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The Portugal News: Taxi drivers get one over Uber

“It’s about putting the interests of medallion millionaires above those of New York’s riders and drivers”, Mohrer said at the rally.

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“It’s easy to see 100,000 new for-hire vehicles licenses operating in New York City, if the current trend were to hold”, he said.

TORONTO – An Ontario judge has sided with the ride-hailing service Uber in its legal dispute with the City of Toronto.

The bill was sponsored by Councilmen Stephen Levin and Ydanis Rodriguez.

According to Uber’s New York’s General Manager Josh Mohrer, who spoke at the protest, the proposed bill doesn’t make any sense. Traffic is slowing. Harmful emissions are increasing. “We urge City Council to take immediate measures to ensure fairness for the 10,000 licensed taxi drivers of the City”, wrote Amarjeet Kaur Chhabra, the union’s executive director, in an email. To accurately assess the extent of this harm and conduct a properly controlled study, those in favor of the bill say, a cap on FHV growth is necessary. “Being a developing city, Nagpur is an important market for us”. About 60 people were at the rally, but it seemed most were Uber affiliated.

“Doesn’t matter what they say, in plain language Uber is doing what the taxi industry does so in other words Uber is doing the taxi’s job”. The study would focus on the FHV industry’s effect on traffic, air quality, and noise. “Let’s acknowledge what’s really going on”.

The company suspended its service in France on Friday in the midst of sometimes violent protests by French taxi drivers.

“Right now, Uber has free rein”, she said. “Here, they call it a relationship”.

“Questions of what policy choices the city should make or how the regulatory environment ought to respond to mobile communications technology changes are political ones”, he said. Before the event, Uber offered free rides to those who were willing to come out to City Hall.

They concentrate on driving instead of chatting on mobile phones.

However, Toronto et al may be the least of Uber’s worries. Congestion has been an issue in New York City for decades, and the current mayor has yet to sign on to a popular-among-advocates congestion pricing proposal promoted by (Gridlock) Sam Schwartz. They don’t know yet. “Uber is not the only company that’s been growing lately”, she said.

If you’re Uber and stand to lose thousands of prospective drivers from such a study, all of that is hardly reassuring.

Uber also contended the legislation would “kill” some 10,000 jobs. Every week, 25,000 New Yorkers take their first Uber ride, he told the crowd.

Company lawyers argued in court that it does not need to be licenced as a taxi brokerage because it does not dispatch drivers, but simply operates a ride-sharing app that connects drivers with riders. Those forces include surging numbers of trucks making deliveries from Amazon and other on-demand platforms; a huge growth in intercity buses and tour buses; and a vast amount of street space that’s been converted to bus lanes, bike lanes, and pedestrian plazas. He added, “Besides, a real time GPS tracking system will also be one of the key security features for passengers, as it will help passenger’s relatives track the running status”. Uber representatives encouraged the city to look at all the causes of congestion.

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Research doesn’t work like that.

Uber Offers Free Rides to Its New York Protest