This might sound as bold as declaring oneself both a Catholic and a Protestant in the 1950s, but I’m a taxi person and an Uber person. I toggle between them. That might lower my passenger rating from one star to zero, but I’m anybody’s.
I support competition. Sydney Airport taxi drivers went on strike last week when Ubers were given a nearby pick-up zone at the international terminal. This came as a surprise to me.
I’d thought Uber’s pick-up zone was by the baggage carousels, men sidling up with subsonic offers. Drugs? Favourable exchange rates? No, disappointingly, just shady cut-price rides. Illustration: Dionne Gain Credit: Uber drivers in airports have long been agents of me-first neoliberalism.
Here’s your choice: join a line to pay a fare to a worker who’s been patiently queuing for an hour or more, or sneak out with a “disruptor” who’ll save you five minutes and 20 bucks. You’ve been through two airports , to fly . And now five minutes and 20 bucks mean that much to you that you’ll screw an orderly system where drivers are just trying to make a living? Now Uber drivers have their own zone and the taxi industry is forecasting its demise, again.
So much for airports (in Sydney, take the train). Out in the world, there might be plenty of complaints about unreliable taxis but Uber has created science fiction in real life. Last week, my beloved had to go to a work event in peak-hour traffic.
I drove her part of the way but got stuck. She bailed on me.
