mind, I stupidly agreed to a driver's request to "avoid traffic". The fare from Kennedy was in excess of $80.
Two of these drivers, btw, were white, so pls don't assume this is an anti-immigrant rant.
In any case, very little sympathy here for the plight of these drivers, even though both my dad and uncle drove cabs.
6
What does it say about America when this tragically meaningful story does not get any mention on CNN's daily news? What does it say about the American Dream when the mayor of New York does not see this for what it is as the ever growing difficulty for people to scrape by financially in the face of a daily barrage of expenses but rather immediately stigmatizes the event as a mental health issue. Mayor de Blasio might as well have said that Mr. Schifter and many other people trying to make an honest living are all mentally ill.
11
The Depth Of Sadness seen here is heartbreaking. The passing whisper of Deblasio is debasing. It seems easy for some to conveniently "pass off"
the Gravity a major social crisis some hard-working citizens face daily.
To passingly blame mental health seems a reprehensible "slough-off" by
an Official who is "above it all". Sometimes the sanest reaction to an
insane situation....is Insanity.
5
Wasn't Uber stopped by cab driver unions in some other countries? I know there were some big protests in some countries...Here in NYC, Uber positioned itself against 'rich' medallion owners and I am sure, hired the best lobbyists in the city and the state. As automation and technology transforms industries, are we doint enough to take care of the displaced workers? Whose responsibility is it? Does Uber have some responsibility here in partnership with government? I really feel for this guy.
2
How does Uber succeed in avoiding regulations in all these cities? Do they make massive political contributions?
5
Doug Shifter, the livery driver, was in his early sixties and his job no longer provided the lifestyle he was used to. There would have been nothing for him moving forward and he knew that. I lost my well paying job, with many perks, almost twenty years ago and three have never been able to replace it. Replace it, even with full-time work that did not pay the same. You always look back at what you had and struggle on to exist.
3
Google's decision to buy Chelsea Market might be instructive. If Google wants tech-related business let Google pay for it. It's time for city government to pull the plug on startups or at least admit that they aren't all beneficial. Governments are not supposed to be corporate slaves. City Government ought to tax computer corporations heavily for the disruptions that they cause.
Tech corporations have a ton of money, pay up! Subsidize human endeavors.
7
Taxis had a monopoly. And they generally treated customers poorly, cars were dirty, availability during need periods was limited, costs were high, and drivers were sometimes rude or selfish. For the monopolists, Monopolies are amazing until they are no longer monopolies. Innovation has been at the core of americas economy since the beginning, and whether you like the uber founder or not, he invented a better product at a lower cost. And the customers voted with their feet. The good news for the cab drivers experiencing problems, is that the economy is strong and the unemployment rate is at its lowest level. There are many jobs out there waiting to be filled. Go fill them! And some leave the industry, the as cycles will naturally rebalance itself and wages will rise for the others.
6
Strangely, people are extremely enameled with Uber and its ilk; even those who would otherwise consider themselves liberal. This despite the fact that the ride hailing services are just another corporate incursion into an industry to displace those making a fair living from it. People should be aware of the impact they are having on American workers when they utilize these services, but, apparently, concern about American labor is too passé for our current culture.
4
Look. I'm just trying to get somewhere. There is no public transit worthy of the name in my area. I can't always drive. In those cases I'm down to a taxi company who won't send me a car in less than 45 minutes (IF it comes at all, which it probably won't), who requires that I carry cash around, and who will supply a dirty, smelly ride at an inflated price. OK, I suppose that I can always stay home. If I call Uber I'm a bad person according to you.
The flip side to this discussion is that lately, I've seen a real drop-off in the quality of the Uber and Lyft experience. Drivers who don't show up on time, drivers who don't know how to navigate out of Neark Airport, drivers who don't know how to deal with tolls, drivers picking me up in sketchy cars, divers who don't speak a word of English, drivers who can't use the App or GPS correctly, difficulty getting a receipt and more. For this reason, when possible, I now try to take a taxi. They are better than they used to be. More professional and more knowledgeable. Maybe things will start to swing back.
7
Unfortunately, in my city, taxis aren't competitive in terms of convenience or price. A $15 uber trip to the airport is a $40 plus tip taxi ride. I can rely on an Uber picking me up at 5:30 am, notsomuch for a taxi. The only good thing about taxis is that for the almost 300% mark up in trip price, they are allowed to queue at the airport and in the city.
Uber has changed my transportation habits- in situations where I used to have a friend come get me (for example, car in the shop), now I take Uber. I used to drive to the airport and pay to park. Now I take Uber. So most of my Uber rides aren't replacing taxi rides. They are replacing other alternatives.
3
It's not just the gig economy that is ruining the medallion taxi industry it's also the financing which medallion owners engaged in.
People borrowed to buy their medallions, which were described as "better than gold". As the value of the medallions increased medallion owners refinanced the medallions based upon the increased values and took ever increasing money out to enhance their lifestyles.
The typical loan bore a 15 year rate but required a 5 year balloon payment. This meant that the medallion owners had to refinance to pay the balloon because after 5 years, making payments at 15 year rates, not much principal had been repaid. It was like an addiction to money. They dug their own holes by borrowing huge sums against medallion equity which dried up with the advent of Uber, Lyft and the others.
4
Readers here who are old enough to have lived in or around NYC in the 80s and 90s might recall the term "gypsy cab." A gypsy cab was a car driven by a driver who was effectively operating a cab without permission from the city. Permission from the city was given by the city/regulatory agency issuing taxi medallions, of which there were a limited number. In short, people who invested in medallions assumed that it would be a good investment, because they city would live up to its side of the transaction, and not legalize gypsy cabs. Except... ride share services like Uber are basically just gypsy cabs.
14
I've been saying that for years. City governments have been dazzled by the apps and tech and let laws be flagrantly broken by Uber, Lyft etc.
2
If cabbies were regulated, why should Uber and other start ups be regulated? We need to go back to smart, regulated capitalism for the good of us all.
8
Get in a cab and talk to the driver about costs, payment of commissions on credit card fares - your heart will break. The TLC treats drivers like garbage. Pay cash and tip well - we need these rides and the drivers need to earn a decent living.
12
Some of the comments on here are beyond horrible in their utter lack of empathy. Wait until your job is phased out due to rapidly changing trends/technology. It's easy to say, "Adapt." When many of you do exactly that and you still aren't wanted in your or other fields, may others treat you with more kindness and compassion than you've done to this man you've never even met.
20
Very few of the comments seem to grasp the bigger picture or maybe I don't understand the,comments. When Home Depot shows up All the great family run hareware stores go out of business When Whole Foods shows up,small grocery stores go out of business. we dont need bookstores we have Amazon Yes it's nice to have the internet at our fingertips however just because companies can disrupt doesnt, make it right. And who is to say the disrupter is better than What we had. Look at Facebook greed now we have Russian trolls advertising and our elections are under attack .
What happens to us when artificial intelligence becomes the way of life. Do we blame capitalism ?
Maybe you can't have empathy for this gentleman and hundreds of others who voted for Trump because they felt isolated, left behind. What did Trump for those believersl gave tax breaks to people who didn't need .
Iam glad many care about our fellow human beings .
We are a non caring society that worship money and taking advantage of others misfortunes.
19
Facebook greed? Russian trolls advertising? Elections under attack? What on earth are you talking about?
"worship money and taking advantage of others misfortunes."
Speak for yourself, friend.
And, he owned a business.
Reversal of fortune is no reason to give up on life.
These tax drivers need to plan for the future, which is probably going to be different than what they had anticipated. Why, for example, have they not joined Uber? Dreamt up a competitor? Gone back to school? Tick tock - and good luck.
1
Despite my Uber app, I always take a cab in the city or black car to the airport. Why? For all the reasons described in the article. That said it is often not a pleasant experience. The city has put television screens in the back seat which add more noise, chaos, and other stimulus that I don't want--and half the time or more the mute button doesn't work. The poor drivers must listen to this incessant noise over and over again. But they can't take the noise makers out. The yellow cabs are often dirty and cramped--and god forbid you get one of the vans with the track doors that quite literally expose you to injury as they often slide shut while getting in or out (the green cabs are better). If cabs were more beautiful and comfortable--havens instead of noisy, less than clean environments they might be able to recapture some of Uber's market. But with drivers pushed to the max, it will require outside investment.
2
I've got no sympathy for medallion taxi cab owners. Over the years they always played games (I don't feel well and can't drive to Queens; look my engine just broke) to avoid going to the outer boroughs from Manhattan, or . Competition is a great thing, and they are now paying the price for their bad behavior.
5
What’s interesting is how the government and tech industries are pushing more money into developing car tech that adds more cars to the streets and suck more fees out of drivers (congestion pricing) while asking little of the companies to contribute to the ill effects both on people and the roads / public transportation. Meanwhile Uber profits off of drivers who have to pay all of the costs. You can see how people like Trump take advantage of the feeling that technology is displacing humanism.... just like the 1930s
3
These are good, hard working people. They are no different than those Americans whose jobs were "oversea'd" by our domestic corporations' CEO's, who were more profit and bonus oriented than caring for their fellow Americans. That was simply disgusting and longlasting, and we are still suffering from low ages as a result.
The main difference in the two events is that the drivers' situation is about progress and efficiency, which everyone must adjust to. Prices of many things are falling, and it's true that these drivers should have seen it coming. They should also have not felt comfortable taking out loans for as much as almost a million dollars to own a taxi medallion. That was simply bad judgment.
What’s been written about the gig economy, since I clearly defined it last year? And what is the true nature of the gigs? See http://worksnewage.blogspot.com/2017/05/a-year-of-gig-economy.html.
Surely then the "gig economy" affects Employment Statistics, which to me means, our economy isn't as healthy as we thought, especially within the realities you cite in your excellent essay.
The gig economy is the deregulation economy and the desperation economy. It's the stuff of third world chaos. Uber and Lyft will throw drivers under the proverbial bus. Nothing is really cheaper. We pay for it in other ways. This article made me so so sad and sick. How can people be so blind in their embrace of convenience?
17
In other articles on the subject it is reported that drivers have to take out loans of hundreds of thousands of dollars to afford their Medallion taxis. It is not Uber that is the ultimate problem here, it is the debt. Better, more efficient companies will always succeed. It is unfortunate that this man committed suicide, but to put that blame on Uber, as this article does, is absurd.
4
the only potential problem i see with ridesharing is the increase in taxis/rideshare vehicles (from 12,000 to 100,000 in nyc as per the article). But that’s only a problem if a majority of people are switching from public transit to ridesharing instead of switching from private vehicle ownership to ridesharing which reduces the amount of necessary parking & frees up parking spaces for alternative uses. The jury is still out on which of these two outcomes rideshares are affecting. But even if it is taking riders away from public transit-the answer is to utilize ridesharing to benefit public transit rather than put limitations & bans on ridesharing. Cities should tax every rideshare transaction & direct the funds to improving public transit & reducing its cost to be more competitive with ridesharing. Additionally, creating bus exclusive lanes would make buses more desirable while disincentizing ridesharing & ownership of private vehicles. Another issue is that uber & lyft compete with each other in some markets in a race to the bottom to provide massive subsidies to consumers. This gives rideshares an unfair advantage in the war of cost effectiveness. With that being said, uber & lyft do make up for areas that are poorly served by bus routes which are often low income areas. While taking an uberx everywhere may not be cost competitive with owning a car, uberpool & uberpoolexpress can be & the creation of more carpooling is better for congestion & the environment
1
I apologize for sounding crass but often Progress looks like this.
3
Yes, however think we we are heading...not necessarily "progress"...
taxi drivers got greedy...costs are prohibitive now
3
The economy changes, it's not fair to innovators like Uber to get the blame. Should we just stop progressing as a society? No more new ideas, just leave it the way it is?
You must change with the new economy or risk obsolescence.
I'd like to be the only money manger in the world but that's not how it works. I now have computer algorithms after my job, do I just give up?
Do I take my life, leaving family and friends behind to fend for themselves and wonder? Or do I pivot and find away to conform and thrive?
Though this is a terrible story. I can/ will never see anyone as more than a coward who kills themselves for something as common as money.
Sad.
4
Politicians rendered ownership of Taxi Medallions near worthless, somehow it's taking should be compensated under the concept of Public Domain.
1
I'm not sure what makes taxi drivers think they have a right to earn a comfortable living driving a taxi. The USA is a capitalist market: if you don't bother to get an education or learn a skilled trade, you're making yourself dispensable and putting your family at risk.
Even then, in this hot economy, it's not as if anybody is forced to choose between driving a taxicab 100 hours per week or killing themselves. There's no shortage of other options. It's silly enough when "educated" people refuse gainful employment because they think mopping floors or flipping burgers is beneath them -- but when even taxi drivers are doing it, you know our sense of entitlement has reached a fever pitch.
7
Yes and let's bring back coal too. Crying out loud all the people saying "start taking taxis" - this is life people. you adapt or die.
2
This is why Uber is outlawed in European cities like here Copenhagen and also Berlin.
12
Seems to me the NYC government defrauded these taxi drivers. Charging them for medallions which are supposed to offer a privilege which the city then abdicates their promise to preserve. FRAUD!
15
Let's face it: The gig economy = slave mentality. It's only the masters who make any real money.
17
I'm so sorry to hear that Mr. Schifter felt so hopeless. What a truly tragic story.
I'm also confused about the relationship between his dire financial situation and those of yellow-cab drivers, as explained by Ms. Desai. Could the writer please illuminate the relationship between these two scenarios? Black cabs have never been able to pick up fares as yellow (or green) cabs do. Ms. Bellefante is bouncing between these two constituencies as if their market dynamics have always been the same until Uber ruined everything. That's not the case at all. By lumping these two very different dynamics, this story is missing nuance that could actually be useful for consumers or policymakers. The narrative isn't as convenient as the one laid out here, but it would be more accurate.
Driving a cab will not be as lucrative as it was once. This is a shame. I think the area of most urgent concern is finding a way to alleviate the debt of medallion owners. The city failed to protect their investment.
5
Call it a gig economy, like it's something cool - musicians have gigs, right? Well, they also had a union. It's part-time work.
6
The lessons of this tragedy should not be fear and resentment, but that in our country it is never time to rest on your professional status, and think that you have 'made it'. Reality has a way of smacking that attitude in the face, as it did with me. One should never stop preparing for a worse financial future, and your next career.
2
I have experience Uber in Chile and Malaysia where I have lived the past few years. i would say Spain but Uber is banned there.
In Chile the taxis are worn down and frequently tamper with their meters. Uber costs a fraction on what cabs charge and you get to ride in a new car. Also Uber has vehicles for persons in wheelchairs. Cabs do not.
Here in Malaysia the Singapore company Grab has a larger market share than Uber. They pay their drivers 25%. Uber says 20%. You can go on short trips for $1. A trip of maybe 8 KM would cost about $4. No one takes taxis as they charge many times that.
As someone who does not have a car, Uber and Grab are a godsend.
2
Lefty here. I have never taken an Uber for just this reason. I view Uber as a sleazy company that provides a meager living to vulnerable people while at the same time robbing trained workers of a decent living. The free market is not the end-all-be-all solution to everything. As far as I am concerned Ubers are just reviewed gypsy cabs with an internet link and a GPS. A proper Taxi Hack is licensed, vetted and trained. I doubt if regulators will do anything about this -- or even if they could.
But the worst is yet to come. The poor Uber drivers are going to get their own comeuppance in any case when autonomous vehicle tech matures -- and it won't be long. Uber as we all know is at the cutting edge of this tech. No. More. Drivers.
But it does not stop there. This is a huge problem across the job landscape. What are people going to do when deep learning automation replaces them. Amazon just opened the first checkout free store. Bill Gates has, along with others, suggested an income tax for robots. One that might slow the rate of introduction and create a fund to retrain people.
I am the farthest thing from being a Luddite, and no one could ever accuse Dr. Gates of being one. Historically technology has been met with fear. But the sophistication of what is coming boggles the mind. If we just let the market decide this we are going to have a social earthquake. This tragic tale is the first ripple in a tsunami of human misery heading straight for us if we don't react.
16
“trainer workers”
After a late night dinner I and my companion decided to catch a cab back uptown. Waited 20+ minutes in the cold with no success. We counted all the Uber and Lyft and Via cars though that passed us by there were more of them on the road than the old once reliable yellow taxi. Companion pulls out phone called VIA and in less than 5 minutes we were on our way. This is what Bloomberg wanted and this is what the city got. He vowed to put the TLC out of business looks like he's succeeded.
3
I feel no sympathy for taxi drivers. It's a changing industry. The taxi industry has been an extremely powerful one for many years and there was virtually no competition.
Now for the first time they have competition and they are crying foul. It's like any industry. You have to adapt or you don't survive. Why should we call taxis and pay more out of benevolence? Why can't they simply adapt?
We are all expected to adapt to an ever changing environment. Learn new skills when the industry we are in dies out. Why can't taxi drivers do this? Why should they have it any differently? Why should we have to pay more just so they can have a job? No one pays more to make sure I have a job.
5
possible solution: a similar situation existed in india, say bangalore, chennai and so forth with uber, ola entering and making traditional taxi/cab drivers' lives miserable. however, the cab drivers joined ola/uber and other ride sharing apps and making good money. in fact, the drivers seem to happier to seek uber and ola clients. for instance, in the old days, a cab driver may not give you a ride at a certain time to a certain location saying that it is not worth his while and money; but now with ola/uber they jump in to help you. so the remedy is for ny taxi commission to embrace ola, uber, lyft as their equal partners and allow all their drivers to participate in this in addition to remove regulation re medallian purchases and other impediments.
This is a sad story and I can only imagine how many lives are being upended by Uber, Lyft and others. As many have said, this industry is changing and it will be necessary to change in order to compete. I do agree that we are probably flooding the market with licenses now but I think it is a great thing for NY'ers to have better transportation choices. As an aside, I remember for years how badly I was treated by drivers as a black woman living in Brooklyn pulled off when I tried to get in the cab, who didn't want to pick me up when they knew I where I was going, or even wanted to charge me extra.
3
I live in Barcelona where Uber is not allowed. The reason, of course, is that Taxi drivers are plentiful and reasonable and those drivers make a living wage with benefits. The city knew what the effect of Uber would be on all those drivers and decided to protect the drivers. Very unusual for that to happen in America where the race to the bottom (the lowest price) is the Holy Grail. Amazon is doing the same to retail with both worker and owner left to suffer. This Brave New World is cold and heartless. I can understand the value of Uber in underserved communities but not where you have good service and where livelihoods
are dependent on full time work. While we are at it, watch AirBnB devastate the Hotel Industry.
10
A sad story indeed and yet every time I enter a cab its likely to be dirty, have un-working AC, have windows that don't work, has a driver who is eating and/or talking on the phone and is generally not the same experience as an Uber or Juno. It's not hard to see why everything has changed.
3
Mr. Schiller was not a yellow cab driver but a black car driver. The article does his tragedy a disservice by not focusing on the distinction. My former neighbor owns a black car but now he has an Uber sticker in it. It seems that most Uber drivers serving this area are not driving the family Camry. Can someone explain how Uber took over the black car business? Also with outsourcing and taking home the laptop, don't less people need late night rides home from financial companies?
2
I have deeply mixed feelings on this. On the one hand, my heart goes out to those hard-working drivers who got blindsided by such rapid innovation.
On the other hand, I have no love lost for the traditional taxi model, or the regulations that propped it up at the expense and convenience of consumers. I was rooting for Uber whole-heartedly when all this first started. Now that Uber proved such jerks, I'm switching my allegiance to Lyft. I ain't going back to taxis. Uber's founders said they were inspired to start the company due to SF cab service. As a former resident of SF, I can believe it.
Thing is, the traditional taxi companies could have looked at the first smart phones in 2007-2009 and said: "Now everyone has an Internet-connected, GPS-enabled personal computer? Gee, I wonder what we could do here?" Yellow, Luxor, DeSoto...one of those guys could have been what Uber/Lyft are today. Instead, the entire taxi industry sat there slack-jawed while a revolution emerged in plain sight.
Anyway, back to the drivers...my armchair advice for underwater medallion holders is this: declare bankruptcy now, and dump that debt. No shame in that. You didn't do anything wrong, and It's not going to get any better. Autonomous cars are next. It's never going to be what it was.
2
IIRC, weren’t the bankruptcy rules changed a while back so you can’t walk away from debt?
3
What a terribly tragic story. One we will be re-reading in five years when Uber's fleet is fully driverless. The names will change but the story will remain the same. We have to strike a balance between innovation, capitalism and sanity.
3
I dated a cab driver back in the 1980's. Even back then the cost of the medallion was ridiculously high. He had a partner that split the cost with him. And then they had to pay for the gas on top of that. The hours were long and he preferred to work nights because he said he made more money. I worried about his safety. It's a lousy job in my opinion. To this day if I take a cab I "over tip" the driver.
6
Tech companies which brought havoc on many industries need to pay for universal basic income.
3
I hate ride-hailing services like Uber (in the States, anyway), but my take away from this is that cabbies in NYC earn more than new teachers, even AFTER cabbie's pay dropped by $19,000/year.
1
This is a tragedy and it's not going to end with drivers. Technology is coming for a great many jobs in the near future. The smartest among us, including Elon Musk, have warned that this is a reality. Trump talks about creating jobs all the time when he should be talking about protecting jobs that already exist. Where is the legislation to protect jobs from automation and other trends like the gig economy? All those dystopian predictions in sci-fi novels are coming true faster than anybody ever thought. Not only is the planet's climate in extreme turmoil, increasingly driving people off the land and into the cities in search of work, but we are being made redundant by machines at a frightening speed. Wake up people, you could be next. Don't sit there all smug thinking this will never happen to me. You're not immune -- nobody is. Except maybe the politicians that is.
6
I've taken a taxi three times in my entire life and the experiences were just awful. I've taken Uber over 100 times and the experience has been great.
I took a taxi when in college for a short trip to the store. I was a college student without much money. When I exited I thanked the driver and tipped him. He was so unhappy with the 'small' tip I gave him he cursed me. Yes. He cursed me. The tip was all I could afford to give.
I took another taxi after flying to Omaha, Nebraska from Memphis, TN for an interview. I needed to get my hair done and the taxi driver offered to wait on me while I showered and drive me to the hair salon. He drove and drove. It took 40 minutes to get to the hair salon. He went off the main highway and onto side streets and through residential neighborhoods. When we finally made it to the salon the tab was $100.00. The young women doing my hair found out what hotel I was in and they told me the drive was no more than 15 minutes. So why did the taxi driver take 40 minutes to bring me to the destination?
He was intentionally running up the tab. The woman doing my hair told me she would take me back to the hotel free of charge and she wanted me to skip out on the taxi. I could not do that. But I did tell him I would file an official complaint against him and he shaved $40.00 off the fare. It was still too much for a 15 minute drive.
I was also cheated here in Dallas by a taxi driver who made a printout of my credit card and doubled the fare on me.
2
“If you’ve driven a cab through the good and the bad you’ve seen life anew/the false and the true/you line up for the shape with ya mates black, white, yellow and brown/dollar bills in your hand/here’s ya trip sheet and keys/the cab’s over there by the broken down fence/the one with the dents/please take care.” —Andrew Leslie Phillips.
2
Uber and others are using the Amazon model of beggaring thy competition except people Mr Schifter have a real face. It is not just book lovers working at bookstores.
Several years ago, Apple was penalized for maintaining a balance between booksellers (including publishers, authors, & proof readers) and buyers against Amazon selling books as a loss leader.
Relentless cost cutting drove companies oversea. Gig economy is driving people to suicide. The latter is even more perverted when companies like Uber are losing billions. If it is country v. country, it is called product dumping. Remember why we regulated phone companies? A lot to remember
7
Hasn’t the city been out of the medallion business for awhile? People buy medallions from other owners, not the city. I assume the city might make a few more available periodically, but I would guess that activity was kept to minimum to preserve prices on existing units. Taxpayers include share services riders do not have any role in this issue.
Hopefully this tragic event will be the start of a meaningful discussion of the human fallout of policies that the overwhelming majority of economists endorse - Angus Deaton being a notable exception.
For economists Uber is a shiny example of positive disruption.
The classic response to complaints on the human fall out is . when asked how they would feel when
"...you lose your comfortable position as an American professor you can always find another job--as long as you are 12 years old and willing to work for 40 cents an hour.
Such moral outrage is common among the opponents of globalization--of the transfer of technology and capital from high-wage to low-wage countries and the resulting growth of labor-intensive Third World exports."
Paul Krugman In Praise of Cheap Labor
It is precisely this "moral outrage" that gets populists such as Trump elected.
15
In response to Jon who writes : "..anyone who couldn't see this trend coming ... it's time to pick up some new skills and adapt." (NY Times pick , 101 Recommend")
When you are in your early 60s, you will NOT find a decent job, no matter how you adopt.
35
"He had lost his health insurance and accrued credit card debt and he would no longer work for “chump change,’’ preferring, he said, to die"
This happened to thousands of others middle aged white men
who saw their manufacturing jobs disappear to Mexico and China, as well
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/health/death-rates-rising-for-middle-...
11
Today - taxi drivers
Tomorrow - Long-haul truck drivers
On life support - coal miners and brick-and-mortar retailers
There is a reason we send our children to college - so they can learn new trades and don't depend on old technologies.
In the early ages of the automobile, a driver was required to stop his car and cover it to hide it from view of horses so they wouldn't get spooked.
The airplane mostly doomed cross-country coach train travel.
In the (near) future, driver-less cars will replace most Uber drivers, and driver-less long haul big rigs will cost the jobs of millions of truck drivers.
9
College is not a trade school. Check it out on line: "difference between college and trade school."
3
If you attend liberal arts college and expect a job better than barista, then you've been Trumped!
Trade isn't fixing little radios. If you go to an engineering or medical school, you pretty much learn a trade and you are on the road to success.
And what of the Uber driver who is made redundant by Uber’s self driving car? Or when Uber investors decide they’ve had enough of subsidizing a company that still does not see a profit?
9
Wait until there is a serious accident involving one of those self-driving cars.
2
There is reason why Uber has killed the taxi industry. It's because it is a much better service. Maybe if the taxi industry had been a little more progressive, they could have saved themselves. Instead, they relied on draconian methods to stifle competition and became a victim of progress.
26
Sex rape, surge pricing, corruption...really a good service...
4
Yellow taxi drivers are doomed anyway. They are mostly male and largely recent immigrants from South Asia. When diversity hits their industry, mostly will be in forced retirement as more diverse drivers took their place. How come feminists haven't demanded female driver for female customers I don't know. I think they are quite common in the Philippines.
8
Remember a few years ago when Taxi union refused to install GPS on their taxi so they can still overcharge tourists? Well, they refused technology and oversight and now technology is coming to get them.
40
I think what's truly sad is that the money these drivers paid for Medallions, which could be 100 millions of dollars, is not properly used to increase the technological competitiveness of this industry. At least you can use that money to invest in UBER, right?
This is also a warning to many "pay-to-enter" associations. If the exclusiveness of an industry is mainly through high entry fee, it will be obsolete in future
9
It's tragic that he took his life, however it surprises me that the taxi industry seems to think they deserve special treatment now that their monopoly has been broken up. For years taxi drivers (more specifically, I should say taxi OWNERS) earned (often above average) incomes for low skilled work, which often included an incredibly poor customer experience. Now they are facing the world as the rest of us average working folk have done for decades - no job security, long hours, crappy pay etc.
Uber and Co are not to blame here. The real question is a philosophical one. Do we want a society where the 1% enjoy the wealth generated by the enslaving of the 99%? A world where "growth" and the almighty dollar must be obtained at all costs?
20
Oh no, competition, opportunity for those who want to work hard to earn a living. How can we allow it?
11
Unfair Competition. It's the whole point and you wholly missed it.
2
And hard work that can’t earn you a living.
2
If they made people pay for medallions they should have the decency to refund the money or charge Uber drivers for a livery license. Why are some people charged to transport people while others can do it for free?
36
The issue is that our laws are actively encourahing the construction of digital plantations which aggregate demand while atomizing their sharecroppers ( aka 'suppliers' and 'partners' and 'independent contractors.'. Isolated from one another, giggers can't organize unions. The result is sadly predictable.
24
it’s the gig economy its not designed to be a full time job. If there were unions & benefits & such it would essentially become the taxi industry & drivers would have to work certain hours instead of the freeing system that’s made the gig economy so attractive
This is a good analogy.
"For taxi drivers staring down an even bleaker future of driverless cars at a moment when Washington considers a weekly paycheck bump of $1.50 an occasion to break out the layer cake, it is hard to see where the metaphoric Prozac will come from."
Incredibly sloppy to tar "Washington" for a comment made by Paul Ryan.
12
Even sloppier to suggest that Ryan proposed breaking out layer cake, real or metaphorical.
3
@WineCoutryDude, Ryan considered that buck-fifty raise worth a tweet, so yes, metaphorical layer cake.
5
Paul Ryan IS Washington to us, who will be gifted with that $1.50/week windfall. Afterall his mitts are all over that bill. In lieu of layer cake, break out the cupcakes.
2
I would welcome Uber IF their workers were reclassified as not contract workers but actual employees of their companies, and then, allowed to form unions and bargain collectively. Uber is driving out all competition for ride services because they are the most efficient service, but they are socializing the costs to society from doing so. In return for their inevitable monopoly/duopoly they ought to be required to treat their workers with some dignity.
All of you middle class professionals crowing about how nice it is to have Uber grinding people into dirt... you do realize that your jobs are next up for this kind of treatment? All of you high and mighty lawyers and doctors and bankers are going to get it next.
27
How is they socializing the costs? It’s not, the external costs are identical to cabs.
6
I work postmates every once in a while when I have free time & want to bike around while making some extra money. If gig economy workers were classified as employees the model where a worker chooses his own hours at anytime (the main reason uber & co is successful) would have to be abandoned
I sympathize with drivers, for those with medallions I'd support some kind of buy-out, perhaps financed by taxes on ride-sharing. Overall I'd be happy if ride-sharing was more regulated, in terms of more stringent background check for drivers and payment of taxes, and higher wages for drivers. However, ride sharing has produced so many benefits for consumers - it's not just saving a buck. If you go slightly outside the main urban grid, calling a cab can mean a 1-2 hour wait; Uber comes in 5 minutes. Uber drivers on average are more polite, their cars are more clean, they drive more safely than cab drivers (half of cab drivers in DC will be talking on the phone with their friend the whole trip, or just not know where they're going), they don't have annoying TV's, and they don't harass you for tips. You're automatically sent a receipt. The downside is that Uber is a jerk company that underpays and plays games with drivers and doesn't pay taxes, and is misogynistic to boot. If they could fix that I'd be happy even if it cost more, or if I had to take a pool instead of a private ride.
33
Uber was just proved beyond any doubt to not by misogynistic, by the largest, most controlled and most clean analysis ever done looking at pay differentials. With total anonymity or gender when choosing drivers, and pay completely linked to performance, the study found 0% of the pay difference to be due to gender discrimination.
2
No taxpayer bailout. Those people made terrible investment and they can either surrender the medallion to the bank or suck it up.
9
Again you are focusing on the details and not the real problem: the complete lack of a social safety net. Its ridiculous that such a modern country, by a technological standard, can be so far behind in social development.
62
Excellent comment, thank you. There are so many gaps through which people can fall. We all know this, and see its effects every day - all kinds of preventable ill health, including mental illness; people sleeping on the streets, far too many kids in foster care, people desperately slogging along in bad jobs and living in substandard housing. What can we learn from this tragedy?
What a tragedy!
And the Times has articles up reassuring everyone that the economy is good. As if there’s no real context for people's lives.
This reminds me of the Tunisian man who set himself on fire. And that began for the marches in many Middle Eastern nations that Spring.
11
That was funded by you know who. All the countries involved are now in worse shape.
2
Yes because the Tunisian seller was being outsold by other sellers in a free market wasn’t he?
Care to make an even tangentially relevant connection here?
2
the amount of self-pity involved in the logic that made this man kill himself is so overwhelming it makes my brain hurt.
i'm sorry that you can't do the same job you've done your whole life, but retrain and/or move and you will find something better than suicide for sure.
there are people all over the world in worse shape than this man.
its like stock brokers jumping out of windows in the 20's after they lost their investments...
or small farmers in england hanging themselves after being made obsolete by agriculture corporations.
there is a word for what happened here... darwinism.
we don't need that self-pity and he can take it to the grave. we need people in this world who are able to adapt to changing circumstances, difficult circumstances.
cutting off your nose to spite your face only hurts yourself in the end.
the world moves on.
7
Re training. Easy to say, hard to do. What have you re trained for?
22
David: Re-training should be an everyday effort. 10 minutes a day learning something new can be enough. C# and C++ programmers are hard to find for a lot of tech firms. Now is the time to learn blockchain tech, while everyone is resisting it out of fear and skepticism. Turn off the TV, open up a free tutorial, or just dive in head first and try to create something and make it work.
Learning pays BIG dividends.
True - especially at 60 years old. Same thing with moving. It's not the magic bullet people seem to think it is.
3
Having lived in NYC for four years, I am acutely aware that the taxi industry was an acutely terrible government-protected monopoly. Filthy cabs, rude and often racist drivers who refused their mandate to deliver passengers anywhere in the city. If the consumer had a problem with it, they could spend a day schlepping up to some oversight office in the Bronx. Right.
Medallion owners made an investment, something better came along, and now their investment has depreciated. That’s called “business” - and I wholeheartedly applaud the boon to consumers brought by app-driven ride companies.
24
Completely agree. Try getting a yellow cab to Queens that's not close to LGA and JFK, good luck.
8
Very sad what happened to this gentleman.
What also caused his and fellow taxi drivers’ distress is the corrupt and market distorting medallion system. It set an artificial limit on the number of taxis on the street. The Taxi and Limousine Commission also restricted where taxis can go and pick up passengers.
A mass transit system that has gotten worse again after years of improvement and a limited number of taxis on the street at ever increasing fares made it ripe for disruption by Uber, Lyft and Via.
There were simply not enough taxis to meet demand especially during rush hour and bad weather.
And for the most part, wealthy fleet owners profited from the medallion and false shortage. They owned and sold the medallions and most taxi drivers paid them a premium markup to rent a taxi by the day.
14
And on top of such suffering, every one of us has been handed debt we didn’t want, so the “needy” rich can have tax cuts.
Our nation has lost its way.
18
So what if we don't have professional drivers? We don't need professional anything anymore including politicians, cabinet members, and scientists. We like our gig economy.
8
We've lost all sense of ourselves. The choices we make as a society have drastic outcomes, yet we disregard each other's plight. Somewhere along the way the lesson got lost and we've forgotten that great societies don't resort to zero sum philosophies. Innovation doesn't have to come at such a cost. Nor does a prosperous society. Sadly we have to learn the lessons again. Perhaps more painfully to make sure the point sticks.
11
Uber doesn’t have anything to do with zero sum. It increase wealth all over the place far beyond what it takes away. And provides much service while doing it.
1
Steve, and what of the environmental impact of Uber in big cities where mass transit is available and instead roads are clogged with more idling cars--which also results in more wear and tear to infrastructure that taxpayers must pay for?
12
I believe the problem isn't innovation or new technology.
The problem is our inability as a society recognize that change is coming and collectively dedicate resources to reduce suffering among the population. Solutions include government sponsored job training, universal basic income, etc...
Technology improvements are great but as a society we need to conscious of the change.
30
Why does Trump pay an inordinate amount of attention to a relatively small group of displaced workers--coal miners--when tens of thousands of retail workers, taxi/livery drivers, and others have lost their jobs in the 'new economy'? Oh right, they're macho white guys.
36
Or maybe those coal miners are in states that he needs to win, and members of the SEIU in New York, on the other hand, wouldn't vote for him at the point of a gun.
Never get in the way of a woman determined to play the race and gender cards. They're hysterical.
3
Wine Country—what exactly has he done to bring coal jobs back, again?
2
Horse drawn carriage makers and buggy whip makers were displaced by the automobile. Candle makers were displaced by the lightbulb. They call it disruptive technology for a reason. But the taxi drivers deserve some of the blame, lousy service and high prices created the climate where Uber has flourished. I only recently started using it while on a trip to London where the pricing of their black cabs was absurd. But better service and lower prices are hard to beat.
17
Evolve or join the dinosaurs. Name 5 (or even 1) manufacturers of steam locomotives.
4
@a weihl: Is this really how it's going to be? Are we going to be the society that prefers to let people kill themselves rather than give them a helping hand to find new employment?
27
Absurd response. Society did not "let this man kill himself." He killed himself. The original poster was simply saying that technology creates displacement.
I hate to say it but medallion owners probably should be looking into schemes to hide / shield their assets...buy their wife and kids houses in Florida...whatever...I don't know...and then declare bankruptcy. Isn't that what the big boys like our current commander in chief, steel companies, nursing home operators, airlines, wild cat oil companies...the list is endless do?
It's not simply that the times are changing and they simply need "new skills". Many of these guys are in big-time debt over their once astronomically priced medallions. They paid huge money to join an exclusive guild as required by laws created by politicians and then the regulatory framework was basically pulled out from under them through no fault of their own. In my opinion this is yet an other "disruption" created economic externality whose cost should be more broadly shared. Clearly none of these hard working bottom of the food chain Owners are "too big to fail".
19
May be this Desai is part of the problem that all native-English nations are facing and going to face. The fact that worker in native-English nations are slowly getting equated with the workers in low-class feudal language nations. A taxi-driver in such nations as India are treated at the lowest levels of the verbal codes. When such persons arrive as equal to the native-English nation drivers, the latter will get to feel as if they are slowly being dragged to the stinking cesspool.
The problems facing the native-English nations are to be seen from a wider perspective. The whole economy is caving in, right into the human-degrading canyons where the feudal language nations exist.
4
I am quite sure that many adjunct faculty members who struggle semester to semester while surrounded by unbelievable wealth and privilege understand exactly where Mr. Schifter is coming from.
45
That was my first reaction to this article. Adjuncts have died homeless. I took over for an adjunct I didn't know a few years ago. No one knew how she died. I suspected suicide.
12
I am sure that were it not for pride (false pride but pride nonetheless) we would be reading more stories like the one you have outlined. I am so sorry to hear it but I am not at all surprised.
3
How was that tourists didn't know about yellow radio cars. You could schedule a ride in advance or every day to work. Hailing was always hit or miss.
But New York didn't enforce our own laws for driver background checks, insurance requirements or inspections. Only legit cars face those.
City Council, do your job!!!
8
Trump is destroying the environment to keep coal miners employed. Lots of workers are being displaced in many industries. Trump just notices coal.
13
Trump is "destroying the environment"? Dream on.
2
It's sad that he killed himself but in this world u have to adapt. Change is happening in all industries and you have to diversify to survive. And I've noticed yellow cabs being more willing to do their job since uber and lyft were created. They stop for me and don't mind going to other boroughs.
5
Take a good look at the future. This is what will happen to more of us as automation and robots increasingly displace humans. Driverless cars and trucks will destroy the lives of millions of men who drive trucks for a living. These men(and their families) will be emotionally and financially destroyed. Apps are taking the jobs of bookeepers, clerks and customer service reps. Question is...when nobody has a job....who is gonna buy all this stuff
32
Agreed. The only trips for which I used a car service were to LGA, and the vet's office with cat carrier - it was an extra expense, but I absorbed this cost of "city life". I loved my car service and its drivers who got me to my destinations quickly, safely and usually, with interesting conversation. More recently, for budget reasons, I took advantage of MTA to LGA - a slog, but much cheaper.
I won't use Uber, and I will never patronize an automated grocery store, for all its "convenience". We bemoan the loss of jobs, yet actively seek out ways to essentially automate ourselves out of work. We complain about the decline of society, good manners, and conversational skills, but actively avoid each other, preferring instead to wall ourselves off from "the world" with earbuds and phone screens.
Yes, it can be really difficult to live "out here in the world". And it's expensive. And none of us probably earn as much as we'd like. I do know that we ALL make choices every day that help create this world we share. Maybe walk instead of taking Uber? Or pay the actual cost for a real cab, knowing that it's going to cost more, but maybe now you're not undermining the taxi industry? Choose a real grocery store staffed by real people, over Amazon's automated prototype, and say hello to the cashier?
I don't know what the answer is, but i do struggle with this question almost every day. We can't complain that the ground is collapsing under our feet, while we continue to dig a hole...
19
Tragic story.
Brave man.
In reality the only thing you are born with total control over is your death.
Creative Destruction is destructive by definition. The costs offloaded by our society on to those indivduals destroyed.
All in making America Great Again.
6
Brave?
I say coward.
Thank you, Gina.
I cry when political cowards espouse a surcharge of $11. to drive into Manhattan (below 60th Street, thank you) while Uber, Lyft and brethren shuffle throughout the borough, thousands, reading their texts, or maps. No limits to them!
There have to be payoffs, since my research to the “non-profits” funding this weirdness new tax turns up ...developers. Uber/Lyft drivers are themselves desperate, in hock for new cars. Uber/Lyft type corporations have our political class under their thumb(s).
These corporations have to be limited, and immediately.
14
So actual competition drove this person to suicide? Very sad. Break the news- we live in a capitalist society. Adapt.
2
Have a little heart.
16
@Jennifer Freund: Do you understand that cabs are at a disadvantage because of the thousands of dollars they had to pay for the right to a cab medallion, something which Lyft and Uber drivers don't need? Do you understand how awful you sound saying what you just said? Have you never needed any help from anyone in your life?
25
Spoken like a true Republican.
12
Late Stage Capitalism. RIP Doug Schifter. You deserved better.
28
www.whosdrivingyou.com will tell you of the incredible and sickening uber incidents. They are basically making slaves of desperate people who will do anything to make a buck, and are filing appeals all over the world as cities are trying to stop their rotten business model(which has lost billions). When i watch CNBC I see little hoodie wearing guys telling us how uber is "disrupting " the business model which has server the country well over the past 100 years. They are an evil scourge
12
Checking with taxi customers would tell you the the taxi business model has not served customers for 1 week, never mind 100 years. Why did not the medallion owners create their own application? They had the industry knowledge, the resources and local connections. No one els3 had a better position. If they truly had 100’s of millions invested in medallions, they should have collectively spent 5 million to create one. Then they could sell the service to other places and cash out on the medallions. They chose not to follow that path. They chose poorly.
So sad. I had walked by the site but was detoured by the police. People were complaining about the inconvenience of the detour not knowing what had happened. Thank you for shining a light to a sad situation.
17
The supply of taxis was unnecessarily restricted. In many places in NYC it was nearly impossible to get one. So I am not going to feel bad because some folks overpaid for a taxi medallion.
5
The Gig Economy does not have a "dark side". It is EVIL.
Information Technology transforms workers from employees with jobs and benefits to independent contractors with NO benefits and NO work when business is slow and NO guarantee of ANY income. Those independent contractors take all the risks and pay for all the equipment used in ADVANCE while not getting paid by the hiring corporation until AFTER the work is performed.
A third of the young people in the USA NEVER get a first career salaried job -- or even a well compensated job for wages -- when they get out of school because they NEVER become a full time employee ANYWHERE. The fault is not theirs. It's the system we have allowed to develop by enabling the gig economy instead of insisting on corporations hiring workers to be employees entitled to legal rights and benefits.
Our youth have a bunch of gigs, none of which pay enough for them to gainfully support themselves. They are working the way their great great grandparents worked in the 1890's. They are paid by the task or service performed like seamstresses in sweatshops and children in mines.
Our country has made a political choice to accept the gig economy. We can change things. We should.
55
What an awful story. And change is the only constant in this world. May Mr. Schifter rest in peace. But this is the way of the world. Where I live, getting a taxi was at least as difficult as finding a pot of gold beneath my house. I am grateful to Uber and Lyft. I wish everyone well in these times of great change.
6
It's very sad but hard to see how someone who has a job that supported himself for years ends up at 62 years old in debt. That's a life time of work and even if a person saved a modest amount a few thousands dollars a year he should have a small nest egg.
RE: In the months after Wall Street’s crash in 1929, four people threw themselves out windows in New York (leading to the folklore that there had been many, many more such deaths).
Was it all men if brokers? If so why not say men instead of people
3
You really can’t see it? Look around. Read. Inform yourself.
3
One major illness or helping elderly parents or getting kids through college can wipe out a lifetime of savings. As well, a lot of folks in Schifter’s age bracket got nailed investment-wise by the 2008 recession and never got back the money they lost.
9
Technology, in the end, is about ending jobs, by removing them completely or replacing them with others that employ less and in worse conditions. It is coming for everyone of us, happy Uber clients as well. The other day I have seen a terrible video about a truck driver who ran over a line of cars without even trying to hit the brakes, killing four people from the same family: He was distracted with his cell phone. Self-driven cars, total or partially autonomous (for instance, the car's decision to not speed, or to respect a red light, can overcome the driver's commands) can make traffic safer, it can save lives. People will lose their jobs forever in the process, though. The issue is, Capitalism is about making money for corporations while the rest of us rent our time, sweat and brains. No job, no income. Wealth has been overtly concentrating for decades already. Salaries are getting smaller and smaller. People in developed countries are getting poorer. People in developing countries are doomed to never know the same infrastructure and life conditions of their peers in the First World. Workers of the world, what is our deal with taking this deal?!
16
There’s a concept in economics known as externalities. It’s basically socialization - I.e. sticking to the public at large - of some or all expenses. The credit union that doesn’t pay taxes can charge lower fees than the local bank. The power plant that burns dirty fuel can charge lower rates than its clean competitor. There is a lot of this going on with Uber in the form of ease of entry which leads to black cars clogging Manhattan streets. Make them pay like a medallion cab pays.
17
Uber has ruined transportation in Portland. It used to be easy getting around by car and a lot people actually used public transportation, but now traffic jams are a constant within the city and ridership is down on lightrail and buses.
I’m an experienced and mostly fearless bike commuter but all these drivers racing around for gigs has made Portland a dangerous city to bike in.
Thank you ex-mayor Charlie Hales for your duplicitous secretive meetings with the Uber lobbyist and subsequently ruining this easygoing bike-friendly city.
21
It's a shame. Retail workers, banks, livery drivers, a lot of sectors will go through rapid change. It's important to keep an open mind, continually develop your skills and seek help from those around you when you feel your life is beginning to spiral.
6
I am so sorry to hear this story- he seems like a straight up person. He wasn’t a cab driver - he was a black car livery diver. While I sometimes use livery service I would never any longer get into a cab - as a woman I am frightened getting in a taxi with a total stranger, no reservation, no tracking. Too scary in these troubled times. And of course - in NYC you can’t even call for one to pick you up.
12
I lived in New York for Many Years. I remember it was a hassle to get a cab during the rush hours or when it rains. Cab Service was horrible during those times.. you were normally out of luck and going to the Boroughs were worse. I remember cabs denying taking me to Brooklyn or Queens.. Now I must say.. I like Uber, Lyft, etc. You can always get them and they will certainly go anywhere but on my last few trips to New York every license place in New York was a Taxi License Plate.. which Uber Drivers must get.. but it seems like everyone that has a car is an Uber Driver.. which I think was totally ridiculous.. It not only floods a system of livery or taxi drivers.. but it also creates congestion which it took me 3 hour to move from Midtown Manhattan to the George Washington Bridge which five years ago only took me no more than 45 minutes to get to. Uber, Lyft is great but it's at the expense of others.. including the harsh traffic.
7
It is not about a gig economy but about New York politician who sold new taxi medallions for $700,000 to drivers with promise that medallion system would be like monopoly. The New York City did not keep its promise. It allowed Uber to drive in New York City without buying medallions. Uber is also a taxi company (as was decided by European Court in 2017), but in New York City politician DeBlazio and Cuomo believes it is not a taxi company so Uber should not buy a medallion. The drivers who bought medallions are required to pay a loan to the bank on medallions $2200, 50 cents MTA tax on each fare and 30 cents of each fare to the pool for handicapped cabs. Uber pays nothing to the city. It does not pay MTA taxes. It also does not pay 30 cents for handicapped cabs. Politicians prefer riders to pay extra $2 to $5 on future MTA taxes. They do not care if the fare would rise in subways and buses because they refuse to charge Uber the price for medallions. The solution is quite simple is to demand from politicians that they declare Uber is a taxi company and require that Uber buy medallions. There is no need for congesting prices because as Uber buys medallions the city would get enough money: number of uber cars times a price for one medallion is equal = 100,000 times $500,000 = $50,000,000,000 you get $50 billion and public transportation will reduce fare in subways and buses. So, people would get happy and will vote for politicians.
18
I am sorry for the human tragedy experienced by these individual cab drivers, but in a larger sense, their industry was its own worst enemy. My experience with cab drivers over the years in many major American cities was that they were rude, indifferent, sometimes driving dangerously (and not responding to requests to slow down), and never particularly concerned about the customer experience. They never acted like professionals. This is in stark contrast to many European cabdrivers, for example. I suspect the Uber tidal wave would have been lessened if they acted towards their customers as the average Uber or Lyftt driver does.
6
This one just hit me, very emotional.
As yearly (or more often) visitors to the city for the past 16 years, under the most ghastly and often very dazed circumstances, our family has surely had some terrible yellow cab rides -- but they are far outweighed by the great ones, or the 'livery' drivers with their cars.
My brother invariably ends up sitting up front, and by the time we are at hotel, he has usually had a very interesting and wide-ranging conversation with the driver, and we've all learned something. And we feel we have gotten in touch with the city in that moment.
Maybe that's why I find this so very sad and shocking.
Mr. Schifter, maybe we rode with you once, or maybe not ... but I feel like I know you on a certain level. May your family find their peace in time.
~ 9/11 family member
(not a NY resident)
15
Thank you for expressing your emotion so beautifully.
3
OK, tonight's KAN ("know-almost-nothing") quick fix:
1. Let Uber pay off all medallion holders at cost plus 10% at the time Uber entered the market. (So Uber pays the market's high price to medallion holders, not the cratered price they caused).
2. If the streets are open for taxi service in whatever form, require all new entrants to be zero emissions - electric vehicles. Grandfather in current vehicles.
3. Lastly, is it possible for New York city to not treat its citizens like mugging victims with non-stop tickets and fines like its some sort of planned revenue channel? Having quotas leads to production - whether that's sales, tickets, or criminal arrests. Wouldn't it be great to just stop all that? Save the tickets and fines for those who have truly earned them.
5
re #1 -- Sure. Right after we make GM & Ford pay off all the old Hudson and Studebaker debt, and make Target and Wal-Mart pay off the Sears and kmart creditors. That'll take care of any incentive to make better products and services.
1
The real irony with ride-hailing companies is that the drivers are hastening their own demise. Uber and Lyft and others used this model as a proof of concept: will people use this app and engage in arranging transport in such a way? Especially in places where public transport is heavily used? Now that it has been proven, they’ll move on to transitioning humans out of the equation with autonomous vehicles. Thanks for the beta testing, drivers!
The real worrisome aspect to me is the impact on mass transit. The more people with money whom you remove from regular ridership, the easier it becomes to say “we don’t need to fund mass transit, why should I pay taxes for that?” Then public transit enters a death spiral which disproportionately affects those without money for ride hailing, further growing the divide between “haves” and “have-nots”.
Fast forward again and you’ve got a small number of for-profit entities remaining which dictate the terms of transportation- who pays and how much. Add Amazon’s monopoly on retail and a small number of consolidated media companies determining what news you hear, and you’ve now completed America’s destruction for the benefit of a chosen few. Whom, by the way, are Chinese.
9
Tip of the iceberg. As self driving cars and trucks take hold, many many more out of work.
3
It is very sad when established industries give way to faster and cheaper methods. It always is and I feel for these people. Like I feel for the coal miner that our president is scamming. At the end of the day - you're driving a car - and you felt entitled to earn six figures by doing it. Similar stories will no doubt play out in the world of cashiers (underway already), bartenders (underway already), manufacturing lines (underway already), bank tellers (done deal), secretaries (done deal), truck drivers (stay tuned), airline pilots (stay tuned), train conductors (without question), etc. etc. Its very sad, families will be impacted, careers will end overnight, and we won't be able to anything about it. Its about computational power, sensors, and code. Buckle up populace its going to get much much worse.
5
This is a heartbreaking and heart aching story. Whole industries(think airline industry and the loss of hundreds of thousands of full-time jobs) get laid bare and humans become collateral damage from innovation, deregulation and "efficiencies" aka doing things cheaper with less people. Why the gig-economy driver does not have to play by the same rules as the livery driver- incurring the same costs, is unfair and cruel- virtually insuring the death of another industry.
6
Whenever possible, I prefer a taxi, though outside of NYC that is less reliable. That said, easily 75% of my rides with Uber are with drivers unfamiliar with major landmarks, hotels, and cultural destinations. The lack of interest in learning a city is endemic to the Uber culture: part-time drivers looking for quick bucks and a modicum of power [they evaluate us, the passengers]. Drivers of taxis are far more knowledgable of a city and courteous than their Uber and Lyft counterparts. Moreover, there is very little regulation or standards inherent in how these car-for-hire companies work. Not so with the T&L Commission here, in New York. I am saddened for Mr. Schifter's death. But I do wonder whether it will cause real change for the better.
5
When Schumpeter referred to "creative destruction," one of the activities he was talking about was "new methods of ... transportation." He got that right. There's a lot of pain going around from the destruction of old businesses by new businesses.
3
New business, these are not. Limos can be called for, taxis hailed. Uber and Lyft aren’t new—they add a new communication platform. What is novel is lawlessness. Unfettered numbers of unvetted drivers.
6
When in NYC we always use yellow taxis. Given the traffic they are the only drivers I trust to ferry us safely from point A to B. It's not for novices.
20
This is a tragic story. From the bottom of my heart, I offer the deepest condolences to the family of Mr. Schifter.
But let me also recount my own experiences when I lived in the US. In the city that I lived, and the times I would visit NYC, I really struggled to hail a cab, particularly at night. Once in a while, when a cab would stop and I would state my destination (108 street in Harlem), the cab would drive off and leave me by the curb. I endured humiliation on my own.
So when a friend first told me about Uber in the summer of 2011, I was over the moon when I was able to order a car via an app that promptly showed up. I'll admit, every time I am in the US (and also in Kenya since about 18 months ago), I use Uber whenever I can. I have felt a sense of relief ever since that first time I ordered one and did not have to endure a half hour or a full hour trying to hail a cab.
But I do not wish anyone ill as a result of this new technology. Let's do all that we can to help current cab drivers transition to new jobs and ensure that Uber and others do not destroy lives (that was certainly not my intention when I started using them).
47
I feel grieved to the taxi driver who committed suicide. However, horse-carriage drivers at 20th century would have said the same when automobile started to dominate the carriage. Development always works in this kind of way, especially at the capitalism society.
10
But development towards what? unregulated drivers.
5
The real blame lies with municipal governments around the world - on the one hand they welcome Uber and companies like them and allow them to go completely unsupervised, (criminal background check? insurance?), but with the other hand they still force taxi companies to follow strict regulations. In the end, we will see city after city with only unregulated drivers.
20
Uber screens their drivers and there is insurance.
1
Uber does indeed screen their drivers and require them to be fully insured as well.
As a person who had to call for a taxi due to being late for work at the casino, I can tell you horror stories of cabs taking anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes just to get to my house (at most Uber takes 8 minutes) then the drivers driving "offensively" as opposed to "defensively" (thinking that they had the right of way all of the time) and don't get me started about "long hauling" a practice "frowned upon" and supposedly "prohibited" but still occurs on a daily basis.
Plus when push comes to shove Uber & Lyft will implement stricter rules and regulations as needed - the less gov't interference the better
Yellow taxi cabs are a dead business model.
While it is very unfortunate for cab owners, it is now a reality.
There were factory workers once who made VCRs, cassette tapes and phone booths. Things change.
9
Boo-Hoo. Perhaps, just perhaps, if cabs (and their drivers)had been a little cleaner, a little less expensive, and their drivers just a tad more professional, they wouldn’t have found themselves in their current predicament.
6
Ignorant and merciless.
9
True. The medallion system was abused to give the drivers and mob a cartel.
3
This story is just so sad, but so many of the comments make me understand how it happened. A guy commits suicide because his livelihood as a cab driver is going down the drain, and people think it’s ok to say “I hated cab drivers anyway”? How terrible.
To all of you who say that Uber, Lyft etc. drivers are sooo much nicer and professional than yellow cab drivers - sorry, but they are mostly the same people. The problem was the lack of standards for yellow cabs, not the obsequiousness of the drivers.
To those of you who trumpet the availability of uber etc when there are no yellow cabs - the Uber price typically increases by 3 or 4 times during those times of limited availability.
Yellow cabs don’t charge extra simply because it’s a busy time. Ride hailing services jacking their prices up so much during those hours is nothing more than extortion. It’s disgusting.
To those of you who are offended by the state of yellow cabs, complain to the TLC, who prescribe all those things, from the car type to the available space in the back, etc. Don’t take it out on the drivers.
It’s possible for an industry to change and improve without devastating the livelihood of the service providers. There are - or should be - other considerations besides the physical comfort of the passengers. Have a little compassion. We are all one crisis away from driving a cab for a living.
88
Driving a taxi is a noble profession. Hardscrabble fortitude build the people I admire and want to know.
6
What’s disgusting about supply and demand?
2
the surge price keeps the wait time to a normal length despite the increased demand. Only people who really need a ride will take it then & others will decide its better to take public transit or walk.
1
Disruption is accelerating and will affect everyone eventually. It is impossible to provide uninterrupted health care to you and your family from 18 to 65. Universal Health care or Medidcare for all is the only reasonable solution to ensure acceptance of economic disruptions.
9
I'm conflicted. I drove a cab in San Francisco and had to take extensive tests to get my hack license, so the thought of anyone with a smartphone roaming the streets for fares bothers me. That said, when think of medallion king Andrew Murstein renting Nikki Minaj for his kid’s Bar Mitzvah, I say Burn Hollywood Burn!
13
Just finished reading Mr. Schifter's facebook post. Eloquent and prescient. The severe income disparity has created a servant class. Housekeepers, nannies, drivers -- the new industrial revolution??? The next recession will be exceptionally hard since the ranks of the servant class has grown. It is so sad that Mr. Schifter had to kill himself to be heard. Hopefully the rich will stop bribing politicians to enrich themselves and begin paying their fair share.
28
NYC is the second most expensive city in the US. It’s unreasonable to expect to be able to afford to live there when your occupation is a menial task that almost anyone is capable of doing. The driver should have moved somewhere cheaper or went to college. He only killed himself because he was extremely religious & had fully convinced himself he was headed straight for the afterlife (as per the end of the article).
The effect on taxis of Uber and its ilk is the entirely predictable consequence of decisions made by our political representatives to let Uber et al. into the market while maintaining the regulatory system under which taxis have had to labor. I will never use Uber or any other comparable service and shame, shame on our political representatives for tolerating their existence while shafting taxi drivers.
21
Oh, hear hear. The blame sits at the feet of Andrew Cuomo, de Blasio, and the City Council.
1
This is a very sad tale of one person’s suffering in America. That notwithstanding, as an immigrant to the USA, I’ve always felt personally that the USA is a “you pays your money and you takes your chances” country. Those seem to be the ground rules. I work in an industry (construction) that is about to be overhauled completely by prefabrication and hence automation. The changes will be seismic. I don’t expect any “professional consideration”.
I would like to add also that in Boston where I live, cabs were so brutally bad. The majority of medallions were owned by two notorious mafiosi, oversight was totally corrupt, cars dirty and broken, drivers abysmal (understanding that they were abused by their employers). One did encounter the occasional owner-driver; the guy, almost always an immigrant, whose medallion was his nest egg, and whose service was good and whose car was clean. For those professionals, as for Mr. Shiftler, I feel truly terrible, but overall the industry they were in was rotten to the core, and change had to come.
13
I agree. I was so happy when Uber/Lyft came to Miami. No more super-expensive cab rides in broken down cars with rude and threatening drivers!
1
This piece is sly and manipulative at so many levels. It seeks to shock and blackmail instead of persuade readers that the gig economy is broken.
1. For instance isn't proof. There are suicides every day in every occupation and walk of life. Why is this one singled out and endowed with special meaning? (That is a rhetorical question, btw).
2. People who commit suicide -- usually out of some sort of derangement -- often feel the need to rationalize their action by giving it some larger meaning. Think of the people who commit suicide by police in the name of Allah or some other cause. Ballafante offers little or no analysis of Schifter's motivations. .
3. As Oscar Wilde said, an idea isn't true because a person dies for it.
4. Parading a tragedy like Doug Schifter's suicide is intended to arouse anger at the gig economy and its supporters -- it guilt trips them for Schifter's death.
5. Ballafante hasn't even asked how many lives the gig economy has SAVED and enriched.
This is something that is best left to bean counting academics.
10
Doug Shifter paid.
Some one had to pay for that 60 billion dollar valuation. Hundreds of thousands of Uber drivers have been sacrificed in order to crush a dated status quo. Most of it has been a lie.
Uber / Lyft brazenly dehumanize and exploit labor without consequence.
My sincere condolences to the Shifter family and friends.
13
Just wait until robots start taking over half of all peoples jobs, this is still people taking over peoples jobs...
3
I switched to Uber simply because I got tired of fighting with yellow taxi drivers each time I wanted a ride to Brooklyn. I agree that the "gig economy" needs to be regulated, but the traditional taxi drivers should also be aware that they needed to modernize or that they would lose customers.
10
Brooklyn? No! No Brooklyn for you!
And on the side of the regulated. There is a lot of room for improvement, for sure.
1
Until six months ago, on the rare occasion that I needed a ride, I called Yellow Cab. Unfortunately, even after calling the night before and requesting a cab 30 minutes before I actually needed it, there was no guarantee that the cab would come. So reluctantly after a couple of Yellow Cab "no shows", I tried Uber. Not only did Uber show up, I could track where it was. So it isn't necessarily about saving money. Some of us like reliability.
26
Couldn't agree more. I've had the same experience in Seattle. I use Lyft every week. I'd never call a cab again.
1
I used to take the business card of a cab driver I though was good and call ahead to "reserve" rather than go through their dispatcher. Much more reliable.
1
I wish I earned 69k. My job also required a grad school education. I had to work and pay for my medallion. FYI I almost always still use cabs. It was only when Uber arrived that I found it easier to get one without getting turned down.
8
The 69k is gross receipts, not net. So, the drivers still have to pay for gas, car payments, and car maintenance and repair. Plus, as independent contractors, they must pay self employment tax.
6
You needed a grad degree to get your medallion? I don't believe that.
3
69k of gross annual bookings is not 69k of income.
5
I think New York City should refund the taxi drivers for the medallion. Obviously, this payback will depend on when medallion is purchased and newer ones get paid back more. After that, taxi driver can be relieved from the crushing debt. They can drive a taxi or a Uber. It is unfair competition right now because they have to repay the cost of medallion, and prices are high, compared to Uber and Lyft.
There is no turning back now in terms of technology. Banning Uber or Lyft will also hurt residents and visitors alike. But paying back the cost of medallion at least give taxi driver a chance to compete fairly.
20
After I posted my comment, I checked a related article on medallion price. It says as early as 2014, the city sold 350 new medallion for about $1.0 million each. There is no way those who bought it can recover the cost of medallion in current environment. In 2014, Uber is already in many cities. I wonder whether purchasers were mislead or not. Regardless, I think the city has a responsibility to help those financially.
I do feel sad after reading the story. I apologize if I sound heartless by going after the city without offering my sympathy.
14
I live in Brooklyn and as a result have a lot of options: green cabs, car service, Lyft/Juno etc, the occasional yellow cab. I always ask the drivers about what service/system they drive under and why. The green cab divers seem most satisfied. They can do street hails (in BK, with metered fares which is more profitable for them) and can also use Lyft etc to pick up rides. The Lyft and Juno folks are next happiest. Reasons cited are that Lyft and especially Juno take a smaller percentage of the fare than Uber. However, the ride share drivers (who btw are regulated in NYC; all must drive under the auspices of a NYC sticker which means most drive under an established business like a car service- it’s that blue sticker you see on their windows). Anyway many are complaining that the company eg Uber or Lyft etc is taking a huge cut of their fares. Like 30-40 percent. Lyft definitely gets a better rap than Uber - and Juno is on the rise in particular because it takes the lowest percentage. So the magic solution of the gig driver is, well, not magic. Unregulated labor is just another race to the bottom for workers. Talk to the drivers. Ask them about their work.
10
On a weekend in late Jan. we experienced something we never had in 30 years of visiting the City: coming out of restaurants on non-major streets and 2 or 3 taxis (including car services) coming as soon as we stepped to the curb and raised a hand. I didn't know of the desperation, but I wondered how medallions could be worth anything these days.
4
The most attractive aspects of Uber, IMHO, are 1) no cash, 2) noted pick-up spot and customer 3) convenience. In past years, despite the promise to arrive at an address on the South Side of Chicago, the taxi wouldn't show up and there was nothing to be done about it because choices were limited to a few companies and they kept a information on the customer who called.
This is a very sad story and breaks the heart. This man shouldn't be punished because the taxi companies were not particularly focused on the customer experience.
8
This didn't remind me of rich people killing themselves but of the Tunisian fruit seller who self-immolated, thus starting the Arab Spring.
29
I grew up in NYC You have to be joking. For decades, cabbies got away with delivering a terrible product. Rude service that was the stuff of legend. Filthy cabs that smelled of urine and vomit. A propensity to rip off tourists that became a national stereotype. All protected by their cartel status. We’re supposed to cry because the free market has finally delivered us from the clutches of these unskilled laborers who ripped us off?
16
I lived in NYC for 19 years in the 90s to 2013. I never experienced urine or vomit, nor was I ripped off. You're promulgating a stereotype that is by no means representative of daily life. You've been in NC too long.
4
When I need transportation in large cities, i don’t use Uber, I still call a cab and I won’t use the racists on Airbnb either. I use boutique, non-chain hotels if I can.
23
A self-driving truck just hauled 51,744 cans of Budweiser on a Colorado highway. By Matt McFarland October 25, 2016: 6:02 PM ET. From CNN Tech.
1
You can be assured that when Barack Obama implored Americans to vote for Hillary, in order to express their approval of his legacy that Mr. Schifter did not want to see a continuation of the preceding 8 years. Men and women like Mr. Schifter, whose livelihoods had dried up and whose misfortune was of no interest to outlets like the New York Times, turned out to vote for Mr. Trump. At the end of the day, it isn't about racism, as much as the New York Times, CNN, WaPo and every other major news outlet tried to make everyone believe.
5
The problem is the entire economic system, not the "gig" part. The economy is happy to let you starve and die.
24
When visiting NYC we have had cabbies refuse to take us where we needed to go, be totally rude to us in the car and drop us off at the wrong location.
I feel for the drivers but having a monopoly on transportation has given many drivers the supposed power to be complete jerks.
15
I spent years being discriminated against by medallion drivers downtown..having to ask a white woman to please hail me a cab. Now I call Uber and get a cab when I want without the disrespect and hassle. Sorry these drivers are now having a hard time, but in this instance I think you reap what you sow.
35
I agree 1000 percent I can't count the times I've had to ask a white person to hail a cab for me I have absolutely no sympathy for the taxi industry although I feel for the person that committed suicide RIP
5
We don't need more unskilled labor making 6-figure salaries just because they have an union. Their compensation and political clout make mockery of every masters and doctorate degree holders that slaves away in labs for $50K a year.
Sorry, if driving dangerously is your only skill, you shouldn't complain when someone better is replacing you. As for medallion depreciating in value; sorry, you made a poor investment.
4
@Amateur Historian: The $88K that fell to $69K in this story was annual bookings -- in other words -- gross income, out of which all of their expenses and taxes came. That means they surely did not net $50K. Sounds like you are a disgruntled academic who doesn't feel you get what you're worth. I don't think that's a good excuse for poor reading comprehension, though.
4
As sad as it is to see someone desperate enough to take his own life, I don't ever want to go back to the old way: terrible service, insults when tipping was considered insufficient, drivers ignoring you, rip off with ridiculous fares after driving around several times around blocks, dirty cars, drivers wanting to be paid with cash only. Taxi drivers believed they had a captive market and they became arrogant.
18
Did makers of quills kill themselves in protest when the fountain pen killed their business? Taxis have a well deserved reputation. Any alternative is bound to be embraced.
8
I have never used Uber and I never will. This is why. Of course its easy to make money if you don't treat workers as human beings.
These horrible greedy brats in Silicon Valley who like to see themselves as heroic disrupters are in reality vicious cruel clueless children who are transforming the society often for the worse. Unless people rise to the occasion there will be many such tragedies as one industry after another is upended. Shame on this rich, spoiled, heartless country and the arrogant young men of Silicon Valley.
15
Driving people around in a car is low-skill, low-barrier-to-entry work. The only way it can pay well is to create artificial scarcity, which is exactly what the taxi system did. The medallion owners notoriously fought every attempt to issue enough medallions to meet demand. Nothing in this system was about driver well-being; it was about using political power to extract unearned rents, enforced by the state and paid for by the public.
Let's also not forget that this system was well known for rude drivers, dirty cabs, endless petty cheats, and discrimination against minority cab-hailers. New Yorkers put up with it for decades, but now that they have an alternative they're voting with their apps for a change.
Hey NYT, remember this?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/nyregion/14taxi.html
11
I think it’s reasonable that taxi drivers earn a living wage, just like cops, teachers, other blue collar professions. But to say that the recent problem was caused by Uber ignores the fact that it was a terrible system before Uber. A quote from a Times article in 2013:
“Like a lot of the economy, the taxi industry has become a winner-take-all industry where the profits at the top are very large and the wages at the bottom are grindingly low,” David S. Yassky, the city’s taxi commissioner, said in an interview.
The medallion system was not enabling drivers to live a nice middle class lifestyle anymore. Buying one meant going into hock and driving your keester off to pay the loan. Most drivers rented them. The people described in the article are mostly those who bought them 20, 25 years ago, before prices went crazy.
Regulating supply, to me, is not always a bad idea. But anytime the government starts selling rights in perpetuity (which is what the medallion was), you’re creating an asset and people will try all sorts of things to maximize asset value. You didn’t have some utopia where drivers were earning a reasonable living - you had a cabal driving up prices to astronomical levels encouraging drivers to drive 80 hours a week so that they could give most of the money to whoever was loaning them the medallion.
There can be no defense for the medallion system. None.
10
I fail to see the relationship between taxi drivers' suicides as casualties of the gig economy, and the suicides you cited that were mostly people who had committed or were closely associated with crimes. ?
1
I guess taxis are going the way of film photography. Who is lamenting the demise of Kodak or Fujifilm? I can't help but feel though that the with every "progress," the world gets a little meaner. The gig economy sells itself as a worker-friendly thing, but with no security or benefits, it's just a convenience for employers and the haves.
12
I still support ride-hailing services because they provide the satisfactory service I need, for the lowest cost. I never have, and never will hail an overpriced yellow taxi.
5
This country claims to value life. Yet, as nearly every person who has ever lived through prolonged unemployment, a serious illness and unemployment, or has needed assistance from the government for food or shelter on a more permanent basis will tell those who care to listen, this country's attitudes and what it offers to people in times of great need demonstrate the opposite. The 60 year old or even the 45 year old who cannot find a job, who has worked, or is facing medical bankruptcy, or is caring for a disabled family member but not receiving enough help and can't afford more, often cannot turn to neighbors or family for help. That's why we have a government -- to step in when we cannot do what is required. Yet our politicians ignore this, ignore what is happening to working people of all ages.
When a person is young it can be difficult to find that first job. Once a person gets some experience it's hard because companies want to keep people at entry level pay while demanding skills that come only with time. And when we reach the advanced ages over 50 finding a new job is next to impossible. I feel for Mr. Schifter because I know that I myself may get that desperate and I know that there are others who will as well. But does anyone truly care in our country, anyone important enough to make a difference: no. They are too busy proclaiming their family friendly values or parading their America First policies to bother with us.
51
No way. Charity is fine. But it is not a function of government.
Some commenters here are suggesting that we 'take a cab' to support a dying industry. A few months ago, some glitch with my phone left me at the airport without Uber. No problem, I called a cab.
The driver was rude, a maniac driver, and he had some cologne on that I am allergic to. The fare was $52.00. The same ride at the same time on Uber is $23.00. What would you do?
13
Tenley: I would get the driver's name and medallion number and make a complaint. There are thousands of stories of great cab rides and just ordinary ones to counter your negative one.
8
i thought Uber was not allowed at the airport
What would I do? Ask the driver why he was so rude.
Not exactly rocket science.
3
Please note: “He lost his health insurance.” No physical health support to say nothing of mental health support.
I myself have had nightmarish fantasies about committing suicide based on losing health insurance.
Our system is cruel.
69
The gig economy only has a dark side. Sad that so many people are forced to work like serfs to serve the rich masters.
24
In regard to suicide to express one's job hopelessness, the Arab Spring was begun by the self-immolation of a fruit seller in Tunisia, who killed himself in despair because corrupt officials would not let him earn a living. And then there are the thousands of Indian farmers who have been committing suicide for years because they cannot compete with large, often foreign, growers. Ironically, here in Vancouver, the taxi drivers my husband and I have asked think Uber (which is not yet allowed in our city) will be a good thing, because they will be able to work for themselves and avoid exploitation at the hands of their employers. Perhaps they don't see what's coming down the pike.
13
This is the canary in the coal mine. Disruption is MBA jargon for extracting profits by using your labor to undercut the traditional industry - until they innovate beyond needing your labor. Driverless vehicles are coming for the entire industry - there soon will be no need for yellow cab, black car or Uber drivers. And it will not end there. Just hope you can pay off your student loans before your job is disrupted by AI.
We better figure out an economic structure that works for the labor side of the equation fast, or people are going to be very, very angry.
31
I feel so sorry for this man's family. What a tragedy. It seems to me that NYC has changed the rules of the game and essentially executed a "taking" of cab driver medallion assets. If your car is yellow and says "Taxi," you pay a large tax to the city; but, if your car is black and says "Uber," you pay no such tax. This policy takes value from the medallion. Perhaps a fair solution is to refund the medallion's cost. Governments should not execute takings without fair compensation.
22
What a sad story of despair. He looks like a very dignified man in the picture. We have become a society that does not value the dignity of people who work hard to make ends meet, while glorifying useless billionaires and their toys. While I recognize that we all must adapt to change, it should not be so hard to survive, let alone prosper. One wrong decision and your life is destroyed.
The City of New York needs to make the medallion situation right and offer restitution to the medallion holders. Enough is enough. And we need a government that offers a safety net. Period. But unfortunately, we keep voting in politicians that are quite frank about their goal of shredding and destroying what is left of the safety net. We need to get our priorities straight, and realize it is not a zero sum game, like politicians and their billionaire minders/owners would have us believe.
May your voice be heard, Mr. Schifter. Rest in peace.
57
Thank you GZ for such a poignant post. You echoed my thoughts exactly. I thought he looked quite dignified but had no dignity left after all those years of hard work. Who are we as a country when we can't find empathy for so many being left behind --in rural Trump country or big blue cities? From factories closing to the creative destruction gig economy, the middle class is shrinking, the wealthy get wealthier, and more people sink into desperation. We all deserve dignity and a social safety net.
6
Yes this is a tragedy. But the main problem was that Taxi cans were always filthy, drivers were rude and cabs were never available.
The reason uber is more popular is not because of price. It’s because of these 3 reasons.
6
This is very unfortunate and unnecessary. Story - I was in Manhattan with my family and needed a taxi to go from the High Line to East 23rd. Turns out that's too short a fare so no one would take us and we had to walk. My wife has MS so it was hard and we tried to hale a cab all the way. So - no sympathy here for NYC cabbies and shooting yourself does nothing but tell me that there were other issues. The medallion system is archaic and should be allowed to fail.
5
How many people have lost their rental homes due to AirBnB and the like?
There are most likely many people who've committed suicide due to evictions.
And trying to find another place to live can be emotional and financially grinding as well. It is not the Uber gig economy that hurts alone.
17
The City should buy back a large number of taxi medallions with monies generated from a fee charged to uber/lyft drivers.
21
It’s amazing that people complain about Bitcoin disrupting money and taxes, and could care less about Uber avoiding all regulation. This is the race to the bottom
13
Uber and other ride “sharing” is a blight on our cities. Taxi drivers have been disrupted so people can watch there cab come to them and then they can go sit in traffic. Congestion is awful in San Francisco with all these cars from all over California looking to drive less than 7 miles. I am not impressed. If you’re truly innovative you factor in quality of life, impact to labor, congestion. We’ve been duped.
22
The comparison to "Wall Street Types" ending their lives on a reversal of fortune might be missing the origin of Mr. Schifter's tragic actions. It seems much more appropriate to compare him to Mohamed Bouazizi, the Tunisian street vendor who was frustrated by a system that no longer made it possible for him to earn a living. His suicide led to the Arab Spring and at least an attempt to question the legitimacy of Arab governments. It remains to be seen if Mr. Schifter's actions will inspire a revolutionary re-examination of disruptive technologies.
11
If NYC made the decision at some point to require licenses for taxis, they need to impose similar requirements on Uber. If the city does not do that, they need to have some type of program that lets yellow taxi and livery drivers recoup their losses for the enormous loans they took out in order to drive a licensed car. I say this as a former New Yorker who is not a fan of yellow taxis and even less so of livery cabs. Atleast let them go out with dignity, and then they can all become Uber drivers.
14
this model that we should be a flexible workforce works sometimes for young people. it can be cruel, tough to move, tough to retrain when you're in your 60s, and with few willing to hire someone that old.
9
Where government can help is for the Taxi commission to at least reduce the debt on, or partially buy back those licenses, given that they are no longer as valuable.
8
sorry to hear this - and i get it. We seem to be in the midst of a massive employment upheaval that is likely to be at the detriment of the vast majority of people. Only a tiny number of people will invent a successful app, and a huge number of people hustling to make ends meet will be grist for the mill. No one is wrong in the scenario - it is, as best as i can tell, the design of our system. A market-driven, capitalist system doesn't care and never will.
22
This is indeed a sad situation. City government and TLC bear the brunt of responsibility and as so should step up to the plate and figure a fair and equitable means of reparation for a promise broken. Will they do that? History says no. They lorded over a draconian, government approved monopoly that paid little if any heed to both their drivers or there passengers. They begrudgingly took steps to modernize and still to this day, with all the competition, do little to try to fend it off or at least compete. How is that the only purpose of a cab is to navigate the streets of NYC and they are the only people who do not use the ubiquitous and extremely reliable navigation apps???? Will the city make amends? I doubt it. And yes the little guys gets the raw end of the deal.....like they almost always do. Will it help for us to take more yellow taxis, it may? But it's a losing battle if the system doesn't change. RIP Doug.
2
This is the tip of the ice berg. The whole model of work for a living is broken and with advances in AI it will only get worse. Only people who really want to work and can compete and do better than an AI could (in the future) should do so, but that doesn't mean only they deserve a decent life.
9
The Medallion system used in major cities all over the world is what needed to be disrupted. Why
not just a simple application and a rigorous test? Cities sold the medallians and got greedy. This very sad story has roots in that level of greed. Why did cities make
it so expensive to work at such a modest paying job in the first place?
In Australia, the driver could not afford to buy the Medallion, so
investors owned the Medallion and the car. Medallions were traded, bought, and sold like stocks...but didn’t actually put more taxis on the road or more money in the driver’s pocket. The ‘changeover’ happened at 3pm...all over the city. No taxis at 3pm for about a half hour...right when you needed one to pick the kids up from school. Or if you waved a taxi down, they wouldn’t take you, because they had to get back to base. The taxi credit charge system was a monopoly run by a single company that tacked a 10% surcharge on to the fare. A call to ‘Taxis Combined’, the local monopoly would require multiple calls to find out when, often IF, your taxi was coming. I stopped calling years ago.
We would only use a taxi from the local taxi stand. Uber came along and knocked the Medallion out of the equation, which is how Sydney finally got a reliable ‘’Taxi System’’.
6
"He was now sometimes forced to work more than 100 hours a week to survive he said"
This is what the capitalists want. They've pretty much destroyed the unions, so we're back to the late 1800s. Don't worry, the wealthy aren't heartless enough to command their politicians to do away with child labor laws - or are they?
20
Pass the Manifesto.
1
That's crazy. I am a former limousine driver. There is still plenty of business out there for livery services. Particularly in the corporate sector, where many companies sign limited deals for a percentage of their business at an agreed-upon rate. There are a dozen different ways to be a "livery driver" and often, the more successful ones blend a number of variations into one. I've known drivers who make well over $100,000 by being a freelance independent driver, building a personal lientelle, and layering that with some spot Uber or Lyft work. It's just crazy this guy killed himself over ride-hailing services when he himself could have participated and benefited.
9
What happened to Mr. Desai is tragic. I have often wondered about yellow cabs and how they could withstand any chance to compete with the ride sharing services, and the pressure of paying for their medallion. It was clearly a no win situation. However, I had stopped taking cabs years ago, due to their expensive fare structures. 70$ to go to JFK? Not when there was the LIRR and Airtran.
20$ to go from Penn Station to my upper west side apt? Not when there was the 2-3 train that took me there faster and for 3$.
The yellow cabs priced themselves out of the market for many of us.
And the worst part was trying to get a cab at rush hour, when business would be booming for the drivers, they would switch shifts, and bingo getting a cab was like hitting the lottery.
So as much as blame can justifiably be put on the ride sharing services, some of it must be put on the yellow cab industry itself, for being one of the worst business models ever conceived.
Still my condolences to Mr. Desai and his family. He deserved better.
4
Non existent "Mr. Desai" is not the one who killed himself. Read the story again.
1
See the wealth disparity: https://imgs.6sqft.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/13020818/esri-comparis...
People in Manhattan have the greatest facility of mass transportation, with the subway and bus system, it is virtually at their doorstep; if they do not want to use it at least let them pay for the on-demand ride!
Do this now:
The TLC caps the number of taxi medallions at 13, 600 (https://nyti.ms/2pAkrd6 ), the TLC should do the same with Uber et al: Cap the number of app-cars in Manhattan for congestion at 13,600; EASILY done by disabling the Ride-Hailing App for rides in / into Manhattan once the cap is reached. Uber drivers will compete with each other as well as the Yellows.
This is a quality of life issue for all NYC residents.
5
The business model of uber and much of the gig economy is simple. Avoid taxes, avoid regulation, and drive down the cost of labor. Great for the one percent, terrible for the working class.
17
This is the desperation that comes with learning a new skill, especially late in life. It is scary and hard to deal with. As the debts mount, so does the desperation. It is truly sad and difficult.
6
Some commentators here have suggested that with advancements in technology come winners and losers, but that business decisions must be made devoid of any sentimentality.
The problem with such thinking is that it often ignores context and nuance. In this case, taxi drivers were asked to pay a high premium for a medallion, i.e., the right to own and operate a cab in New York City. You don't hear about NYC offering to compensate these drivers in any way for the devaluation of their medallion since allowing Uber entry into the market.
Uber is doing exceptionally well with a business model that actually requires the driver to use their own vehicle. Ironically, in the not-to-distant future, Uber will be using driverless cars. And after that comes driverless trucks. That's an awful lot of displaced drivers. And this is but one industry, transportation, among so many others similarly impacted.
I would argue that capitalism with virtually no regulation is simply unsustainable, especially so in the United States where no social safety net is offered to those impacted by technological advances.
What is needed is a partnership between government and private industry to adequately protect and train displaced workers for new opportunities so they do not fall through the cracks financially or professionally. Until we have leaders in government that recognize this premise and plan for the future accordingly, many of us will eventually find ourselves falling through the cracks as well.
12
The concept of "NYC offering to compensate these drivers in any way for the devaluation of their medallion" reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the way the medallion market works. The vast majority of medallion holders did not buy their medallions from the city; they bought them on the market from the previous owner. That is why medallions got so expensive. The supply was intentionally constrained. The city did not have to constrain supply; that was a choice. The city could have made it a standing practice to sell medallions at a fixed price, say $50k, and then the price of medallions on the open market never would have exceeded that level. The big winners in this game were not Uber and Lyft, not the T&L Commission, for that matter. The big winners were the folks who bought their medallions 50 years ago, and then sold at the top of the market, about 5-6 years ago. Should the folks who sold out 5 years ago be forced to disgorge the profit on their investment, just because some other guy bought in at the top, and saw the value of his investment go down? I don't think that is how investing generally works in stocks, real estate or other asset classes.
1
@Diane Schaefer: one's investment in a NYC Taxi Medallion is purely a speculative venture, no different than purchasing real estate or stocks. Should, for any reason, that Medallion's value tumble, or spike, the gains or losses incurred by the Medallion's owner are the same as the closing of the day's stock market. When Pepsi entered the soft drink market, Coca Cola had to deal with it. Do you have any idea how rich some of these medallion owners got over the years? Most medallions are owned by corporate entities.
Second, it's not that New York City "allowed" Uber entry into the market, it's more a case of bowing to popular demand. Or are you suggesting New York could have said no to Uber? Unlikely.
Third, Uber is simply a way of hooking people up. You speak of Uber as if it is some foreign, unknown alien entity that has suddenly disrupted a once tranquil taxi & livery industry. The existing infrastructure for the Uber app was already there. It is simply a new way of looking at how we use our cars.
1
...I might add that on my last trip from Sydney Airport, I made a mistake and got in the Taxi Queue. Coming home late at night from overseas, between us we realized that we didn’t have Aussie Dollars, just the credit card. I mentioned this to the driver and as I did, he quietly reached down and shut his card machine off, then told us it was broken, when we were half way home. We then spent 15 minutes going around to find an ATM machine. The trip home was
$100, not $70 as usual.
In Sydney, take Uber or take the train. The privatized Airport Train Stations have hugh user fees. It is still a better deal for single passengers than a Taxi, though the train is a real rip off for families.
2
Things change. The horse was displaced by the car, assembly line workers by robots, and now taxis are being displaced by Uber. Time to switch jobs. I suppose the City could ban all passenger cars except taxis but that wouldn't be an appropriate response either.
Living and working in an urban environment I have regular need of some form of temporary transportation. I take cabs when available, but only if they are sitting right there waiting for a fare. I have learned the hard way that “calling a cab” just doesn’t work. No one answers the phone, they cab often doesn’t show or isn’t available for 45 minutes. An uber or lyft is usually no more than 3 minutes away, the cars are clean, the drivers friendly.
That said, I know the uber/lyft drivers are being taken advantage of and I don’t approve.
If the cab industry could move with the times and deploy an uber/lyft type service, I would prefer to go with cabs. But I have seen no forward movement in this direction by cabs and cab companies.
If you don’t evolve and adapt, you die. It’s true for industries as well as biological organisms.
5
Well, if we want (virtually) unfettered capitalism, then this kind of devastation comes with it.
That's just a fact.
Look what WalMart and Amazon have done to independent retailers and shopping malls.
11
It is a sad story, but not in the way most people think.
Toll-collectors lose their jobs to E-Z Pass, cab drivers will lose their jobs to Uber and eventually to robot cars. There used to be livery stables in New York. Times change and jobs change with the times. You cannot fight against the inevitable changes the future brings.
A job provides money, but it also provides a feeling of self-worth and respectability. And anyone who has ever lost a job knows how painful it can be to be stripped of those things. But we are more than what we do for work, and our lives can and do have meaning in ways that have nothing to do with our vocation.
What is most sad here is not that Uber took his job, it is that this poor fellow couldn't see that there was more to him than just his work. And he apparently didn't have anybody to tell him that, or he didn't listen to those who did.
5
NYC is at open war with the middle and working class. It’s great if you are in a powerful union, but the rest of us see our wages stagnate, our mass transit get worse, our quality of life get up-zoned and the big lie of affordable housing meet the reality of secondary displacement caused by luxury condos that increase market rate rents. These upzonings displace far more people than the few affordable units they build can possibly accommodate.
We also see construction but no schools, we see shadows taking over our sunlit green space. We see supposedly liberal politicians get away with dubious claims of affordability while our trusted press never bothers to circle back and actually count just how many of us really got a shiny new affordable unit, versus how many were pushed out when the rent in the area goes up 30-40%.
Here’s the thing: taking care of the middle and working class is and has always been the key to broad and lasting economic success. Our politicians should use their own sense, not borrow analysis from special interests when making decisions.
When you go downtown and want to get something done, avoid City Hall and go across to street to the Woolworth Building where all the lobbying firms are. That’s where the decisions are made these days.
11
Before imposing a daily congestion fee, making it impossible for any nyc resident to use a car legitimately, let’s chuck out the 100,000 Uber’s that are the real cause of recent congestion. In honor of this man.
9
The solution to disruptive technologies is never Luddite-ism. Cab drivers are no more immune to changes than are factory workers.
The way out is to ban all vehicle traffic within the downtown/mid-town areas of every borough (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx & Staten island. No exceptions) during the work day *except* those licensed by the city. Everyone gains, and air quality improves.
I confess that I do use Uber when travelling (i.e. to Latin America or elsewhere; it's super fast and efficient), but I do feel for cabbies. By any definition, it's a tough was to make a living - and most are doing just that - making a living and, contrary to popular belief, not getting rich doing so. And I do make a point to use cabbies whenever I am travelling for work (thank heavens for expense allowances), but, that said, I, like most everyday average folks, am also budget conscious and have to watch my spending. It's the same when I shop at Wal-Mart - I hate it, but, again, budget considerations generally trumps all other considerations. Sadly, this is the world we live in where every dollar does make a difference to the middle-class and lower while the rich just keep getting richer and richer . . .
4
Trust me, the monied children of the Bay area are not crying for Mr. Desai. Their mantra is that all disruption is always good, all the time. Disruption is their God. Meanwhile, those who have invested to be rideshare drivers are often in situations similar that of Mr. Schifter, signing auto leases (often directly through Uber) which force them to work grueling hours just to meet their auto payments, much less earn minimum wage. It's difficult for those in the tech industry to be concerned when their break rooms have such a fine variety of micro-brewed beers.
12
we were recently in nyc and used both uber and taxis. uber is easy to see on gps and you can call for them instantly which was a plus. we did not always see cabs and weren't sure we would and it was freezing out. Had that been available for cabs, I would have taken the cab every time.
3
What happened?
I have never seen a complete report of why Uber, et al were simply able to drive around the rules and set themselves up as virtual taxi businesses. Yeah, I know they consider themselves merely dispatch services, but that's just a neat trick, isn't it? Who caved in? Who looked the other way and allowed completely unregulated businesses to barge into regulated markets? Note, that people and governments are pushing back hard in Europe.
Where I live just outside Washington, DC, (Montgomery County, Maryland) there has long been a single, dominant taxi company. I have wondered for years who was getting paid off so that lesser companies could not really have an impact. The result of having a single company as the main supplier is very poor to non-existent service. You would call in for a cab and never be certain to get one because the driver who accepted the call would easily divert for something closer if it came up. I used to have to leave two hours before an appointment in DC (18 miles) when I would take a cab then the subway. Even then I wouldn't be sure of getting there on time. So, in this case, competition was needed greatly.
Dislocation and disappointment are all part of being in business for yourself. Even creating a new invention that seems like a really great idea can be wiped out in months by changes in software, faster computer chips, etc.
The situation as described in New York is chaos. These are the kinds of problems govt. is supposed to address.
16
I will never use über or lÿft-- they represent the race to the bottom and Mr. Schifter is a casualty. I use a radio taxi company based in my northern Manhattan neighborhood that has served this area for 30-40 years; but even they are suffering from über competition. When I'm downtown or at JFK, if I need a taxi, I hail a yellow cab. Über and lyft should have to comply with all the same regulations that yellow/green cabs do.
This is NOT about the "sharing" economy, it's about the exploitive economy.
62
What happens when in a few years driverless vehicles can replace most of the car and truck drivers?
Tge society needs to provide a robust social safety net rather than tax cuts for billionaires and big corporations.
19
Rest In Peace dear Doug.
Thank You for your professionalism during your life.
Thank You for writing about, and hoping to help others.
39
I am sorry for Mr Schifter and I agree that there are basic unfairnesses here that should be addressed. However the idea that medallions should always increase in value is just as wrong as the idea that stocks should always increase in value. Medallions would also lose value if subway service got better, or if bicycle use increased, or for many other reasons in addition to competition from Uber and Lyft.
It is interesting to note that London black cab drivers complain that they have to pass a difficult test ("the knowledge") while Uber drivers simply use GPS devices. I agree that this is unfair - but the solution is not to require Uber drivers to pass "the knowledge" but to allow black cab drivers to use GPS devices.
12
This story is prompting me to try, once again, to add the Arro app to my phone. I admit that I now often use Lyft vs a taxi, since I could potentially be waiting at least a few minutes on the corner, for an available taxi to miraculously appear in my Queens neighborhood. I'm pretty sure I did try to add Arro to my phone, only to get some weird error message when I entered my credit card info. If I recall (naturally), there was no customer support line...everything had to be done via the app. So.... if the TLC wants to get serious about competing with Uber and Lyft, etc., they must do even BETTER with their app. Otherwise, there is zero motivation for anyone already using Lyft or Uber, to switch to Arro, especially if they can't get the app to work, and there is no Live customer support.
9
Who forced these people to participate in these ride hailing organizations? I think the answer is nobody. I know that most won't cover the expenses of doing it, others should as well.
3
I live in a city with poor taxi service. When I do use Lyft, mostly to and from the airport, I tip my driver about 10 - 20%, based on if surge pricing was on or not. I don't think we're going to go back to the days when there were no ride hailing app.
4
When the taxi drivers all move on to other jobs, the public is going to suffer as well since Uber and Lyft don't have to follow the same laws (such as those against gouging prices during busy periods). I recently stayed in a major city, and when I inquired at the hotel about taxis, Uber was suggested. I wanted to say "I don't live here. I'm taking a taxi so they'll still be here when you need one." I didn't say that, but I did take a local taxi.
15
More Americans are employed in truck driving than in any other single field, but shipping and deliveries will soon be made by driverless trucks. Uber and Lyft are one thing, but consider the social implications of this enormous change, which will affect workers in all areas, urban, suburban, and rural. Like many of us here, I'm worried.
20
Yes in many states, truck driver is the must common job. The other is teacher. I am scared for the future. Will a guaranteed universal income work? I don’t think so. We need to work and have purpose or else we die.
3
There is no substitute for re-training and there is no guarantee that it won’t be needed more than once during your lifetime. 40 some years ago when I was at college, I spent a Thanksgiving break with my roommate at his hometown Fitchburg MA. We both envied his cousins and their pals who were working at local factories driving company trucks, making bank and driving in cars while we hitched back to school. Twenty years later, as the century was ending they were victims of outsourcing and they’d move over to out-of-state, non-union trucking companies that paid nearly zero benefits. As we rolled into 2015, they were driving Uber. It’s a sad state of affairs, but I can’t help but think that they hadn’t tried as hard as my roommate, who lost his Dad while we were barely starting our Junior year, left school to help support his Mom and younger sisters. This guy worked harder, longer and kept it up while he finished earning his degree in Business. He went on to a successful string of jobs and lives quietly and comfortably as we approach the exact same age as Mr. Schifter in this article. My heart goes out to his family, left to their own devices and grief. I wonder how he’d have fared if he’d sought the improvement that an education can bring.
10
@NDC: "The improvement that an education can bring." Many people I know who have sought that are now unemployed or underemployed and struggling under the weight of unbelievable amounts of student loans.
Education is no panacea in a country where student loans are expensive and there is no safety net.
24
Eheheheh. Try reducating oneself when you still have to work 60+ hours just to keep your current job. You have to be a full-time student to finish even a two-year college program—and try doing that while working, having a family, or helping elderly parents. People act as if changing careers means tucking in a handful of courses, then effortlessly switching. No.
2
As a black man who grew sick and tired of being unable to get a cab in New York, I sympathize with the plight of traditional taxi cabs but welcome the change that uber and lyft have brought. Much of the pain traditional taxi drivers face is a result of delivering an inferior service and treating some riders like second class citizens.
222
This is a very sad story and my heart goes out to those who took their own lives. Unfortunately the taxi industry didn’t keep up with the changing times (think Kodak) and ride sharing services sprung up to fill a void.
Thank you for bringing this story to light.
9
I'm going to guess all of the "just pull yourself up by your bootstraps" responders have never have to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. And if they have (good for them), probably not in their early 60s. The lack of empathy in some of these responses is shameful...
149
Thank you for this comment grrluns. I am in my 30's, with an education and years of skills in the legal field, and work as a freelancer. Looking to change my career trajectory over the past few months has been downright depressing. Not only do employers want you to have a very narrow skill set for many jobs, but they expect you to have at least 2-3 years of that very specific experience just to consider you for an interview. It's hard enough just trying to get into a different focus within an industry you have already been working in. How do these people expect those in their 50's and 60's to change careers? Where do they get the skills, let alone the necessary minimal experience just to get a foot in the door? People throw around that "learn new skills" mantra, without even making any honest suggestions of what those would be. In disability law there is a concept of 'transferable skills' that comes into play once a person is over the age of 50. It is predicated on the reality that no one is trying to retrain anyone above a certain age.
11
Seriously. I am _so_ sick of these ill-informed, condescending typs who prat about being self-sufficient and bouncing back—but have never faced major life crisises that can easily wipe out everything you’ve earned.
2
It’s disappointing to read so many disparaging and unsympathetic comments about a tragedy. And the old, “they should have gone to college” mantra is hardly applicable in all cases, and not particularly helpful. Even for the college educated, with increased automation, AI, bots, downward pressure on wages, rise in the use of 1099 contractors in lieu of hiring W2 employees, demand for ever increasing “productivity” in the workplace at the expense of parenting and maintaining physical health, and the joys of the employer-sponsored high deductible healthcare plan, these trends are coming for us all, degreed or not. The GOP throws the middle and working classes a bone with this “tax reform” nonsense, and we’re all to be grateful. I think the average middle class American family, particularly if housing prices start to drop with increased interest rates and decreased mortgage and property tax deductions, is going to reach a breaking point. That’s when, watch out, there will be real political revolution in this country. Not some pseudo-reality-series-senile-orange-faced buffoon in office, with corporate thieves and right wing wackos effecting “change,” but serious and lasting change.
59
In a world where we expect instant gratification, and are willing to pay for it, businesses like Uber, Lyft and Via have stepped in and offered us easy access to rides. We can price compare, rate our drivers, and pay by app. In the meantime competition drives prices down (yay for the rider), more people download and us the app (yay for the rider), and drivers try to juggle 3 or more apps in the hope that they'll be able to pick up a rider when they are driving back towards Manhattan from Sheepshead Bay.
But we know who is really benefiting, and it isn't really the riders (who are spending more on car services than ever before). No, it is the executives and investors in Uber, Lyft, Via, Juno. The rich continue to get richer. Meanwhile the drivers get the shaft.
38
How is this piece on the Gig Economy unique? Change is hard. Change is uncomfortable. But change is inevitable. This is tragic, but highlights more, perhaps, on issues of mental health rather than anything else. This is not typical behavior for someone uprooted from a profession.
11
How do you know? Are you in the behavioral sciences? Read up, please, on the surge in suicides in the past 10 years, and who's committing them.
5
No more gig economy!
10
I just closed my Uber account and deleted the app in honor of Doug Schifter and the mant sharing hardships he was trying to bring to our attention by taking his own life.
I'll happily pay a few more bucks for a ride.
77
I won't pay more for any ride when there is a cheaper ride to be had. I've been cursed and cheated by taxi drivers my whole life to the point I swore off taxis. I had one driver say his credit card machine was broken and he made two printouts of my card. One I signed and one he kept. Well, he later changed the fare and turned in the higher fare. I had to file a complaint and open an investigation against him. My money was refunded.
I had another taxi driver take 40 minutes to drive me to a place that should have only taken 15 minutes when I was visiting a new city and was picked up at the airport. He ran up the tab to over $100.00 when it should have been around $20 or $30 dollars. When I found out I told him I would file a complaint against him and he refunded half the bill.
I had another taxi driver curse me for leaving a small tip.
I've NEVER had those problems with Uber.
I am so sorry this gentleman shortened his life. My sympathies go out to his family. I just wish he had found another calling or another way to earn money. The market has spoken on rides. I can recall many times being in Manhattan hand held up high in an effort to seek a taxi. Taxi after taxi would speed by, with no occupants. Blaming the politicians or corporations is a mistake — this issue is strictly market based. The market wanted access to more rides, rides that were readily available. Again I stress that this man’s death is a tragedy. May he Rest In Peace.
25
I don't trust Uber and the other ride-sharing companies. Especially as a woman.
28
But with a ride-sharing app, exactly whose car you got into is recorded, not the case with a cab. You can even let friends watch the progress of your ride on their phones.
1
Speak for yourself.
I'm a woman and I've never had a problem with Uber or Lyft.
It is a welcome change for small town like mine. Previously I was forced to use seedy taxi services with loser drivers. Every time I use the new services it's much faster, cleaner, nicer. Taxi services should have upped their game a long time ago.
27
And very few of the Uber/Lyft drivers are actually making money. It's a magnet for financially naive and desperate people. All the cars added to the roads cause congestion for everyone else. When will regulators wake up?
30
I refuse to use Uber and similar services. I prefer a regulated taxi industry with proper insurance coverage and a decent, living wage for drivers. The gig economy is not so enlightened as its leaders make it out to be. Yellow cabbies and regular livery drivers, I am with you!
41
I live in the suburbs in Miami. It’s very difficult to get a cab out here and you never know how long it will take. There’s a reason these ride sharing services exist and have become so popular. Also most cabs are filthy and drivers refuse to take credit cards. That’s not to say I don’t feel bad for these drivers who took their own lives.
1
I have mixed feelings here. I cannot get a cab to come pick me up at my building, ever, but Lyft shows up in 6 minutes. I've had cabbies (in LA) address me as "my friend" while they explained why they could not accept credit card payments (even though they had the equipment to do so in their taxis) that were probably many times what a rideshare would have cost. I've had cabbies in D.C. assume that I was a prostitute when I was going to a party. And who are they to judge, as long as I pay my fare and don't bother them or mess up their cab? There are many people out there who say they cannot hail a cab because they are the wrong color.
Some of this is the fault of the taxi companies with their aging infrastructure and poor dispatching service. Some of it is the fault of some of the drivers, who are unprofessional and perhaps jaded. It is probably more dangerous being a cabbie than driving for Uber or Lyft, although it's not danger-free either way. And it's not danger-free being a passenger, either.
37
I just took a taxi from the New Orleans airport to downtown. Despite signs at the taxi stand and in the taxi that all taxis are _required_ to accept credit cards, somehow the credit card machine was broken and I had to pay cash.
2
Thank you so much for the sensitivity and humanity with which you handled this heartbreaking story. It's really disheartening to see what is happening to blue collar workers ( increasingly white collar workers too ) around the country. Automation and the tech industry are hacking citizens livelihoods out of existence, amassing wealth and more capital from the so called share holders ( or is it slave holders?! ) to consolidate their grip on the economy; meanwhile, our government is also busy hacking away whatever little safety net programs are available to those who fall behind, leaving them in total despair. Sometimes, I wonder - what is really great about this country? Is greatness supposed to be measured solely on the basis of how powerful the bombs we drop on our adversaries are? Is that it? - our greatness is a measure of how efficiently we can kill other people, while our own forgotten citizens are killing themselves out of sheer despair? This country is increasingly becoming a very depressing place to live!
24
Well said.
The race to the bottom does not come without casualties. As in the comments on Ms. Ricks, got it right this time, the Ayn Rand disciples appear to be out in force. Ask not for whom the bell tolls, privileged convenience worshippers, the gig economy might one day come for thee. My condolences to Doug Schifter's family, I know what it's like to be cut off at the knees by unscrupulous business practices. Many in the construction industry go without the steadiness of payroll work because of the greed of contractors shunting them into a 1099 tax situation. One has to work and someone is always there to take your place. No knock on immigrants but can't law enforcement go after employers who skate on the rules? Not only do they deprive Social Security and Medicare of much needed money, they also make the SS checks for employees that much smaller. A lot of people, including myself, only have SS to rely on. It's gonna get worse based on what I've seen and read. What pols are talking about it? Crickets. Cheap labor, now, cheap labor tomorrow, cheap labor forever! Nice. MLK, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
27
You're joking right. Undocumented immigrants pay social security and never collect on it. They are a net win to social security. The issue really is driving down wages
1
Completely false. Most are paid in cash and pay no taxes or social security.
I hope his suicide opens the eyes and ears of our politicians and the elite. The solution obviously is not in saving the industry, but in saving all whose livelihoods are lost by changing industries.
The solution lies in the hands of our federal government - to provide basic necessities of life like education upto high school, health insurance with basic coverage free for all citizens, and unemployment benefits while job retraining for displaced individuals.
18
Why are companies being blamed? They’re meeting demand for their services. Nobody is forced to work for free, or relatively free. Absent from this discussion appears to be any blame toward government, who artificially constrained supply via taxi-medallion limits and price fixing. Uber disrupted it by finding a way in and allowing market economics, not government bureaucrats, to control the dynamics of the industry. This man’s death is sad but it’s no sacrifice — the real death should have been to government meddling in a basic service many decades ago.
7
What makes little sense to me is that Uber and Lyft are so much cheaper than taxis. A ride to the airport from my house in Seattle by cab was $60.00 and is now about $35.00. I would gladly pay more if they charged more, but instead are engaged in a race to the bottom in terms of price? The customer wins I suppose but on balance I would prefer to see the driver make something approaching a living wage.
That said, these new services are on time, available and far cleaner than a typical cab. And because the drivers and passengers are rated, the relationship is different. Disruption is real, unavoidable and painful for those in the cross-hairs.
7
It seems one way to help level the playing field in NYC would be to exempt medallion holders from the forthcoming congestion charging regime. If any kind of exclusivity on being a hire vehicle is gone, at least there would be some value to the medallion.
8
I live in a community that does not have taxi service. The closest cab company is 7 miles away, and to take me 7 miles costs 40.00. No. I'm not kidding. I used UBER today because I had to pick up my car at the service station. the cost was 15.93 (go figure) and I tipped $3.00. If they can get me a legit cab and have it cost 20.00, I'd use it, for sure.
In the city, I only use TLC Yellow Cabs but the costs of using one are also pretty prohibitive. I resent the costs; I also resent that I can't have a conversation IN ENGLISH with my driver; I resent that he's usually on a Bluetooth call; and that the cab stinks of some grotesque air freshener; so if I can walk it (to wherever I'm going) in 40 minutes or so, I'll do that.
Cabs are now becoming the equivalent of public transportation.
6
I had a great conversation in PORTUGUESE with my Lyft driver who was an engineer from Brazil a few weeks ago and several great chats in SPANISH with drivers who were mechanics from Cuba, professors from Colombia and very many in ENGLISH. Learn some more languages; your life may improve.
2
Most Uber drivers in Miami don’t speak English either. But the cab drivers do! I told Uber they should have a separate app for Uber Espanol. And before anyone responds with ugly comments, I am a Mexican American.
1
New York City set up the scam to require taxi medallions and then limited the number of medallions that would be issued. New York City created the system in which people had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to get a medallion. Then New York City effectively blew up that system, leaving cabbies deeply in debt for those medallions and watching their incomes drop precipitously. The City should compensate medallion owners for their losses, and should stop trying to charge people for driving into Manhattan when the City's own policies are contributing to the traffic.
25
Taxis are not just for tourists. Even locals dealing w/time-sensitive travels (ex. making a job interview when trains are down, feeling childbirth contractions, etc.), don't want to gamble on faulty GPS-guided gig drivers, or driving/biking rentals (local parking, detour, turn, 1-way rules can get crazy!), or on experimental self-driving cars/shuttle buses that may crash (for lack of wise, timely human control, as what happened in Las Vegas).
Experienced, professional, and fully insured taxi drivers like the late Doug Schifter treat taxi driving as a the complex, EQ-based, and local cultural knowledge-and-relationships-driven vocation that it truly is . . . and not just as an automated, algorithm-driven, side gig!
NYC's roads, like those of other old, yet still complicatedly growing, metropolises, are not just pedestrian-free, all-perpendicular straight point A to B paths.
Not everyone, everything, or every circumstance can be best served technological "disruptions" that can at best only supplement, but never absolutely replace, vocations requiring onsite/in-transit human interaction and quick decision-making.
Reasonable, pragmatic compromises can and must be made to help our long-time professional taxi drivers not helplessly drown in debt, as the transport industry changes.
Truly good and fast taxi drivers are not cheap, but they're always worth it, compared to just treating commuters as merely penny-pinching guinea pigs in "disruptive" tech IPO hype-building.
RIP Doug.
13
Taxi medallions have been looked upon as investments and their value has been artificially propped up by severely limiting their number despite a very obvious need for more taxis. Now the price for artificially restricting the market place is being paid.
11
Would someone tell me why Uber and the like were allowed to operate? Medallions and insurance were a part of the licensing process for taxis in New York and other major cities. Uber came along and those businesses were tossed to the gutter because of 20 somethings carrying phones. The decision to allow Uber to ignore the rules in favor of convenience should be placed at the feet of big city governments that wanted to look tech friendly. Shame on them for throwing those people away.
13
Exactly!
1
I understand that Uber takes something like 30% of the gross of its drivers. These people work hard, struggle to make a living, and Uber captures a great share of their income. Meanwhile yellow cab drivers get the short end of the stick. I think riders should bear in mind who gets so much of the money when they use Uber or other similar ride services. What this disruption really does is disrupt the lives of cab drivers, and Uber is the one who makes the money. It's not clear to me why so many people use Uber.
13
In a Democracy, innovation and change happens. Uber would not be possible if not for a lack of something people needed. Taxi's wouldn't take you short distances, required you to have cash to tip them, wouldn't keep their cars nice inside. If you don't evolve with the world you will unfortunately get left behind. Secondly, why do medallions cost so much and can't someone fix that system so that it works for Taxi drivers?
7
This is a tragedy. The reason why I never use Uber or other alternative ride companies is because I respect the established taxi companies and the people they employ.
15
Uber drivers are next. Driverless cars will make anyone who drives a car, truck, or bus as expendible as today's taxi drivers. The processes that drive such massive shifts in the labor market are remorseless, and inevitable.
8
Driverless cars in the streets of New York City are still decades from being reality. We are predominately a pedestrian. 'Turning right on red' is against the law here. If you ask yourself why that is (and will always have to be) then you'll understand why driverless cars are a preposterous idea for New York.
1
You, like the taxi drivers, are living in denial. Driverless cars will be on NYC streets in 5-10 years max.
Yes, it is truly awful when a monopoly loses power....
But wait! There's more! Soon the Uber drivers will be out of work too when self driving cars go broadband.
The problem is not change; the problem is a society that refuses, absolutely refuses to provide a meaningful social safety net.
28
This broke my heart... so many people are like him due to Uber and LYFT but also due to automation which will eliminate more jobs. Robots are coming for our jobs and nobody is thinking seriously abut the consequences.
14
This is a sad story but it was time for a change. While riding in yellow taxis, I have been yelled at, abandoned in the middle of nowhere, refused to be taken as a fare, gotten into fender benders on a bridge with another taxi which turned into a screaming match between the drivers while I sat there and could not leave because I was on a bridge. I lived in Queens for two years and it was nearly impossible to find a taxi to take me home from Midtown Manhattan. After working late I was refused by 3 cars in row, left in tears I took the stuttering F train, my company reimbursed for late night taxis but I could not even find one. The taxis that did take me often got lost, they could not even find Queens Boulevard which is one of the main roads in Queens. One driver drove me around dead ends for 40 minutes with the meter running. My experience with Uber has been a life saver. They all have functioning GPS and take you where you need to go without a fuss.
It is pretty shocking that the city let this transformation happen so quickly. I feel for these drivers but when the customer has a choice of superior service they will take it.
37
I have had so many unpleasant experiences in yellow cabs, including an accident in which my car was totaled and the driver had inadequate insurance. Meanwhile, I have had only positive experiences with Uber. For consumers, this is a beneficial change. At some point, I’m sure horse carriage drivers had the same complaint. Of course it is sad this gentleman saw no other options for employment.
11
The key point is that soon -- far sooner than most of us imagine -- autonomous vehicles will make virtually all driving obsolete. We will no longer hail cab, Uber or Lyft drivers, we will be hailing a driverless car that will then take us where we want to go. Millions who now earn money as drivers of trucks and cabs and rideshare programs will be out of work. The world economy is changing at an extraordinarily rapid rate, at a pace that makes the Industrial Revolution seem leisurely. Virtually every person will be impacted. I have no idea what the solution is but we should be talking about what we can do, but our political leadership is focused on far more trivial things.
9
I do not use Uber or Lyft, but have found that yellow cab service has improved greatly since these companies went into business - i.e., the cabs are clean, the drivers are not babbling on speaker phones, and take my directions without complaint. I am even having an easier time at getting a cab during the rush periods due to others using Uber and Lyft.
32
It's really sad. There are 7.3 billion people in the world and most of us, including me, are disposable. In the coming decades there will be fewer and fewer jobs, and at the same time many more people. Do the math.
58
You Luddites have been saying this for 200 years. There will always be jobs. Just not making buggy whips or driving cabs. People educate themselves and move on. How many web designers were there 50 years ago? Software engineers?
2
Call it anything you want that makes you feel better but a gig economy is best defined as piecemeal employment, which is a hardship for those who work that way. Let's face it, if we cannot offer a living wage to those of us who want full-time work, then our businesses are cutting their own throats. I own a business and I make sure my employees can pay their bills, put money away for emergencies and to invest in their retirement accounts. How else can I expect to keep them on the job, focused on the tasks at hand and make sure that we all are comfortable working together. We spend more time at work than we do with our families. So, it's vital that I empower a fellowship that enriches. A gig economy offers the exact opposite . . .
533
I find the opposite to be true. I only employ workers who have other gigs. They are more interested in the work they do for us. They are more productive because they are not required to "put in" the requisite time to qualify as a full time employee. The quality of the work is better because they are engaged. They are mostly moonlighting from another gig. If they want more work one week and we can
accommodate, we do and if they are busy elsewhere we can accommodate.
Taxi drivers had to pull 12 hour shifts to make up their fee to the medallion owners, and they would fall asleep at the wheel. They were surly and took no feedback as to what route to drive. Would I prefer risking my life with that driver, or someone who is alert and driving a few hours per week to make some extra money?
Taxi drivers had no accountability. Uber and other service drivers get rated and really seem anxious to please.
It's pure economics. If you control the supply then service suffers and prices increase. Increase supply, service improves and prices decrease.
It IS tragic for those who purchased a medallion late in the cycle.
But it was also tragic for people who had no access to public transportation or had an emergency and were late for work and couldn't find any means of transportation.
I think this article missed the point. The drivers all moved to uber and Lyft. They are still working just not in taxis. It is the owners who got hurt here, and while painful, not tragic.
7
You apparently can afford all that compensation, some businesses can't.
3
True, but the gig economy happened because the City, as the employer, did not do all the things you say you do with your employees. And the employees didn't always take care of the customer. When Uber came on the scene, people jumped at the chance to have a clean, hassle-free ride. Taxis should emulate Uber in convenience and customer service. But they don't. Many of us have horror stories tell.
4
how similar this is to the tunesian street vendor street vendor who killed himself, sparking a revolution and a change in government. I doubt that this will have the same effect. this points out one of the great economic fallacies of the current era-how many innovations are not really increasing efficiency and productivity but simply pushing costs on to someone else. uber doesn't really make driving passengers cheaper, it simply pushes more of the cost of the service onto the drivers. high deductible health insurance plans just shift the costs onto the insured. when people shopped in a store with a sales person, the cost of looking at different items, trying them on, etc. was borne by the store in the form of the salespersons salary. on line shopping for goods or services just shifts those costs onto the customer. think of how much time you spend looking for an air fare or hotel that used to be spent by a travel agent.
21
We can grieve for Mr. Desai, but also acknowledge that no occupation is guaranteed immortality, nor immunity from competition and technology.
13
The problem is that the taxi industry is subject to a regulatory and expense regime that does not apply to Uber, Lyft and similar services, affecting owners and drivers alike. This is unfair competition at its most basic.
30
It was Mr. Schifter who took his own life.
2
The deceased driver's name was Doug Schifter - Ms. Desai is the executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance.
3
Lots and lots of commentators making the horse and buggy comparison generally to imply that this poor man should have seen the writing on the wall and changed careers and/or upgraded skills. To an extent I agree but there are a couple of things: the Uber wave came fast and hard - it really was sort of difficult to react to the speed and intensity the change came. Secondly, Uber is sitting on $40 billion and there are some analysts who don't see a single path to profitability for that company until it drives out all local competition and then massively jacks up prices. That doesn't seem like progress at all.
When there are no cabs and an Uber costs four times what it used to i don't think that little car icon blip on your iPhone map is going to be that much of a value add.
119
Amazon killed off the malls, Home Depot and Lowes the hardware stores and yet prices remain reasonable. What makes you think Uber will be different?
3
John—Home Depot and Lowes are still around. And my suburban city has a thriving local hardware store that helps me avoid both of the above. :) Amazon still has competition, but once they don’t, what makes you think their prices won’t go up?
1
Uber won't be able to charge four time what it used to. Another company can easily undercut them in this tech era and just do what Uber is doing now.
Fortunately in the interim we have Lyft which is taking a lot of the Uber business and helping to drive the cost battle.
Fix the trains then problem is fixed. Bloomberg brought this on with stupid programs for developers with ZERO responsibility to invest in infrastructure. SHAME. (And I’m in commercial real estate!!!! )
26
Okay, I am a survivor of loss by suicide and, coincidentally, someone who grew up hailing cabs in Manhattan. Please don't ever justify such madness by assigning any credence - or column space - to seeing logic in a suicide note. The problems of 'gig' economy (on both sides of this equation) can be addressed without offering justification or reason - or by perpetuating popular myths - around the unthinkable insanity of death by suicide.
22
My brother drove a cab a long time ago and it afforded him a lifeline to make money like other immigrants at the time. I am very sorry for Mr. Schifter but since this board has only 72 comments I am afraid that people have already moved on and are more focused on the stock market drop. I do not believe in monopolys and have too often encountered drivers who would not take me to my bridge and tunnel destination. Complaints to the TLC were useless. Now the TLC and its business are irrelevant. The customer is always right.
20
The very word "uber" reminds me of Nazi Germany (Deutschland Uber Alles). It's CEO, Travis Whats-his-Name, by all reports was quite the fascist himself. Those are reasons enough for me never to ride in an Uber car. But the most important reason is that being a taxi driver has been, for a century, the first rung up on the ladder for many poor people in NYC. Maybe I'll pay a bit more and maybe I'll wait a bit longer for an old fashioned taxi, but it's worth the wait.
138
Thank you so much for your concise and insightful comment. Like you, I made the very same word association when Uber was first foisted upon us. The rise in popularity of Uber(/Lyft, etc.), is not at all coincidental with the rise in anti-immigrant sentiment infecting our nation, founded by immigrants. That Mr. Kalanick could well be the alt-right poster child is secondary. I, too, am happy to flag, wait and pay more for a taxi.
8
Many of the Uber/Lyft drivers I have encountered in LA have been immigrants. Many of the taxi drivers I have encountered in LA have been immigrants. The difference is that the taxi drivers frequently did not know where they were going and barely spoke enough English to understand my directions.
I would very happily use taxis and pay more if they provided service remotely as good as Uber/Lyft.
1
Donald F: See, heres the thing though - in New York you no longer have to "flag, wait and pay more for a taxi". You know why? Because market competition did its job. Yellow taxis in New York now have a hailing app (Arro), now accept credit and debit cards, and now cost the same as or less than an Uber.
And who do you think is driving Uber cars in New York? Certainly not "alt-right" fan boys. Its young, poor, under-employed men and women - so many of whom are not white. Simply standing on any street corner in Manhattan and counting as the traffic goes by confirms that.
2
My dad owns a medallion, that he luckily bought decades ago so its completely paid off. He had bet on the medallion & expected to sell it at retirement age & live off of the profit, but uber happened and that plan went down the drain. He at 65 still works almost 12 hours a day because he didn't plan for this level of disruption. He isn't bitter about uber or the changes in the industry, he accepts it as life and simply goes to work.
What he is angry about is that, the city still singles out yellow cabs and liveries for fines and ticket. the police is exceptionally hard on the taxi drivers. he's gotten tickets because ,the rider jumped out of the car while at a red light to avoid paying and the police officer ticketed dad for pulling over at a hydrant to reset the meter and write down the passenger details.
he's received tickets for idling, while helping an older passenger to the door. He received tickets for having to make a U turn at a dead end street. He had cops threaten to arrest him if he holds a rider who won't pay their fair or tried to use a fake bill. its ridiculous.
The city put soo many costly regulations and taxes in place for the taxi drivers that they are STILL required to meet. In his book he did everything right and now suffers because he played by the rules. No one wants us to go back to the old days, but we need to ease the burden off of the taxi drivers. The city should work on making the driver's lives easier. Drivers are people too.
767
Police do this in Detroit, too! I was a yellow cab driver for three years--started two weeks after l quit my job as copy editor at the Detroit Free Press. I was harassed by two female officers one St. Patrick's Day. The wrote me a ticket for failure to display my public vehicle license. When l pointed to my license, which was right where it was supposed to be, the officer said, "Just take it with you when you go to court and they will dismiss it." Two court appearances later, they did.
1
Agree, Gagan. Talking to drivers regularly has shown me that the city treats these (mostly) guys like garbage. Uber is not an admirable company. Please listen up, Mayor: make being a driver a respected profession again. Quit treating these essential people like garbage. The city needs great and respectable drivers and safe rides - and these guys need an honorable profession and good wages. The yellow cab is legend and iconic and an essential part of the fabric of NYC. This is such a win win for all. And buzz off Uber!
1
Yes, but I just got out of a Lyft ride in which the driver complained that HE had unfairly gotten a ticket for pulling up in front of a hotel to pick up a ride. Maybe the police don't pick on anyone but just try to keep the traffic moving.
1
I won't use Uber or Lyft. They did not play by the rules. That is not true competition. I know many so called liberals who espouse fair play and espouse fair play. Then they act to save 5 bucks and sell out the guy they wanted to protect.
92
They are most likely saving more than 5 bucks. My ride to the airport in Denver on Lyft saved 50% over the taxi fare. I checked before I hailed the ride.
5
How is that not competition? Uber and Lyft leveraged technology and a unique approach to fix an old problem and made getting a taxi more convenient. That’s competition in my book.
5
@Mark: Why drag "liberals" into it? I know plenty of conservatives, and lots of libertatians in particular, who use car-sharing services. I'm a liberal, but I have never taken an Uber or a Lyft, and I never will. The working conditions are exploitative, the drivers get no benefits, and they are responsible for insuring themselves, their cars, and their passengers, while Uber just takes a cut of whatever they earn, without having to assist or compensate them for all of their extra expenses. Uber is a sneaky company that refuses to screen its drivers, and tries to bribe cities in return for letting it run roughshod over established taxi companies. Please. It's a lousy system. My son and his friends use these ride-sharing apps and I wish they would not! There's nothing wrong with taking the subway or a bus, either, if they're available. Public transportation should always be first choice, anyway. And walking or biking is pretty dang good for one's health.
3
Being the victim of many a scrupulous taxi driver around the world including NYC, I have to admit that there is very little sympathy for the taxi hailing services. Uber and Lyft has changed that for us users. Thank God!
5
Obviously a tragedy, and I don't mean to take away from that with anything I'm about to say here:
The taxi industry killed itself by being so terrible to its customers. Every cab that smelled like BO, every driver who pretended their credit card reader was broken, every time someone stood out in the rain only to have a hack drive past because they were the wrong color -- those incidents built on one another until everybody was ready for the first alternative that came along.
Uber may be a wretched company internally, but I've never had one of their drivers intentionally drive me in circles to run up the fare or go speeding away because my destination wasn't far enough away. As a customer that's all that really matters.
667
That's *all* that matters? So, you're saying that it's OK to distance ourselves from the consequences of our actions? This is news to me. I've not read that conclusion from a single sage, prophet or philosopher.
13
I've had Uber drivers refuse to take me because my destination was too far away.
6
Sixofone...how are sages, prophets, or philosophers relevant here? Steve hit the nail on the head. Mourning the passing of the taxi industry is like mourning the passing of coal.
10
Well geez seriously. Kindly address the fact that for many, many thousands of otherwise unskilled immigrants, cab driving is the "profession" of choice in New York, my former and entirely unlamented home.
Perhaps families that "invested" in the hyper-inflated medallions should have invested in public university educations for themselves and their children.
And--for most New Yorkers these days--a traditional cab or livery car isn't really affordable anymore. Even very well-educated young people can't afford basic "starter" apartments. Why wouldn't they find the cheapest, most easily-available ride service possible? Sure, lots of rich people are using Uber all the time too. But most people in NY are not rich.
9
The “get with the program, stupid” mentality is cruel but unsurprising in a county and in a world that has become ever more cutthroat and self-serving. Compassion, shared grief, and deep contemplation and reflection about how to help and serve this vulnerable group is what is needed, not indifference, dismissiveness, and flippant comments. What happened to the American way of helping those who are suffering? Thanks, Ginia, for shining a light on this vulnerable group. My heart goes out to Doug Schifter’s family and colleagues. Developing new skills are needed for these drivers, of course, but so is understanding and concern and a desire to help and be of service. Most of us can do more and better to help those in need. Here’s to the next generation of Sargent Shrivers who will lead the way.
32
The transition within the car service industry over the past six years has been undoubtedly harsh for taxi and livery drivers. I do feel for those individuals who have paralyzing debt from the purchase of medallions, etc. This said, for the industry as a whole, I have little sympathy. For years consumers had few options and were at the mercy of taxi companies. Horrible customer service, from dispatching to the ride experience, was the rule instead of the exception. I don't disagree that it is unfair to have a fully unregulated environment but as a consumer (and tax payer), I would be angry if regulation resulted in having to go back to riding in filthy, smelly, unkempt vehicles, dealing with the un-reliability of dispatching services, or waiting on the side of a street in bad weather for a cab to notice my waving arm... only then to have to hope that the driver who eventually picks me up is at least somewhat amicable and can understand English enough to decipher where I am trying to go. Taxi companies took advantage of the market for decades and didn't take care of their customers beyond the bare minimum. A constant topic of conversation in the past few years among everyone I know is how Uber and Lyft have significantly improved the quality of life for all of us in the city and now the suburbs.
41
I think this death will be in vain for two reasons. Progress has always been disruptive and the speed at which disruption is happening is creating more casualties and sooner. Reversing progress requires a catastrophic reset. Secondly, social safety nets in America are a gateway to Stalinism leaving the poor, the weak, the sick, the ones in the wrong place at the wrong time, on the outside looking in. Capitalism makes cannon fodder of those left behind. I know everyone can’t be saved but ignoring the masses never ends well.
2
In the Bay Area, Peninsula (Silicon Valley), it was next to impossible to hail a taxi. First, they refused to pick up from a whole slew of addresses -- you could not just call from a street corner, say out of a company building. Then, the cost was 2x normal because you were out of SF or SJ metro areas. Thank goodness for Lyft and Uber and good riddance to taxis. People need a service that works. Would you go back to buckets from the courtyard pump?
35
The Gig-Economy and casualisation of the workforce particularly when based around companies that pay only the "legal" minimum taxes in their country of operation is the local and global issue.
When nation states allow companies to transfer profits away from the place the profit is made: the hollow nature of "win:win" becomes evident. There is no win:win ....with the ride-sharing business it is WIN:win:lose:lose:lose. Winners are the ride-share companies only and the passengers short-term. Losers are the taxi companies that drew disruption upon themselves and their drivers with their ongoing "incumbent" and customer-disrespecting behaviours. Losers are the ride-sharing drivers themselves open to the widely reported systematic exploitation and arbitrary treatment by ride-sharing companies. Losers are those nation states that host the ride-sharing companies and currently do not receive a "fair" tax. Losers are the citizens of those countries that host ride-sharing companies because it is they who will be taxed the additional amounts to fill the hole left by ride-sharing companies that pay the "legal" minimum that their accountants and lawyers have "structured" and the tax hole left by ride-sharing companies that take up to 25% off their "partners' " income in fees for an app that is in many respects less than adequate, ill-informed, mis-pronounced, unreliable.
Change and disruption is the staple of history and human development: spear, wheel, digitisation.
6
Take public transportation. This is NYC- you don't need a car, and the environment doesn't need any more CO2. Time to change your behavior- everyone of us!
5
It's tragic that Doug Shifter felt he had no option other than suicide. I can only "imagine" what his level of grief and despair must have been like--and, likely, I still would be wrong.
Ultimately, though, I think it's our beloved economic system (capitalism) that is the culprit of nearly all workers. Not folks who are running a side "hustle" for extra income. (I have yet to learn of anyone who became a millionaire driving a Lyft vehicle.)
Fair pay, equal pay, a livable wage? Good ol' middle America doesn't support these tenets, politically. Unfortunately. ...And, it's only some time before the forgotten "working class Americans," and, in this instance, by working class Americans, I mean "white working class Americans." The ones politicians are fawning over, and kissing and hugging to political victory. Once "Billy Bob" and "Betty Ann" realize wake up and realize that they've been "had" and that the coal mines and factories are never coming back to W. Virginia and Ohio, respectively, then, the revolution, and the way we do politics in this country, might begin to change. (Unfortunately, African Americans who are poor or working class or economically vulnerable don't register. The poor and struggling among us are considered lazy or worse. And being "black & poor" is considered a character default, whereas being white & poor is considered a "circumstance" beyond their control and the result of the Country's neglect. Oh! And the fault of immigrants who don't have white skin.
12
This is really sad.
However, before Uber and Lyft came to Houston, taxis here were difficult to order, very, very expensive and sometimes, even if you did order one, it just never showed up. In fact, when Uber and Lyft arrived, the largest taxi company here tried to launch its own app for calling for one of its cars, but when you opened it up on your phone, the first thing you saw was a disclaimer that said, just because you ordered a car didn't mean one would show up and they weren't liable for that. What?! That's the service you provide to someone who is heading to the airport to catch a flight? That's no service at all and the corrupt, greedy taxi industry here -- not the drivers but the medallion owners who rent their medallions and junker cabs to people struggling to make a living for rapacious rates -- deserved to be replaced by competition that actually does provide the service you are paying for.
Poor Doug Schifter: he needed to make a dramatic change and we all probably should have helped him somehow to make that change. But the taxicab model -- like Blockbuster and buggy whips -- has been replaced.
15
Maybe give medallion Cabs a break on bridge tolls and future congestion tolls. Charge UBER a five dollar per ride fee and it will help ballance out the cost of the medallion. Nothing in capitalism says a new service can't be taxed. Disruption of disruptors might be sweet for city and long time drivers who put good faith in to the medallion system. Sorry bout the typos but this is one bumpy cross town bus.
10
Does the concept of a legal challenge to this type of discriminatory practice elude you? Government can't favor one industry over another by imposing discriminatory taxes and fees on just one industry.
Imagine if government decided to tax professional basketball teams that have too many minority players because they want to protect the livelihoods of white players who had traditionally dominated the sport?
So was it the responsibility of the city to ensure that people were able to make a profit driving taxis for the rest of all eternity? When something better comes along for the consumer, its the responsibility of our leaders to think of the people. If taxi cabs were better than Uber and others like it, Uber would have failed. This is a consumer driven society. Sink or swim. Let the taxis compete. They have raised their prices over and over through the years. Price match and give a better service and see how long Uber is around. That is the American way.
11
All the supposed "capitalists" who are commenting about this being a natural market cycle need to pay more attention to what is happening in our supposed free-market system.
When a venture-funded startup like Uber loses money on every ride, floods a city with idle vehicles and are allowed to ignore basic licensing laws, it's not capitalism. It's not creative destruction.
It's
18
What happens when self driving cars remove the need for even Uber and Lyft drivers? How about when Amazon uses robotics to eliminate many jobs in their factories? Machine learning will eliminate many highly skilled positions like radiologists. That is the future we and the rest of the world are facing.
13
.. if our society doesn't keep up with the inevitability of this change (AI, fewer jobs) with things like universal basic income we will fail. We've enough lead time to figure it out if we put intelligent people to work on it in government who value and respect governing. The current tragic occupants of the White House and Majority in Congress are taking a flying leap backwards.
5
Istill can’t believe i can’t get around by horse and buggy such as my great grandfather once did.
6
? Who said you can't? The Amish still use horse and buggy. And in idaho it's not out of the ordinary to see a horse and rider. Or are you just saying that to be rude?
4
Uber should be banned from NYC. Uber drivers are not professional livery drivers and it is adding tremendously to the pollution and congestion of NYC streets. Uber uses the large population of under employed people who can now make some additional money driving but Uber is parasitically feeding off others bad fortune. Uber appeals to the selfish convenience needs of its users but it is simply not a healthy solution for the city. NYC is currently going through a crisis regarding mass transportation and Uber has been the release valve for discontent. Otherwise many more people would be up in arms and taking it out on the politicians. No wonder they were allowed in. Younger people who favor Uber and the inevitable change it brings are not recognizing the longer term consequences of this industry change.
11
Taxis lost out because they are dirty, staffed by rude drivers, and they refused (and continue to refuse!) to adapt to new technology.
The other day when I took a cab home from the airport, there was a credit card machine in the back. When I tried to use it, the driver said "Cash only." That was it. No apology, no explanation. Tell me again how this is preferable to using an app where I can see the rating and name of the driver, and my location is being tracked the entire time? Also I don't need cash, and I save money?
Even in this article that is sympathetic to the plight of the taxi driver, you can feel the distinct lack of introspection in industry leaders that brought them to this point. Ms. Desai is quick to blame Uber, Lyft, and a myriad of politicians, but never once does she or anyone else concede that their industry simply did not keep pace with the competition.
Instead of wallowing in self pity, they should focus on making the sweeping improvements necessary to compete with ride-sharing apps. Here is one idea off the top of my head: develop an app.
39
True.
For those like me who grew up in one of the outer boroughs, we were often kicked out of taxis by drivers who refused to serve us because we weren't going to a location in Manhattan south of 96th Street. Also, if you did see them in the outer boroughs, they would still ignore you and drive on by. Thankfully, services like Uber and Lyft now serve millions of New Yorkers that were for so long ignored. No sympathy for the yellow taxi drivers.
6
Taxis had a monopoly on transportation in big cities for too long. People that think of driving someone that does not have a car as a skill are wrong. Anyone can do it. Now that the internet has organized the people that want rides and the people that have cars, its over for taxis. Why would someone pay more to be taken advantage of in many cases. How many times did the cabby take the long way. How many times did I have to insist on a route because I wanted to save money. The body odor and the lack of courtesy of the big city cab drivers will not be missed. This revolution was long coming.
10
Ah, the warm and fuzzy capitalism. Let's leave thousands jobless so at the end, the consumer can save a few bucks. It's better to have a cheaper TV and thousands of unemployed in the States, than a solid manufacturing base with people employed and receiving benefits like health insurance and 401K. Those savings on the TV, a couple of bucks on Uber are really worth "disrupting" the economy and leaving families devastated, for the benefit of a few measly bucks of savings. The rich aren't suffering, to them, a couple of bucks less or more in negligible, but for those who do care, those most likely will end up unemployed, and then it won't make a difference how cheap that TV set is.
4
Would you really pay $3,000 for a 24" tv? That was thw 1970s price of made in USA ones, adjusted to today's dollars.
Good luck with that
1
I'm torn.
On the one hand Mr. Schifter got a raw deal from an industry that he'd devoted his life to.
On the other hand, Mr. Schifter sounded like a real pro, a conscientious driver in an industry that was sorely lacking in them. The non-English speaking NYC cabbie who lacked basic hygiene and any sense of direction has been a punchline for local comedians for years. Drivers who wouldn't take credit cards or break $20 bills. Drivers who wouldn't go to outer boroughs. Drivers who refused to turn their AC on in an August heat wave. Drivers who refused to pick up passengers because of their skin color. Radio car services that never showed up or claimed to have a two-hour wait for service.
When you have a monopoly, as the medallion owners did, you don't need to treat your customers well, because they have no other options. And if you follow that route, you can't start complaining when someone else comes in and starts doing the job you should have been doing.
Consumers vote with their wallets. They use services like Uber because they've learned that for all its faults, it's a far superior option than what was previously available.
13
I have been saying for a few years now that UBER/Lyft and other ride hailing services have made Manhattan into Karachi or Bangkok as far as traffic movement. In other words 3rd. World. The environmental impact alone of 15,000-25,000 more cars in Manhattan is devastating to our quality of life. "Congestion pricing" is just another Cuomo scheme to raise money. BAN UBER AND OTHERS.
8
I am very sorry for this man's death. But I must say that the price of a taxi in NYC has become outrageous and it was just a matter of time before some new technology lowered it. Competition is good. At some point, the price of a medallion will be fair and taxis companies will clean up their cabs (yes, many smell and are dirty) and became more competitive price-wise.
The system got out of control over the years and only Uber et. al. has brought it back to earth
8
I've never been a fan of Uber, yes its cheap but you are risking so much getting in the car of a stranger who has little to no insurance and a bare bones background check. What happens when you get in an accident? The cheapness and convenience isn't worth it to me and I think as uber matures more people will realize the dangers.
The question is, will the taxi companies still be around?
6
Perhaps instead of wishing the clock would turn back, these drivers might receive retraining and transition payments. Suicide is not the answer to changes in the economy, and government has much experience guiding auto workers, steel workers and coal miners to new careers.
4
How many horse and buggy operators killed themselves with the introduction of the car? One of the problems is the city held a monopoly with the issue of the medallions. Monopolies fall fast when confronted with a competitor.
3
It's a tragic story at a personal level, but at the macro level this is just another example of technology improving the efficiency of how things are done. No different than factories or white collar workplaces. Uber is nothing more than a technologically efficient car service, which existed and competed with cabs for decades before Uber or Lyft even existed. The only difference is that you don't have to call a dispatch number to book a ride. And on the other side, you don't need the dispatcher and radio system to try to figure out where cars are. Technology replaced those people and systems, but at the heart of it, Uber et al are dealing with the same rules that car service had to deal with albeit with fewer people, no dispatch office and better technology. Technology is changing the way we all live and work. No one is immune nor should anyone be protected by the forces of change. Let's move on and accept this is the new norm and it's really not that much different than the old way, other than it's easier for everyone and more efficient.
6
That’s not true. Taxi drivers have to buy medallions and charge a specific fee per mile as mandated by law. Uber and Lyft drivers are exempt from these restrictions. The technology is the only improvement. No one can support themselves driving for Uber or Lyft so that negates any advantage the technology gives drivers.
What NYC should do is get rid of medallions but keep a standard rate that applies to all drivers. This assures that drivers don’t get caught up on a race to the bottom and make a livable wage.
16
Rich - I don't disagree with you on medallions and cabs. What I was comparing uber to is the black cars, livery cabs and car service which have existed for years. You called a dispatcher and a car would pick you up. Uber replaced the dispatcher with a computer and use GPS to determine where cars are. I'll also note that these cars had restrictions on them, ie where they could pick up at airports and other places, and they couldn't be "hailed". However these services have been around for decades and have always been competition to cabs. And BTW - they still exist as well. Stop by any major mid-town law firm or investment bank at 9PM and you'll find them there.
4
I agree with the comment on eliminating medallions and making everyone pay the same rate per mile regardless of company, yet I would have the city return the purchase price of the medallions, to also level the field.
2
I sympathise but not so much that I want to pay far more for a cab. I never used to take taxis in London before uber et al came along. Technology replaced a big chunk of the taxi driver's skill set with sat navs, driverless cars will shortly take the rest and also replace all the uber drivers. Many other professions will go the same way, but the solution has to be support to retrain, and eventually a universal basic income, not trying to stop progress to preserve obsolete professions.
7
It is a tragedy when entire groups of people get displaced by shifts in technology, and unfortunately, it takes time for the regulatory framework to catch up to the new models.
Still, the taxi medallion model in New York controlled the supply of labor to inflate driver wages at the expense of consumers. This is an economic inefficiency, and is difficult for a market to sustain. The fact that the number of cars on the street increased nearly tenfold is a clear indication that there was way more consumer demand than supply of drivers.
Over time, it has become more clear to me that our government needs a more intelligent response to the trend toward independent contracting. By expanding the social safety net and by more tightly regulating companies that employ contractors, we can reduce the insecurity that contractors experience, while still embracing the benefits of a flexible and dynamic workforce. This will become only more important as automation pushes humans off of certain jobs completely.
There are a lot of reasons to feel nostalgic for the days when the world was simpler, and an "honest days work earned an honest wage", but even that narrative neglects the fact that many people were left out of the economy before. By nearly every measure, innovation has reduced poverty and increased health for society as a whole over the decades. Whatever solution we find, that solution cannot be a return to the past.
33
Many of us don’t want or like the so called gig economy. We are professionals trying to be professional. It is what is, we can’t change it, but I sympathize greatly with this peer.
55
When these companies started disrupting things my first question was are they unionized? And the answer to that question explained the low prices.
Out here in Seattle we’d tried a few rides with them but have gone back to traditional taxi companies. Now that many have been forced to create apps. We feel the professionals provide much better service and don’t get lost as often.
10
I learned how to drive a car at 16 just to be able to have any mobility in a New England rural area with nothing in walking distance and I’m sure 90% of Americans drive themselves to and from work every day (as a New Yorker I’m lucky and able to walk to work) but what this demonstrates is that driving a car is basically an unskilled job. The value-add in the city is the convenience of speed and no need for expensive and hard-to-find parking and unfortunately this has very little to do with the professionalism of the driver.
2
This is heartbreaking but one of the problems with NYC taxis is that it is always almost impossible to hail a cab at shift change, which starts just around 4pm and lasts until about 6pm (because drivers had to leave time to get back to their garages). This means that frequently when a taxi is most needed it can not be found. I'll generally hail a taxi if it looks like there are any free but otherwise I do use Uber. Uber allows us to actually find a crosstown ride to the dentist or doctor or whatever after school on rainy days etc. I think if the Taxi commission hadn't fought the ability to book taxi rides Uber would not have gotten such a grip on the city.
21
Yes, and what's one life when measured against the inconvenience of not being able to find a cab between 4 and 6 pm?
2
I don't think passengers who actually wanted a cab but couldn't find one are exactly the root of the problem.
2
Cab companies should have run noon--8 shifts.
3
Cabs vs Uber might be a fair competition, except for the medallions. The city sold these (for a lot of money!) promising their holders an exclusive right to do business in this space. They then let the competition in anyway, or at least were too slow footed to stop it. Now in a free market that promise was a stupid one to make. The old system stank, the answer isn't to kick out Uber and bring it back. The medallion holders do deserve compensation from the city though. Even though it was a stupid promise, the city did make it, and did renege on it.
522
Yup, well said. Government involvement in something that should have been market driven in the first place is causing the harm here...
1
Industries and careers have been upended since the beginning of time. I’m sure we could find buggy whip professionals who’s jobs were suddenly no longer. While I understand that many times people feel helpless, to place the blame on ride sharing fallls short. I’ve been ripped off by cabbies, sat in vomit and beer and been told off in several different languages. None of this has ever happened in an Uber. With a huge shortage of truck drivers, it’s not hard to envision-after some training- that there are other jobs available. No one promised cab/livery drivers a golden path. It’s up to them to make the most of their skills and knowledge.
20
Very sad story. But others have been displaced by emerging new businesses forever -- much more recently than buggy whips and blacksmiths. What about travel agents replaced by Travelocity and Kayak? Stockbrokers replaced by easy online trading? Hotel owners affected by Airbnb? There never has been, and never will be, a guarantee that your chosen profession will always be in demand, or that your investment will always appreciate. That is simply the result of a free market economy and innovation. The sad irony here is that the proliferation of "black cars" (livery cars) was opposed by yellow cabs in the 1980s as cutting into their business.
1
Disruption is profitable only for the disruptors-in-chief. The rest of us are cynically being sold a bill of goods with this term that's now on every whiteboard in every marketing department. Perhaps it should be on every blackboard in every business ethics classroom. Oh wait, that's an oxymoron, isn't it.
16
As sad as this story sounds, cab drivers need to understand that their method of transportation is dead. They either get with the times or go broke. You cannot force technology to go backwards. It's like telling people to stop using Netflix and go back to Blockbuster where they were charging customers $5 per ever new movie. Netflix allows you to see their entire catalog for $9.99 a month. There is no going back. Uber is cheaper, more convenient,and you know how much your fare will cost you up front.
We are a capitalist society, so cab drivers better act like it. I hate to see some go broke or even worse commit suicide, but you cant expect the government to shut down Uber and the likes so you business can survive.
41
I would agree with this were it not for the fact that the City sold very expensive medallions to drive a cab. If the cab drivers had not been REQUIRED to purchase the medallion, I would agree that this is an instance of 'things change.' However, the taxi drivers have had to fork over big money, again to the CITY, that uber/lyft drivers don't have to pay. This is not an equal playing field; the City and uber/lyft both benefit and the taxi drivers are the losers.
25
I am so sorry for Mr. Schifter and those who knew him. Considering how many of us have been shunted off into a gig economy in one profession or another, I am surprised that suicides haven't been more common in the last few years. So many of us are hanging on by our fingernails...
89
why was the taxi industry so tightly regulated if the powers were going to allow interlopers like UBER to just invade, willy-nilly ?
116
Excellent question. Thanks for asking it. It seems like there is a double standard now. This is the fault of de Blasio, who had brazenly carried Bloomberg's destructive mantle that has all but ruined NYC.
1
wow! But I did delete my Uber app about three years ago… For all two cents that’s worth.
13
I wonder if whalers protested and committed public acts of suicide when humans transitioned from whale blubber to oil. Progress always creates winners and losers. It's a sad fact of capitalism and commerce in general.
9
@Glen Manna: Hmm. I don't remember hearing about the whalers being forced to buy medallions to have the right to go whaling, though. Where does THAT fit into your analysis of capitalism?
4
Medallion holders were never guaranteed that there would be no competition. What they were promised is the right to be one of a limited number of cars that could pick up "hail" fares; they still have that right. Nobody ever promised them that time and technology would stop moving forward. Being rude, dirty, expensive and inefficient didn't help.
This is the ugly side of capitalism. Relentless, capitalism doesn't discriminate or choose specific winners or losers, it just rolls on. The ability to adapt is key. I'm sure that horse and buggy drivers felt the same as Mr. Schifter. One difference now is that the Ubers of the world are being financed in a way that speeds up the change. Uber and Lyft can offer rides at a discount (subsidized by investors) in order to corner the market a la Amazon. Hard to compete with that.
15
One of my friends bought a medallion. He made seventy dollars, on one day last week. It's not just the medallion drivers that are being ruined. One friend told me this week how they, as riders, insisted the Uber driver let them off in a forbidden zone. The driver was ticketed. I asked him if he at least paid the fine but he hadn't. I have heard from others drivers of their accumulating too many traffic points and of their not being able to make car payments and giving up, virtually bankrupted. I think it's hidden in the other noise of failed immigration plans, as these people often leave the US. When a nation allows law breaking companies to prosper, then it's on its way down.
22
This is happening in many places, not only NY and London. One time in FL a taxi driver told me the same, that he is barely making it with so much competition. Something needs to be done here. NY is a very congested city and putting more and more taxis in the street is going to make it worst. Feel so bad for Mr. Schifter. May he rest in peace and his voice be heard.
37
It saddens me when people are caught in difficult economic conditions and take their lives. It also saddens me as a person who uses a wheelchair that NYC cab company's have resisted ADA public transport laws since 1991.
42
Economic progress need not entail such pain among those on the losing side in a country as prosperous as the US. We have made a choice folks.
15
I am very sorry about Mr. Schifter but my experience with NYC cabbies has often been negative - some of them are real rascals. Did not have a single bad experience with Uber (except cancellations fur to traffic). There simply no contest in terms of efficiency and price. There is no way I'd go for a Yellow Cab now unless de Blasio bans all ride-hailing companies.
9
@Kai: It's only a matter of time before you have a bad experience with Uber, though you seem inclined to let them off the hook pretty easily. If you or your loved one were attacked or raped by an Uber driver, would you still feel the same way?
When I'm in an NYC yellow cab, I know the driver's name & license number, I have the cab number, and I know I can complain to the TLC if I have a problem - and I *don't* have to worry that the driver has my name, my home address, or any other info about me. I'll take a yellow cab EVERY time, b/c it's my safest choice.
2
While it is crushing to see such sadness and despair, it is not entirely fair to blame Uber/Lyft for this problem. What would happen when there are self driving cars on the road in 5 years? Why should there be an artificial entry barrier for earning a living as taxi driver? Why did some taxi drivers treat their customers with disdain, refuse rides to people in need etc etc and cause people to work on a disruptive technology? Many people I know use Uber/Lyft because they come home to pick you up (unlike Taxis) and not because they are cheaper.
Drivers who are being crushed by this disruption should not be blaming disruptors. They, after all, replaced the horse drawn carriages. We should all be collectively blaming the lack of a proper social safety net in this country. How many of these people would have considered taking their lives if we had universal healthcare and unemployment benefits to tide them over until they find alternative employment? My guess is very few, because I met these drivers and talked to them. They are way more tough and resourceful than we think they are. They just need a helping hand to get back up.
451
Completely agree. I often imagine what a different society we'd live in if we structured it around helping our fellow citizens in need, whatever the reason, rather than largely ignoring and sometimes even belittling them under a survival-of-the-fittest rationalization.
20
If taxi drivers had the security of a single payer system years ago they would have been more emboldened to quit & learn a new job instead of staying in a dying industry just to have access to healthcare
1
Again, another uninformed comment from the land of no public transport. Uber (and Amazon) exist only because Wall Street funds gigantic losses, caused by below-cost pricing to acquire monopolistic market dominance.
You're indeed right about the safety net but ridiculousy wrong about "disrupters". Henry Ford didn't give away cars. He made a profit on them. Uber makes gigantic losses.
3
In the days preceding his death, Mr. Schifter wrote about his decreasing faith in our politics and about his commitments to his spiritual life.
I am not sure of his spiritual life but I can tell you of a decreasing faith in our politics, Trump aside. Since Reagan, politicians have only one goal in mind - personal enrichment at the detriment of the citizen. So while I am sad Mr. Schifter took his life, his anger at our leaders is well justified.
25
Uber taking over market share is like putting a horse and carriage in a race against a race horse. The weight is not the same. Licensing fees, permits and regulation should be equal for both TLC-governed cars and Uber-type services. It's not a free market when half of the industry is hyper-regulated while the newcomers are free to run rampant - it's just sadistic. And not regulating newcomers contributes to traffic overcrowding and pollution. The city and TLC need to come to terms on laws, fees and emissions that apply equally to ALL drivers for hire, not just those chosen to bear a ridiculously unfair share of the burden.
162
This comment is spot on. I am disgusted about the comments that blame taxi drivers for not "getting with the times" while giving a pass to the government which has traditionally regulated ride-services. Clearly, the old model of medallions has been upended but Mr. Schifter (may he rest in peace) was right to raise the issue with the regulators. The medallions are no longer worth their original price. The city could issue more medallions and require Uber, Lyft and other ride hailing companies to purchase them. This would control the traffic jams and institute some order in the free for all that has become the ride "gig" hailing economy.
14
I agree completely. It is wholly unfair for one group of drivers to have to buy medallions, and be regulated within an inch of their lives, and a disproportionately larger group to escape all onerous rules. And yes, there is a obvious deleterious impact on safety, congestion, and the environment. I presume de Blasio has been richly rewarded by the likes of Uber and Lyft.
7
I think what's saddest about this is that these people have so invested their lives into driving that when that is no longer a viable living, they kill themselves instead of adapt, grow and advance.
Nothing stopped Mr Schifter from joining Uber or Lyft and or anything else. Nothing stopped him from making a move into a different career. I mean, my gosh man, he saw the writing on the wall years ahead of time, wrote about, yet never changed his ways?
At some point you just can't help people if they are unwilling to change. This isn't the fault of anyone other than those who are unwilling to adapt. It shows how utterly destructive the nanny state is. These people really don't' know how to actually make a life for themselves in the real world. Without the unions and commissions, they are just lost and hopeless. That is the real tragedy. That the "system" has grown men and women so dependent on it that when it fails, they can't comprehend going on with life.
That is the real tragedy here. Dependency on the system.
15
Just like the coal miners.
1
@bm: You had better hope that you don't get to be 60-some years old, with people depending on you, and have your livelihood disappear, only to have some keyboard warrior tell you that it's your fault because you are unwilling to change. I guess you've never heard of problems like age discrimination, difficulty getting loans, or the exhaustion that comes with aging for many.
6
Devastating. Uber, Lyft, Task Rabbit...the ease engendered by an iPhone as portal to the "gig economy" makes it easy to forget that - in many cases - we're playing a zero-sum game in which there will be inevitable losers. I can only wonder what would be different for those suffering as Mr. Schifter did if we lived in a country that offered its citizens a floor - we're constantly reminded of how lucky we are to operate in a society in which there's no ceiling to success, but the lack of a humane floor means we can fall very, very far. Too far.
23
This is tragic and has been building for a long time. If you ride around the city in yellow taxis as a passenger, you hear this story over and over. Why is the plight of these drivers invisible? They are desperate. And some are elderly, have worked for decades, have pride in what they do, have lived rich and varied lives. They are the poor we refuse to talk about. They have simply fallen out of the conversation. They die because those who can afford it have found a more convenient way to get around. What is to become of us all?
9
In every way, shape and form Uber and Lyft are taxi services, and they should be licensed and regulated as such, not only for fairness but for public safety.
137
Hello! Hello? I hardly think that killing oneself is the answer. How many, countless others including myself, live in debt and are one to two steps from the street. I am a high school teacher and live month to month. I left school with a forty thousand dollar student loan which I pay each month and will probably be paying until my death. The point being, as I am incredibly sad for this particular person to take such a radical step, money isn't everything! As much as we might be in love with the place we live, it isn't the only place to live. I know that a lot of New Yorkers would consider that thought blasphemous, but again, don't let money ruin your life either way. RIP, hope there is a better place.....
7
My work includes travel, have had an account with a NYC car service for 25+ years. I got to know many drivers, we became friends, and I've watched them deal with Uber -- at first cursing them -- but now many of the drivers drive for them 'on the side,' out of necessity.
I once sat next to an Uber exec on a flight from SFO to Dallas. He gave me a sales pitch and a $20 off card. He works in their corporate office in SFO, and I asked him if he ever drove a taxi: no. A limo? No. Ever work in hospitality? No. I asked what he did before he worked for Uber? Wall Street. I threw out the $20 off card at the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport.
Why should an ex-Wall Street guy in SFO with no hospitality experience get a cut of every driver's salary here in NYC? Because he knows how to crunch numbers?
Recently in Philly I had to hire Uber to go to a wake. I stayed at an Air B&B in a part of town where there was no other option. I opened an account on the spot, made a reservation, then sat on the porch waiting. And waiting.
Eventually my phone rang - the driver couldn't find me, said he was at the address (he wasn't; I was overlooking the street). When I repeated the address he said, "Oh, that's a very dark street. I can't drive down that street because I can't see in the dark!"
I told him to honk his horn and I would find him, which I did, and I helped him navigate (had to get there - no other choice).
I risked my life with a bad Uber driver; another ka-ching for a man in SFO.
28
"Disruptors" disrupt lives and livings. Uber is now a huge company...which owns none of the thousands of cars that drive under its brand. So they've learned not just how to get people to work for them (on commission) but to use their own property to do it.
The fallout from disruption is rarely the venture capitalists or managers (unless, maybe, they harass people). It's the ruins of other industries and economies that have been disrupted to death.
9
Taxi and limo driving used to provide an income you could raise a family on. It was a blue collar career. Now it is just another part of the collapsing middle. Our country rose on jobs like this for almost a century.
30
Yes, NYC has become a beacon above all others to the 1%. They rule the city and the city government's only job is evidently too make their lives easier and as convenient as possible. Everybody else can fall in line, leave or die. Up to you as it's a free country.
Keep hassling cab drivers who are licensed and experienced while letting all other livery services do whatever they want with no return to the city or any responsibility at all to others.
If I were a cabbie, I wouldn't look to harm myself. I'd look to harm the people and equipment who are ruining my livelihood. Smacking a couple of Uber drivers around and keying their cars would be a good start.
5
I've had bad experiences with cab drivers over the years. I prefer to pay Lyft directly with a credit card. Much harder to get cheated this way.
5
I stopped taking Uber or Lyft and now rely on Eastern Car Service which is family-owned right here in Brooklyn. They're also cheaper for trips to and from the airport. I have never been happier. Uber and Lyft are bad for our local economy.
15
I live in Manhattan so here at least I can get a yellow cab. When I have been in the outer boroughs and needed a car I have had fairly good luck with local car services, as long as I have the name & number of one to call.
4
Times are hard for those who drive for a living, and will be harder. People who drive for uber and Lyft tell me it's tough to make a living at it. When self driving cars come, these people will all be in the same boat as the taxi drivers.
This nation needs to get serious in dealing with people who are thrown out of work--if this is indeed the future we need to plan for massive unemployment and have some options for these folks, other than flipping burgers for subpar wages or relying on public assistance. Not everybody can just drop everything and go to college.
We know this is coming. It's just foolish to assume "the free market" will somehow provide. We have 30 years of experience to prove it won't.
7
I think society is crippling itself by key business decision makers not factoring in a genuine and real cost of labor. Current business thinking is many ways is being determined by relatively minute minds.
We obviously need far more robust minds, with far higher levels of leadership ability.
3
Riders prefer Uber/Lyft to a taxi because you can call it on the phone instead of having to hail it on the street.
This is prohibited by the TLC for yellow cabs - no calling. Why is calling a yellow cab prohibited? Because then the streets would be clogged with waiting cabs.
But calling an Uber is not prohibited. And the streets are clogged with waiting Ubers.
Why doesn't the city apply the same rules to Ubers as it does to yellow cabs? Lobbyists/bribes, I guess.
20
What's the problem with hailing a yellow cab? I have watched people standing on street corners in Manhattan frantically communicating with Uber drivers they can't find while scores of empty yellow cabs race by them.
7
A very sad story indeed. Perhaps if we had a national system of health care (like Medicare for all) Mr. Schifter would not have lost his health insurance and could have received counselling for his suicidal thoughts. We do need a system of employment re-training to help individuals who are thrown in to poverty by the "gig" system such as Uber and Lyft. The economy and job skill needs have changed so much that everyone needs to be prepared to be re-trained to switch careers. Sadly, we are all expendable.
16
Bring back Unions, decent pay, and the dignity of work.
77
It should be pointed out that the only ones to really profit from this economic disruption and human suffering are the Wall Street investors who will reap billions when Uber goes public.
18
Your sure those Taxi companies that can afford million dollar medallions aren't public traded on NYSE?
I still find it more convenient to hail a cab in New York than whip out my phone and start typing into the Uber app. Ususually I use Uber is if there are no free cabs in sight. Over the weekend an Uber ride from midtown to Columbia University actually cost me about $5 more than a yellow cab on the ride back. Now that I know the sad plight of cabbies in NYC I will always take a cab unless it’s absolutely impossible to find a free one. It’s like supporting an indie bookstore vs a corporate giant.
23
Your indie bookstore is a politically connected monopoly while your corporate giant is driven by a fellow Columbia U student trying to earn extra income after class. I think you have your comparison backward.
I have never understood people I know who just go for the reduced cost, and frankly, the fun aspects of doing things on one's phone. Makes ya feel like you have prerogative in life, doesn't it? Personally, if it's not transit, I much prefer to flag down one of the many taxis that have been and continue to be so available in this city and ride with someone who makes a life's work out of driving.
7
Just think about the implications of the idea that a taxi medallion used to be a reliably appreciating capital asset worth over a million bucks. Just five years ago, the supply of taxi medallions was so extremely constrained versus demand, that prices reached above $1.3 million, a value some 20x the capital cost of a taxi vehicle itself. There was obviously demand for more capacity, and many of us experienced the result: It took far longer to find a taxi in NYC than in downtown Chicago for example. Black sedan services (both legal and not) arose to meet the demand for those lucky few able to spend other peoples money to pay the much higher fares to opt out of the dysfunctional NYC taxi system. Of course something was going to change; plenty of people out there willing to supply a service that plenty of people were willing to buy, but unable to do so because of artificial constraints on supply. OF COURSE the market reacted to meet the unmet need.
It did not need to be this way. There were plenty of alternative scenarios proposed, including simply selling more medallions and distributing the proceeds of those sales pro rata to current medallion holders. But instead, the insiders kept squeezing the customers until eventually and inevitably, a competitive source of transportation services emerged, and killed the business model on which the insiders were relying.
Competition in a market economy can be brutal, but restraining competition tends to be a losing bet.
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A tragedy indeed that Doug Schifter’s life had to end like this.
Unfortunately trying to save jobs, such as that of a regular taxi driver, will not solve the problem of people over investing in a dying business.
We need to save people, not jobs!
Let’s face it we can’t promote innovation while trying to save the jobs that soon will be obsolete due to the technological advancement.
Who wants to do repetitive manual labor or factory jobs? Trying to protect these will only result in more tragedies like that of Doug Schifte.
Why not spend some of the taxes collected from the ride sharing businesses to buy back the taxi medallions to offset the economic burden on regular taxi drivers?
The self driving cars are a fact of the future so even Über et all will not last forever. Let’s take a proactive look at the future and invest in technological educations.
I thought it was only Trump wanted to save coal mining jobs and other low paying manual labor jobs.
5
Those wishing to operate a cab paid a small fortune for a medallion, which granted the right to operate a cab in the city. This was somewhat like buying a McDonald's franchise--you became part of a limited group that was able to enter a business. Then online services like Uber came along, apparently unencumbered by the need to buy this franchise. The value of the costly franchise is ruined, and the city allowed it. Is it any wonder that these medallion owners are in shock?
408
In those few big cities where such regulations exist, around here I bet they don't.
2
McDonald's is driven by market demand, if a block can afford four McDonald's there will be four McDonald's. Medallion is driven by scarcity not demand. We can clearly see how much demand there are based on new drivers entering the marketplace.
5
A McDonald’s franchise owner is fully aware that he still has completion from Wendy’s, five guys & all places that serve food.
Of course, it's not just taxi and limo drivers. Many industries once protected with established regulatory trade barriers to competition in exchange for professional standards of performance are feeling the pain of technology driven work-arounds of those barriers (see travel agents, retail workers, cable TV companies, etc.) Politicians have been happy to wink at the work-arounds in order to collect political tribute from both sides. This will get far, far worse, with greater impact on public safety and service performance, before it gets better.
213
One big fat race to the bottom!
10
Yes, it is the political wink and nod from Democrats to the donor class that has helped lead their traditional blue collar base to abandon them. One of these days American workers will finally wake up and re-establish the union system. The Republican/corporate cartel did the greatest propaganda job in history by killing the unions.
6
The race is to the up, you just have to aim for up instead of the past
The problem is lack of regulation from the very start of these transit businesses. Call them what you like, but they transport people in vehicles all over the city. You don't have to be a transportation pro to see the issues caused by unregulated drivers from Uber, Lyft, etc. In our city, not only has it decimated the taxi industry, which granted, needed improving; it has also been responsible for putting 60,000 extra vehicles on the road - 24/7. Our traffic has become horrific. This is a small city; we also have tons of Uber/Lyft drivers coming from towns outside the city because they can make more money here. Some sleep in their cars here. Why should they be driving here? Our city leaders bought into the 'sexiness' of the 'gig' economy, while never entertaining a thought about the negative impact and how to regulate these businesses. There are also huge personal safety issues and insurance issues entailed. I personally continue to use taxis. They earn more per ride than Uber/Lyft drivers. Taxi drivers don't need Google maps on their phones to navigate the city - they know it, generally they are better drivers and the taxis don't lay any surge pricing on the customer at certain times of day. Regulation, regulation, regulation is what it's about. Driving passengers is an industry, not an app.
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I too, use only taxis.
It's good to know that there are some of us hailers left.
5
We are a capitalist market place, little to no regulations. Would you rather we be socialist or communist?
2
I am a long time Chicagoan who relies on public transportation and taxis to make my way around the city. I refuse to use Uber or Lyft, and make a point of telling cab drivers that I take only taxis. I think of taxi drivers as the true knights and dames of the road, and they have my utmost respect.
10
Maybe Mr. Schifter's death can nudge us into occasional selflessness as consumers. Do we really need to save $10 or even $100 on an Amazon purchase and then insist on its delivery within a day or two after the order?
There is another form of giving besides donations to a 501(c)(3) org. If you haven't already, hiire a housekeeping or landscaping service once a month and give some work to someone who needs it. At the height of the 2007-08 recession, my wife and I borrowed the money to put to work a lot of out of work tradesmen to do a major, but optional, renovation of our house. I felt a quiet sense of pride one day when I came home from work early and saw 22 men working at one time--all depending on us for a much-needed paycheck.
So, next time you need a ride and are about to contact Uber, honor Mr. Schifter's memory and take a cab.
558
I understand your point, but to answer your question that you are asking, Yes. I 100% need to save $10 or $100 or even a single dollar and I want it at my house tomorrow. There are so many in this country that can not afford even a dollar extra in their purchases. I am all for mom and pop businesses. I worked for those places most of my life. That unfortunately is nostalgia rather than still an real option.
15
"I came home from work early and saw 22 men working at one time"
I'm happy for you, Maqroll, but forgive me for not following your advice. Hiring 22 men would bankrupt me.
In my observation, it's the wealthy who can afford benevolence to the point of absurdity.
38
@Mark: I don't see any proof that mom and pop shops are no longer an option. Where I live, Starbucks proliferated some years ago and put many small coffeehouses out of business. Even though Starbucks is a fairly responsible corporate citizen, though, people missed the uniqueness of local places and the fact that they kept the money in the community. There are now FEWER Starbucks stores here than there were ten years ago, and more locally owned ones. A lot of people are willing to spare a dollar here and there--even when they have few of them--for the good of their communities.
13
There is a stark reality here that most proponents of innovation have sought to ignore. Few recognize that the term "Luddite" originates from a class of skilled craftsmen opposed to innovation not because they feared the unknown, but because they recognized that the mechanization of their trade would destroy their livelihoods, which had been built upon a lifetime of skilled practice.
Even so, innovation is of great value to society. The Luddites were selfish in trying to protect their specialized talent from cheaper, more efficient competition. Technology has made simple goods so inexpensive that subsistence living could be a thing of the past.
And yet, it is not. There are still as many poor as there were at the start of the new tech era. As we have seen over and over technological innovation provides benefits unequally. Those too specialized, too old, too inflexible to be re-trained will not benefit. Where is the social safety net for these people?
More importantly, what if the 20th century was an abberation? What if the massive population growth and innovation that fueled exponential GDP increases and helped create the economical mobility that America is known for is a thing of the past, never to be repeated?
A betting man would predict that the current tech revolution will continue to benefit those with wealth more than those who earn wages. The industrial revolution provides the perfect precedent: we need only to look to the 19th century instead of the 20th.
63
The future is a bleak place so it is important to adapt to changing conditions. Those too fixated on the good post-WW2 booms will find themselves quickly obviates by technological and societal changes.
This is a devastating story -- I feel so sorry that Mr. Schifter was in such despair, and am sure that many others in this so-called new world of 'gigs' are in equal distress. We need to think about the impact of our changing economy on everyone, not just the people we know or who are most like us.
264
What’s sad is people that feel no value in being alive regardless of circumstances.
1
So considering people are not slaves what do you actually think the government can or should do about a gig economy? Making the economy grow with manufacturing jobs seems like the best alternative, get on board.
3
@Terry: I think that, if we took a survey of people who have to work 100 hours a week for any length of time, we would find that few of them feel much value in living.
8
This is such a sad story.
137
In the past, I have been ripped off by more taxi drivers than I can count, all over the world. My friends have told me stories about their negative Uber experiences but, to date, my issues with Uber drivers have been negligible. Uber provides a peer-to-peer review system and I know for a fact, when the driver’s reviews dip below a certain point, Uber will freeze the driver’s account. Uber provides accountability. Uber provides solutions to many issues plaguing the taxi system for both riders and drivers. The perceived “problems” brought about by Uber’s rapid growth (congestion, taxi decline) are caused by factors of a much bigger scale. For example, Las Vegas hotels have created Uber pick up zones. SFO specifically designated the Departure Level for Uber pick ups. Taxi stands exist all over the world. Where are the inner city Uber pick up and drop off zones? SF public transit is extensive and will get you anywhere...as long as you have two hours to spend and don’t mind riding in filthy vehicles with mentally ill homeless people screaming at you. If there wasn’t a demand, there wouldn’t be a supply. There is a demand for Uber for a reason. Uber’s rapid growth happened for a reason. Start picking apart the reasons for Uber’s growth. People can complain all they want about Uber but the Uber concept isn’t going away until the greater societal issues are resolved.
6
There is a demand for Uber for a reason.
yes there is a reason. they are cheap and so are their customers. like you.
be honest at least.
4
Our economic system should not be a free for all - chaotic and opportunistic.
The for hire ride market should be deregulated, with rules that create a level playing field for all participants.
And the more drivers in a market, the more costly it should be to offer ride services to reduce congestion and keep less than serious operators out of the market place.
Our streets are not a limitless resource and for hire drivers should have to pay fees to roam those streets, prowling for customers.
58
"Our streets are not a limitless resource and for hire drivers should have to pay fees to roam those streets, prowling for customers."
They do, Andrew. It's called income tax.
You want some regulations? How about we start with denying people who pay no income tax and don't serve access to shared resources, such as streets, roads, education, healthcare, etc.?
2
Al You mean like giant corporations?
More people would pay income tax (on top of the payroll tax conservatives conveniently ignore, ignore, ignore) if corporations paid their workers what they're worth -- which is everything, since without them the corporate managers & investors get nothing!
2
Information Technology is being used to make individuals less secure.
Corporations who put individuals to work as independent contractors are more profitable and LESS responsible. IT is used to transfer everyday business risk of low demand to individuals. When demand is low, workers are PUNISHED: they receive no compensation and no benefits. Firms have cash on hand to handle slow times, individual workers do not.
Put another way, the sharing economy enables consumers to spend less because everyday business risk is absorbed by individuals not corporate employers. Individual "independent contractors" absorb the business risk of low or non existent demand. They receive NO compensation for that. They have to purchase insurance to protect against accidents, not the corporation that contracts them to do work. They give up benefits that all full time employees have -- Independent Contractors are not entitled to workmen's comp if injured on the job and cannot collect unemployment comp when there's no work to do.
242
the "sharing" economy...
3
Seems like a smart business model.
1
Uber is not profitable. Nor was amazon until they put Main Street under. These companies are viruses.
7
This is awfully sad, but human history is creative destruction. When cave man put axles and wheels together, porters lost their jobs. When the Romans developed concrete, stonemasons lost their jobs. Threshers and harvesting machines eliminated the livelihoods of tens of millions of peasants. In the 50s, it took 35,000 Baltimore steelworkers to make the steel that 400 workers make today. Uber enabled people to use their private cars to give people rides, devastating the taxi business. And self-driving vehicles will soon displace the Uber drivers as well as whoever is left in the conventional taxi business. You can't blame anybody really. This is what human beings do. They get machines to do their work and then have to find new work.
81
There is much that needs working on in our country. We need to find a way to allow everyone to be of use and do good.
6
Uber enabled people to use their private cars to give people rides, devastating the taxi business.
not true. politicians and regulators let uber do this by not enforcing them to conform to livery regulations.
if they would have had to follow the rules they would have never started the business.
i have been a successful limo operator for 35 years. the only thing these drivers do is get in my way because they have never been trained to do the job properly.
most of them in the past most likely denigrated taxi drivers and now they think they are so hip.
they are gypsy cabs, which have been around for decades. and gypsy drivers never had to pay someone 25 percent.
9
Tom For dog's sake, the wheel was invented in the Bronze Age, not the stone age ("cavemen")!!! when people carried their own stuff, often on donkeys or horses, or else slaves carried their stuff on backs or heads -- & they went on carrying things that way long after there were chariots & whatever, as we know from ancient art.
Roman concrete was used BY Roman stonemasons! And many political, social & economic conditions contributed to peasant poverty in England on top of mechanical threshers' use.
And it's really moronic to say that humans need to find new work if they get the machine to do it; why would you get the machine if you needed the work?
No, humans do NOT invent machines to do THEIR work; rather, those with power substitute machines for OTHERS' work for them in order to increase their own wealth. First slaves, then machines, then wage-slaves, then more machines, then more wage-slaves, ad infinitem.
This is the pattern of human behavior.
Uber is NOT remotely a new machine! It's another version of the taxi but designed to hugely enrich the taxi co owner (Kalanick?) by switching operational costs from the owner to the worker.
You can't blame anybody really? Try Kalanick & his partner -- & all the other "creators" (let us bow before them.)
Let me guess: you're an investor. Poor ickle workers -- so sad when 'disruption' enriches me by impoverishing them. But luckily there's absolutely nothing they can do about it!!
4
It's heartbreaking to see the human toll. At the same time, anyone who couldn't see this trend coming ... it's time to pick up some new skills and adapt. Especially with unemployment near historic lows, the time to make a career change is now.
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Dear Jon,
Many humble people live in this country without least bit of entitlement. They desire to start businesses and own homes in a country that purports to allow that while many other countries may not have the access to capital, infrastructure or other necessities that make it possible. They don't expect anything except for you to tell them the rules and ensure that those rules are fairly applied so that they can use their innate intelligence to work within those rules to make a life for themselves and their families. And these people have every right to proceed accordingly with the skills they have despite often not having access to the quality of education that many privileged Americans take for granted.
What they don't deserve is to have the politicians that purport to represent and support their entrepreneurial spirit to then turn around and with the stroke of a pen legalize a new service that undercuts their businesses all for the benefit of greedy venture capitalists that have done absolutely nothing revolutionary. They have taken a taxi hailing app and then bought off politicians and drawn up some contractual loopholes that then permit them to not have to comply with the very regulations in place that are now taking food off the table of the small business owner.
Don't offer your token empathy and then pretend this was inevitable. There's nothing inevitable about it. This is the result of policies that favors capital over labor.
38
Take a look at how "employment" is tracked in govt. statistics. If I remember right, you are considered employed if you work 6 hours per week....
So what career change you have in mind for a 60 years old driver deep in depth? Incidentally, you might also want to look at the cost of a Medaillon that allows you to drive a cab in New York City.
16
Man is in his early 60's. Social Security is being pushed to age 67. No safety net for him, so he killed himself in front of city hall.
11
I still make a point to call for a taxi when I can. The cab companies, and their drivers, have to get on board with the Uber-type model that is so convenient. And, they need a national media campaign to remind consumers why a taxi should be first-choice.
320
absolutely! Cheap cheap cheap is what the richest people want and suckers like us pay the regular fair; how can the traditional taxi Industry redesign it’s appeal? (When we all know that it’s just: reduce the price, invent an app that becomes predominate, and wait for billions to follow your new marketing scheme… Heck even Colonel Sanders did a sex change… Who knew that LGBT would serve as a Fast food phenomena?)
2
The old system put money in the local government coffer. A medallion could cost 1.3 million. Given how much the medallion has depreciated in a few years, the local government is the only winner. The new system improves service but offers shabby jobs for drivers, not to mention problems with safety and congestion and other hidden costs to local communities. Power or money first, jobs second.
They have a great app called CURB
The subway and connecting buses will take you anywhere in the city for $2.75. I don't know why anyone would ever take a taxi or uber. I spent a year in New York a few years ago and never, once, took anything but the subway or bus.
If everyone did that, no one would have ever tried to earn a living as a taxi driver. They would have found more productive, and better paid and secure, employment.
26
I live in Indy and had no problem figuring it out, I agree on principle but many women and older folks fear for their safety in the Subway, especially at night.
The convenience of simply of taking two steps to grab a ride is there too, not to mention the tourists, who don’t want to or have the confidence to navigate the subway.
It’s also, mechanically, in horrible shape, is it not? At least that’s how the media portrays it from this far flung vantage point.
3
A healthy young man taking a subway or bus at all hours? Sure. Of course. But even healthy alert women can be targets when walking just a few blocks from a bus or subway stop late at night. Even worse if they've been out partying.
Ever try taking a sick child on the bus or subway? A pet to the vet? An elderly parent that can't walk well enough up or down stairs? Access-A-Ride is helpful, not everyone qualifies. Thus, a taxi is the next best thing when you don't own your own car..and even sometimes when you do.
15
Perhaps if you had lived in New York for more than a year you'd understand how completely unreliable the public transport system can be, and it only gets worse.
8