I’m not usually a big fan of Gov. Nikki Haley, but I’ve got to give credit where credit is due. In her letter condemning the Public Service Commission’s ban on Uber, she’s on the right side of history.
Uber is the most well-known company in the new business of ride sharing. In simplistic terms, Uber is like a 21st century taxi service: customers request a ride using an app on their phones and are picked up by drivers. In addition to using one’s mobile device to hail a cab (much better than trying to wave one down in the cold rain), Uber’s other innovative features include a driver rating system, live GPS updates on the driver’s location and electronic pay processing.
Uber also operates under a different employment model — Uber drivers are almost all part time, driving their own cars to pick up customers. Most drivers are college students or young business professionals looking to make a little extra cash in their time off.
What all this means for customers is that drivers have an incentive to create an environment that customers will enjoy — they’re polite, quick and keep their cars clean. And for the penny pinchers among us, rides from Uber generally cost less than their traditional taxi counterparts.
It’s easy to see, then, why Uber has become so popular at the national level. Only recently has the company expanded their operations into South Carolina, where they currently operate in Greenville, Myrtle Beach, Charleston and here in Columbia.
That is, unless the Public Service Commission gets their way. On Thursday of last week they issued a cease and desist order, requiring Uber to stop its operations throughout the state until they have waded through all of the Commission’s red tape, and even then only if the Commission is gracious enough to let them continue.
What’s the Commission’s beef with Uber, you might ask? I’d have to guess it’s got something to do with the large taxicab union and its lobbying arm. For years the established taxi companies have had an oligopoly (like a monopoly, but instead of only one provider there are 3 or 4 working together) throughout the state, and they have a vested interest in maintaining that control.
It should come as little surprise, then, that Columbia’s Checker Yellow Cab Co. and other taxi companies throughout the state have filed lawsuits against Uber with the aforementioned Public Service Commission.
These groups claim that they are looking out for the safety of the people of South Carolina, which (according to its opponents) Uber is apparently a threat to.
I agree with Haley that “restricting our citizens' rights to options and economic opportunities is massively detrimental to South Carolina." If I want to risk my life getting into the car with a stranger (who I have at least been able to select based on their reviews, which is more than traditional cab companies can say), that’s my right.
If I’m not forcing my decision onto anyone else, the Public Service Commission should keep its regulatory nose out of my business.