It seems to me that so-called ride-sharing 鈥� the likes of Uber and Lyft 鈥� are operating under false colours.
Ride-sharing, at least to my understanding, occurs when I offer a ride to someone who is essentially going the same place I am, or along the way, at the same time that I am travelling.
The moment I start going out and seeking riders, no matter their destination, I鈥檓 offering taxi service 鈥� and I should abide by the rules of that.
If Uber and Lyft want to do that, let them come in, honestly, as taxi operators and act accordingly. I can see no justification for some sort of second-class taxi service, undercutting the wages of drivers trying to make an honest living as taxi drivers.
If there is a perennial shortage, then either we need more taxi licences, or we need to upgrade our transit services, to obviate that need. Possibly, the answer is both.
What we don鈥檛 need is a cut-rate operator undercutting both, for convenience and cost.
I am neither a taxi operator nor an owner. I鈥檓 just an ordinary citizen, who sees what looks like a scam.
John A. Laidlaw
Victoria
