The city of Austin, Texas essentially ejected Uber and Lyft – the ride-sharing services that have been disrupting the urban transportation model – to protect the local taxi cartel.
Austinians – while continuing to elect the special-interest-sodden Democrat hamsters that have made Austin “the Minneapolis of Texas” – are not amused.
Remember – government regulations are always less about safety than about making sure government controls the graft industry:
Now that Uber and Lyft are gone, Austin—generally thought to be a tech-savvy city—has instead put itself on the map for its ham-fisted governance. The city’s response is only making things worse. Last week it held a job fair for out-of-work Uber and Lyft drivers, at which it encouraged drivers to get fingerprinted and sign up for the only remaining ridesharing company in town, a local app called Get Me…In other words, the city used taxpayer dollars to promote the one private ridesharing company that chose to comply with its onerous regulations.
Austinians are, instead, flocking to “black market” ride-share sources on Facebook and Craigslist.
Where “black market” = “market solutions that serve the actual need”.
Which is pretty revolutionary, isn’t it?
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