Fuck Lyft, Fuck Uber, and Fuck the Gig Economy

[stormdog]

Another example of Lyft and Uber discriminating against disabled people, and another reason I won't use them.

Miriam has a friend who has a service dog. Her local organization that arranges transportation services for the disabled sent her a Lyft to go to work. The driver wouldn't let her dog in the car. She was leaning in through the window explaining that he was legally required to take her and her dog as part of his contract with Lyft when he STARTED DRIVING AWAY WHILE SHE WAS STILL LEANING IN THE WINDOW. She wasn't hurt, fortunately.

She already had an existing legal case against Lyft for a previous case of discrimination, and Lyft and Uber drivers both do these things regularly and the companies themselves don't give a damn and don't do anything about this.

"Gig economy" businesses need to be regulated just like every other business, or banned entirely. Just like AirBNB.

I need to stop the work I'm doing for Miriam's class right now and take a break because I'm too angry to work efficently.

Comments

[cmcmck]

I wouldn't use such firms as only registered cabs are properly insured here and have fully qualified drivers.

Airbnb isn't banned here but users are limited to how many days they can let for.

90 a year iirc.

[armiphlage]

Sadly, taxi drivers in Toronto frequently and openly refuse to serve passengers with service animals or mobility devices. Lyft and Uber drivers are just continuing the historic discrimination.

At least it is harder for Lyft and Uber drivers to cheat passengers, take unnecessarily-long routes, and charge fake fees.

[stormdog]

I had believed, perhaps naively, that holding drivers and companies accountable was much more doable when it's a taxi service instead of Uber and Lyft's "independent contractors."

[cmcmck]

Depends where you are,I suspect.

[armiphlage]

In Toronto, most taxi drivers are also independent contractors - or rather, exploited serfs. Although taxi license plates are supposedly non-transferable, the big taxi companies like Beck own most of the plates. When the city wanted to increase the number of available plates pre-Uber, Beck had taxis drive around city hall honking for a week. Beck then rents out taxis to drivers for hundreds of dollars per day. If drivers don't get enough business, they can end up losing money for the day.

[stormdog]

I'm glad AirBNB is restricted there. It's done such awful things to the availability of affordable housing.

[cmcmck]

That's true of second homes in general, sadly!

[dewline]

Others in my family trust Uber. I don't. And won't.

[stormdog]

That's another thing too: trust in my safety. I don't know if it's reasonable, but I feel like some random dude driving for Uber is more likely to harass or even endanger me as a trans woman then someone who works for a taxi company. As I said to Armiphlage, maybe I'm being naïve and/or uninformed, but I feel like there's more accountability for employees actions with a taxi company.