Uber brings hope to Orlando taxi drivers, fear to their bosses
By Mark Schlueb, Orlando Sentinel | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Taxi drivers, meanwhile, are wondering whether it could mean a better life for them.
It's been only five weeks since Uber brought its UberX service to
But those few weeks have been long enough to shake things up. Taxicab-company owners wonder how they'll stay in business -- and if they do, how much business will be left.
"Uber is an existential threat to the legacy taxi industry," said
But taxi drivers, who ferry around some of the nearly 60 million people a year who visit
Several cabdrivers who lease their cars from Mears or other taxi companies told the
"If Uber opened up right now, then all the companies are going to be without drivers. If you talk to 1,000 drivers, 950 will tell you they are going to go to Uber," said a Quick Cab driver who has driven in
Both the drivers and the taxi companies are waiting to see how
Mayor
In the meantime, the city has cracked down, ticketing 14 Uber drivers in the past two weeks and towing their cars.
Uber has promised to reimburse the drivers. Still, fear of tickets and towing has so far kept most taxi drivers from signing up with Uber.
"Let Uber come here. It's going to be good for the customer and the driver," said a driver for City Cab, a Mears company.
Drivers complain that it's hard to make a living behind the wheel of a cab in
Leasing a car ranges as high as
Drivers keep the fare -- rates are set by the city -- but must pay for gas and credit-card fees.
"We can't make any money," said a Quick Cab driver waiting for passengers outside the
Both taxi companies and Uber hold out the promise of good wages. On its website, Mears advertises that drivers could make
The reality could be much different, with lower pay for those who don't spend far more than 40 hours a week behind the wheel. Salary.com reports the median salary of an
Mears said losing drivers to Uber would hurt the company "badly," at least initially. But UberX drivers are using their personal cars, he said, and they aren't factoring in wear and tear on vehicles driven so much they'll need frequent oil changes, new tires and costly repairs.
"Under Uber's model, they're theoretically putting tens of thousands of miles on their vehicle, so at some point their transmission is going to go out, and they're going to have that cost," Mears Vice President
Vehicle upkeep is such a big part of the taxi business that Mears' plans for its new headquarters included a 53,500-square-foot maintenance garage, in addition to a two-story, 56,600-square-foot administration building; a fuel station; vacuum bays; a carwash; and parking for its fleet of vehicles.
Construction is stopping because company officials don't know how much business they'll lose to Uber. With fewer taxis, the company may need a smaller garage, less office space, less parking.
Mears is also fighting back, recently updating its own smartphone app to better compete with Uber. And the company commissioned a survey that concluded that Uber would not serve as many as half of the people in the
Even so, an Uber driver predicted so-called ridesharing companies are here to stay. Passengers prefer the clean, late-model cars that arrive when they open their Uber app, he said.
"Every person who gets in my Prius complains about the taxis: They wait forever to get picked up; they're unsanitary; the credit-card machines mysteriously don't work," said a driver who asked to remain anonymous because he signed a confidentiality agreement with Uber.
How it shakes out hinges on whether
For taxi and limousine companies, it comes down to the cost of doing business. Mears and the rest don't want to pay the cost of the city's regulations -- permitting costs, commercial insurance, airport fees -- if Uber doesn't have to pay, too.
"What we advocate is not that Uber go away, but that all of us play on the same field," Mears said. "Our industry pays the airport
[email protected], 407-420-5417 or Twitter @MarkSchlueb
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