prop 1 failed

[sue_nami]

what do you think about Uber and Lyft losing the election. I bet they don't leave, or just do so a short time and return. I am glad they couldn't throw all that money out and buy the election. I'm glad it is over and think it was ridiculous they forced an election on us for just this one issue and cost the tax payers a lot of money. The voter turnout was super high for this too. resounding defeat.

[TittiesNBeer]

Lots of mongers drive for Uber as a source of hobby funds. I predict a negative impact on the hobby.

[David.Douchehurst]

Well, they wuz only a-tryin' ta get back whut they all-reddy got from the old Lee Laffingwell council. They paid thar munny an' got tha ord'nance they wanted frum tha old council. But the local taxi folks got pissed. So, tha taxi-fukkers went and paid off new Steve Adderall council ta get thar way wif a new ord'nance an' fukk ol Uber & Lyft back. So, Uber & Lyft tried ta put tha old Lee Laffingallthawaytathabank ord'nance back in effect.

It wuz never about outta towners makin' laws h'yar o'er tha demmycratic process. It wuz about if'n yer local yokel guv'mint is a-gonna get bought, it needs ta get bought by local bidness innerests furst! Face it, Ol'-Big-Ol'-Yummy-Tits-Sue, tha local guv'mint is all-ways gittin' bought by sumbuddy: Hotels builders, real-estate dee-velop'rs, toll-road builders, high-tech cump'nys, COTA F1 muthafukkas, etc., etc.

Now, Uber & Lyft is a gonna pull out whilst they try to knee-go-she-ate a new deal wif tha council. Whut's a-gonna be innerestin' is if'n thar's a big nasty DWI car crash thet kills sum nuns an' orphans. Thet's prolly gonna giv tha council an' tha folks that voted a'gin prop 1 sump'in ta think about an' put a l'il poop in thar party.

Whut Ah think mite happ'n is thet thar'll be a cum'promize laik whut's in SA. Thet the fingerprints ain't mandatory, but folks usin' Uber & Lyft will git ta put in a pref'rence fer tha drivers thet got'em took, if'n they e'en give a good gottdamm 'bout it inna furst place.

[chitowntransplant69]

I was thinking it was pretty low voter turnout for this. Only 88,241 votes cast, and Austin's voting population is around 700,000 (900,000 total with 22% under the age of 18), so around 12.6% turnout. It's pretty sad how few people actually get out to vote, in any election.

Lyft said they'll pause operations (but not stop?) on Monday, and Uber said they'll continue to run in the Austin suburbs. So you'll only be able to Uber between non-Austin cities? How is that going to work with any kind of enforcement?

[submarineracer]

Austin is a fucking freak town, now not only can you not carry groceries in a plastic bag, you can't get a cheap ride either?
Fucking loonies!

[MrBigD]

I like uber and lyft. The people it hurt were the cab companies, which was a good thing imo. You can't rate a cab driver and see how well he does his job. Uber and lyft provided that and more. Lots of college students, young professionals, and even older people worked for Uber and lyft as another source of income. The owners of the cab companies seem to have a lot of influence in this market.

[PartsInspector]

One fascinating thing about uber is that they do not provide any data to their drivers about vehicle maintenance costs. How good is that part time job actually going to be 2 years from now when you've used up your car and you still have 3 more years of payments to make?

I do NOT trust uber's motivations at all.

[MrBigD]

Originally Posted by PartsInspector

One fascinating thing about uber is that they do not provide any data to their drivers about vehicle maintenance costs. How good is that part time job actually going to be 2 years from now when you've used up your car and you still have 3 more years of payments to make?

I do NOT trust uber's motivations at all.

I understand what you are saying. I never did uber or lyft because of what you said. I'm just playing the devil's advocate, but how is uber and light's exploitation different than pizza drivers? Does uber and lyft compensate drivers for mileage added to their cars? I know if you keep track of gas spent as a driver that you can add it into your tax return (if you keep the receipts).

[Drealman832]

I abstained from voting because I thought the whole prop was a joke in the first place. Crony capitalism run amok on both sides

[nuglet]

I have a good friend that drives for Uber and makes a damn fine living. This whole Mafia Strong arm tactic by the city is typical of Austin now days. Austin used to be a much better town, and much much friendlier to free enterprise. Today, not so much.. There's too many "hill top" people.. by that I mean.. "I got mine, fuck you!!!" A couple of years ago there was actually a court fight about that.. A home owner built a house our on/near Lake Travis, then sued anyone that tried to build on adjoining lots, saying, "YOU'LL BLOCK OUR VIEW".. it's all b.s. Just like our property tax and countless "studies" done by city government to shove what they want down our throats, and then try to convince us that it is for OUR good.. goddamnit!!!!!

I will say, I voted for prop 1, but I contacted the Uber reps and told them they were shooting themselves in the foot with all the ads, texts, and phone calls. I think they actually would have had a better chance if they had not thrown so much $$ at the fight. Many people got fed up with the saturation ad blitz!!!
People like Ann Kitchens should be run out of town on a rail.!

[Yoloswagginz]

I don't like Uber or Lyft. But if you ever have any interation with the African refugees they have driving the cabs you can quickly see that U/L is a much MUCH better option that we no longer have.

[Congratulations]

If they leave some other companies will be here that will comply. They spent 8.6 mil on the vote but yet a background check is only 40 bucks. Seems like that money could have been better utilized.

[chitowntransplant69]

Personally I will never use uber or lyft. I don't want to give them tons of personally identifying information they can then resell to others (just like facebook and countless other bullshit "free" services I won't ever use). I frankly like that I can pay a cab driver cash as an anonymous passenger. And I have never had a bad cab experience in Austin.

Also, why is requiring a fingerprint background check for drivers a bad thing? Seems like it's only a good thing for people who use uber and lyft.

[GneissGuy]

I have little faith in the city government, but the tactics the companies used to buy the election were pure BS.

They acted as if having the city do background checks hurt the security of the passengers. So what if the city did a background check? Nothing stopped the ridesharing companies from doing their own additional background checks and other things to assure rider safety.

As for fingerprints, we all have to give them when we get a driver's license in Texas anyway.

There might have been some actual good reasons to override the city council ordinance, but the big money vote buying campaign screwed the pooch in my opinion. Maybe if they actually explained things instead of simply throwing dollars at the question, they would have had a chance.

What really pisses me off is that it cost us a lot of money to have an extra election. I don't see why it couldn't have waited until the next regular election.

[chitowntransplant69]

Originally Posted by GneissGuy

What really pisses me off is that it cost us a lot of money to have an extra election. I don't see why it couldn't have waited until the next regular election.

I agree!