• Cab drivers block Lisbon airport in anti-Uber protest
    40 replies, posted
Short article. [quote]Thousands of Portuguese cab drivers blocked access to Lisbon international airport on Monday to protest government plans to regulate alternative ride-hailing services like Uber, and vowed to maintain their blockade until their demands are met. Travelers arriving in Lisbon queued for hours to buy metro tickets to the city center as protesters kept competitors from U.S.-based Uber and its Spanish rival Cabify from getting to the airport, attacking those who tried to pick up or drop off passengers with stones. Several cars were badly damaged. At one point, protesters scuffled with police, who used tear gas, fired blanks and arrested three taxi drivers. Violence subsided when representatives of the drivers' unions were summoned for talks with Environment Minister Joao Pedro Fernandes. But Carlos Ramos, head of the Portuguese Taxi Federation, told reporters after the meeting all the unions got from the government was "a fistful of nothing" and said protesters will not leave the area of the airport. The minister said that although the meeting was productive, "deep divergences remained" over cab drivers' demands to impose limits on the number of cars not identified as cabs, which would give taxis an upper hand. He would not say when and if a next meeting would be scheduled. After a court in June overturned a previous ruling that had banned Uber in Portugal, Prime Minister Antonio Costa has said he wants to regulate the app-based services, introducing compulsory training for drivers, shorter than that required for normal taxis, and making them pay insurance for passengers. [/quote] [img]http://static.globalnoticias.pt/jn/image.aspx?type=generate&name=big&id=5434082&source=&w=744&h=495&t=20161010204500[/img] [img]http://s2.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20161010&t=2&i=1156900277&w=640&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&sq=&r=LYNXNPEC9917E[/img] [t]http://static.globalnoticias.pt/storage/TSF/2016/big/ng7698702.JPG[/t] [t]http://static.globalnoticias.pt/storage/TSF/2016/big/ng7698800.JPG[/t] [t]http://static.globalnoticias.pt/storage/TSF/2016/big/ng7699166.JPG[/t] Sources with more images: [url]http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-portugal-protests-uber-idUKKCN12A1YX[/url] [url]http://www.euronews.com/2016/10/10/portugal-taxi-drivers-protest-against-uber[/url] Pretty awful, one Uber car was surrounded by protesters and caused quite a bit of terror for the passengers. Doesn't seem like these people will stop regularly protesting until someone finally does what they want. They go on about how they "just want Uber to abide by the same regulations we do, with proper driver training and insurance" but it all comes off as very dishonest, it seems they just want that because they believe it will lead to Uber prices matching those of the stupidly expensive taxi service, and they know that people don't want to pay that money. After a few protests, the government stepped in and applied measures such as not letting Uber cars use the bus lane, use taxi squares etc. but apparently that was still not enough.
my favorite part was people being forced to use Uber and Cabify because there weren't any taxis available great protest strategy
Nothing is quite as satisfying as watching old obsolete business models crumble.
[QUOTE=Cructo;51184369]Well then they should protest against these regulations and not against Uber.[/QUOTE] I also like how at no point in these protests was [I]the customer[/I] even mentioned
wonder how cabbies will react when self-driving cars grow in prominence
That's a pretty scummy thing for the cab drivers to block access to an airport.
I think they're still blocking the airport btw, the police told them either leave or we'll force you, I'm not watching the news so I don't know if they have done anything yet
Pic of uber car after the taxi drivers were done with it [t]http://static.globalnoticias.pt/storage/TSF/2016/big/ng7699166.JPG[/t]
I like how they think the weakest kind of domestic terrorism out there is the best way to stop Uber from taking over the cab market.
[QUOTE=*Freezorg*;51184334]Pretty awful, one Uber car was surrounded by protesters and caused quite a bit of terror for the passengers. Doesn't seem like these people will stop regularly protesting until someone finally does what they want. They go on about how they "just want Uber to abide by the same regulations we do, with proper driver training and insurance" but it all comes off as very dishonest, it seems they just want that because they believe it will lead to Uber prices matching those of the stupidly expensive taxi service, and they know that people don't want to pay that money. After a few protests, the government stepped in and applied measures such as not letting Uber cars use the bus lane, use taxi squares etc. but apparently that was still not enough.[/QUOTE] I'm glad Uber exists and is providing better cab services to people, but it's pretty understandable that people are upset that their careers are being destroyed by a startup that abides by none of the regulations and laws that actual cab companies are subject to. How are cabs possibly supposed to compete? It'd be like some food startup that was putting restaurants out of business by offering extremely cheap food because they weren't subject to health and safety regulations, licenses, inspections etc. The cab industry has its share of service-oriented problems that lead to Uber being a superior service, but in terms of Uber's price-gouging and putting legitimate cab companies out of business, they do have a valid complaint that clearly isn't being addressed adequately by the government.
[QUOTE=srobins;51184441]I'm glad Uber exists and is providing better cab services to people, but it's pretty understandable that people are upset that their careers are being destroyed by a startup that abides by none of the regulations and laws that actual cab companies are subject to. How are cabs possibly supposed to compete? It'd be like some food startup that was putting restaurants out of business by offering extremely cheap food because they weren't subject to health and safety regulations, licenses, inspections etc. The cab industry has its share of service-oriented problems that lead to Uber being a superior service, but in terms of Uber's price-gouging and putting legitimate cab companies out of business, they do have a valid complaint that clearly isn't being addressed adequately by the government.[/QUOTE] Then it's clear that regular taxi services have become bloated with bureaucratic nonsense that needs to be cut down and a solution needs to be found that makes it cheaper for taxis to operate. Uber's business model is a lot more 21st century and I'd hate to see it be brought down rather than having it make everyone else step their game up.
taxis here were I live cost a fuckton to ride, easily 50 euros to ride just 30km and its just not worth it when I can call a guy from uber and ride the same distance for less than half the price, progress is happening and taxi companies have to adapt.
[QUOTE=srobins;51184441]I'm glad Uber exists and is providing better cab services to people, but it's pretty understandable that people are upset that their careers are being destroyed by a startup that abides by none of the regulations and laws that actual cab companies are subject to. How are cabs possibly supposed to compete? It'd be like some food startup that was putting restaurants out of business by offering extremely cheap food because they weren't subject to health and safety regulations, licenses, inspections etc. The cab industry has its share of service-oriented problems that lead to Uber being a superior service, but in terms of Uber's price-gouging and putting legitimate cab companies out of business, they do have a valid complaint that clearly isn't being addressed adequately by the government.[/QUOTE] You know honestly meal sharing sounds like a really cool idea. A lot of recipes can require items that make single person prepositions impossible, so having a app that setup private dinners between a group of people would be really nice and could help you afford a meal you otherwise couldn't get due to the ingredients costing to much.
Wow we just had vacation there a few weeks ago. Tried out Uber for the first time (don't have it where I live yet). Saved us a ton of time and money and the drivers were all super friendly. It was actually back in Italy (Milano) where an Uber driver told us that taxi drivers there try to block Uber cars' roads, insult them, even throw stones. It's nuts. Uber driver even called us when he came to pick us up to ask us to move away from the spot where we stood since there were a lot of taxis there. Never had anything but pleasant experiences with Uber so I'm very sad those people get treated like this by taxi drivers.
I'd like to take this opportunity and say Uber is amazing
[video]https://youtu.be/_wJLIhURERI[/video]
The original protest was meant to be just a peaceful ride all over Lisbon ending with a walk to the Parliament, but then they decided to hunker down at the airport when I guess they spotted Uber drivers working there and then shit got violent, now it's at a standstill. Last year at another Taxi protest there was even protesters going violent on non-protesters, I wouldn't be surprised if this time some taxi drivers didn't go to work just because they feared retaliation from the protesters. These guys are doing no favors in improving the taxi driver image by acting like this. There was even a protestor admitting to speeding just to get to the protest, imagine that, a taxi driver admitting to speeding on fucking TV, good job there.
The worst part of it all IMHO is that Uber and Cabify are actually law-abiding services that do need insurance and have regulations to operate. In Portugal, Uber just uses third party local companies who do need everything in order. Taxis are just mad butthurt because there's an equally or superior quality service for about half the price they charge, which is absolutely bloated. [editline]10th October 2016[/editline] Plus, not trying to stereotype every Taxi driver but in general, Uber drivers are just so nice in comparison. And they don't drive 30 year old, 1 million mile cars 20km/h above the speed limit with you inside.
maybe all those taxi drivers should drive for uber
i'm not saying that uber isn't actually a better solution, especially for the customer but this is really about their profession and income being degraded. uber driving is marketed as a very well paid job but actually it turns out to be below minimum wage for most drivers especially when considering fuel and maintenance costs (not to mention the risks of car breakdowns, crashes or aggressive passengers). these dudes are literally about to suffer a considerable income loss or even lose their jobs as it makes more sense from a business management perspective to lay off people rather than cut wages. these are the dying throes of a profession (not to say off taxi drivers were super well of before, now they wont be even that).
[QUOTE=Falchion;51185170]i'm not saying that uber isn't actually a better solution, especially for the customer but this is really about their profession and income being degraded. uber driving is marketed as a very well paid job but actually it turns out to be below minimum wage for most drivers especially when considering fuel and maintenance costs (not to mention the risks of car breakdowns, crashes or aggressive passengers).[/QUOTE] Actually Uber pays around 3.5x the minimum wage (in Portugal at least).
After years of being a taxi kind of guy, I finally took my first Uber ride last Wednesday coming back from a Madeon/Porter Robinson concert at Aragon. I took a taxi there, but there weren't really any nearby after the concert, so I decided to give it a shot. Quite honestly, it was the most pleasant transport ride I've ever had. The driver was honestly the most friendly (and absolutely hilarious) person I've ever seen while working. The car didn't smell like a cumdumpster, and despite ordering one of the regular cars, it was actually one of the nicer ones I've ever been in. Radio was off, dude's phone rang, he actually swiped [I]left.[/I] Maybe that was a lucky/one-off kind of thing, but I'm more or less certain I'll never be taking a cab again if that's the consistent standard for Uber.
[QUOTE=Monkah;51185270]After years of being a taxi kind of guy, I finally took my first Uber ride last Wednesday coming back from a Madeon/Porter Robinson concert at Aragon. I took a taxi there, but there weren't really any nearby after the concert, so I decided to give it a shot. Quite honestly, it was the most pleasant transport ride I've ever had. The driver was honestly the most friendly (and absolutely hilarious) person I've ever seen while working. The car didn't smell like a cumdumpster, and despite ordering one of the regular cars, it was actually one of the nicer ones I've ever been in. Radio was off, dude's phone rang, he actually swiped [I]left.[/I] Maybe that was a lucky/one-off kind of thing, but I'm more or less certain I'll never be taking a cab again if that's the consistent standard for Uber.[/QUOTE] Every Uber I've taken so far (which is about nearly 35 times now) have all been pleasant. The car was tidy, Radio was low or off, driver was friendly and chatty and they even offer tictacs, water or tissues which is really great hospitality. Not only that they all take the convenient route that Google maps recommends and the prices are fantastic especially for short travels. I'm never going back to the taxi
Seems like the taxi drivers remained blocking the roundabout throughout the night and morning. Not sure if they're still there.
That cop in the pictures needs to be sent back to basic, that trigger discipline is gonna kill someone someday.
[QUOTE=Crimor;51187477]That cop in the pictures needs to be sent back to basic, that trigger discipline is gonna kill someone someday.[/QUOTE] Probably blanks, and it seems like he was ready to use them at any time. Confrontations with police were intense yesterday, and the article does say they were firing blanks.
here comes the luddites on wheels
What are they gonna do once self-driving cars roll out, then? Camp outside Tesla Gigafactories and throw rocks?
[QUOTE=nVidia;51184364]Nothing is quite as satisfying as watching old obsolete business models crumble.[/QUOTE] uber isnt exactly the shining beacon of good employment either. the taxi industry has for decades moved towards large, consolidated and closed off workforces through limited certifications, jacking the price on medalions, and other horrible practices but uber purposfully skirts labor regulations and tax regulations to lower their costs
here's a quote from one of the protesters: [QUOTE]Laws are like virgin girls, they're meant to be violated[/QUOTE] stupid fuck
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