As taxi drivers across the country protest bylaw changes that would accommodate Uber, the ride-sharing company’s chief adviser says Uber is good not only for customers and cities, but also taxi drivers themselves.
David Plouffe said in an exclusive interview with Lisa LaFlamme, the Chief Anchor and Senior Editor for CTV National News, that he believes the growing popularity of ride-sharing means “the market for people using for-hire vehicle transportation -- whether it’s taxi, limo, or ride-sharing -- is just going to grow.”
“There’s a big enough pie here for everybody to be successful,” said Plouffe, who is best known for his work as Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign manager.
“This isn’t a choice between either (taxis or Uber)” he added. “We just become part of the ecosystem, and quite frankly the more people that give up personal car use or reduce it, that will be good for the taxi industry too.”
Plouffe also said there are certain types of taxi customers that Uber isn’t focused on.
“We’re not growing because we’re competing for the stagnant taxi business around a financial district or outside five-star hotels,” he said, adding Uber’s “value proposition” is in low-income areas and suburban areas he calls “transportation deserts.”
Plouffe also pointed out that “we don’t do street hails.”
In addition to growing the pie, the Uber evangelist said the company’s rise offers taxi drivers more potential income.
“For a taxi driver, they now have more choice,” he added. “They can still choose to drive for that taxi company but also drive for Uber and our competitors.”
Plouffe also said that half of the 16,000 Uber drivers in Toronto are driving for less than 10 hours a week, insisting many are retirees, teachers and students.
“They’re not doing this for a living, much less a career,” he said. “They’re doing it to earn a little more income.”
Safety concerns
Plouffe also addressed concerns about safety, after a high-profile sexual assault allegation against an Uber driver in the Toronto, which followed similar incidents in other cities.
Plouffe said that Uber is safer than taxis because it’s less “anonymous.”
He said that in a rare instance where something goes wrong in an Uber vehicle, “everything is known about ride: who was in the car, rider and driver (and) what the route was; it’s completely GPS tracked.”
That means Uber can provide a lot more information to police than they would normally have, he said. “There’s not a city-wide manhunt based on what shirt they were wearing and what radio station they were listening to.”
Benefits for cities?
Plouffe offered another reason he thinks politicians should get along with Uber. He said that taxi drivers traditionally take cash, which leads to under-reporting of their incomes.
“We are cashless,” he added. “From a tax and fiscal standpoint … you’re going to have a higher degree of compliance.”
Toronto votes next Wednesday on a framework that would allow Uber to operate within the law.
Some city councillors are on side with taxi drivers who argue that Uber will kill their businesses.
Cabbies held yet another protest in Toronto on Wednesday. A day earlier, protesters in Edmonton disrupted a city council meeting about Uber, with some drivers ripping off their shirts to symbolize that they believe a bylaw change would take the “shirts off their backs.”
Plouffe said he’s “hopeful and confident” that Uber will be regularized in Toronto. “Fourteen months ago in the U.S. there wasn’t a single new law around ride-sharing,” he added. “Now there’s 60.”
