Make Safety Standards Universal

On Matthew Feeney’s first question, I don’t know the specifics of Uber’s background and safety checks, but I would want rules written into law. They should not be “Uber only” rules. The rules they apply may in fact be good ones, in which case they should be ones that are applied to the incumbent taxi industry as well as start-ups that may come to compete with Uber in future years. As I’ve said, I recognize the traditional barriers were often put in place in large part to protect incumbents, but the goal should be uniform rules that meet a public purpose. If Uber has largely designed those rules, that’s great, we can appropriate them from the company and apply them to everyone.

I think I’ve answered his second question, on how to limit the number of rideshare drivers, in my earlier reply.

Also from this issue

Lead Essay

  • Level the Playing Field - by Deregulating by Matthew Feeney

    Matthew Feeney argues that the right response to the rise of the sharing economy is often to deregulate legacy industries. Users and service providers alike have tools at their disposal that ease many of the worries that might otherwise come with sharing one’s car, kitchen, or spare bedroom. Meanwhile policymakers should recognize that older regulatory systems often amounted to favoritism. Taxi monopolies are only the most egregious example among many. A level playing field should be the goal of public policy, provided that this playing field does not impose arbitrarily burdensome regulations.

Response Essays

  • The Sharing Economy Must Share a Level Playing Field by Dean Baker

    Dean Baker points out how sharing economy companies have often received special favors, and he suggests what a truly level playing field might look like. While it’s hard to deny that companies like Uber have offered much-needed services, he argues that limiting the number of taxis in a city is still reasonable, that drivers must be guaranteed standard minimum wages, and that accessibility requirements must also be met. Anything less would amount to an implicit subsidy for one industry participant - in other words, exactly the sort of thing that conservatives should recognize as corporate welfare.

  • The Sharing Economy Is Propaganda by Avi Asher-Schapiro

    Sharing economies do not really exist, says Avi Asher-Schapiro. The glowing term really denotes downward mobility for the middle class. Formerly regulated and stable professional occupations are growing increasingly part-time and menial. Companies like Uber, HomeJoy, and Taskrabbit promote what is ultimately a servile class, one that must wait hand and foot on the desires of the wealthy. This is certainly not what we should want our society to look like. Such companies have succeeded in recent years in large part because many people have been otherwise unemployed. But if we want our economy to serve more than just the wealthy, then we should hope that Uber drivers and the like will exit the “sharing” economy in favor of something better.

  • Today’s Solutions, Tomorrow’s Problems by Christopher Koopman

    Christopher Koopman notes that firms like Uber and Lyft are already writing very comfortable regulations for themselves, rules that lock out competitors and hurt consumers. The results will be higher prices, fewer choices, and poorer service. In the longer term, it may mean that many companies can’t innovate by providing entirely new side businesses or related services - things like moving services, delivering goods on demand, or offering autonomous cars for hire. There is no clear reason why these things mustn’t be on offer, but regulation stands to forbid them before they even exist.

The Conversation