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MONEY

Uber ride service would bring controversy

DICK HOGAN
DHOGAN@NEWS-PRESS.COM
Uber drivers are operating in Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami and Gainesville.

Uber likely will be coming soon to the Fort Myers area – and likely bringing with it all the safety and regulatory issues that have followed it throughout the country.

Uber officials say they're getting heat because the company is a threat to the traditional taxi and limousine service companies.

Traditional transporters say Uber, along with similar companies such as its rival Lyft, is unfairly ducking insurance and safety regulations – acting as a taxi company in disguise.

"You don't know what you're going to get" when an Uber car picks you up, said taxi company operator Judy Griffin, owner of Fort Myers-based SWFL Transportation Group.

"The public better pay attention to this," she said. "They don't care about the driver the way we do."

Uber's business plan is this: When it enters a metro area, it allows residents to get a phone application that shows where all the on-call Uber vehicles are at the moment.

The customer can then check out the Uber drivers and choose one to come over and provide a ride, much like a taxi.

But it's not exactly the same thing, Uber spokesman Taylor Bennett said.

"They're independent contractors," he said. "We don't hire drivers. We're a technology company. We provide the app that they use, that connects passengers with drivers. They have the flexibility of being their own boss."

Uber drivers are operating in Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami and Gainesville.

But not everyone sees it that way.

Uber's business practices raise questions everywhere they go, said Dave Sutton, a spokesman for the Washington-based Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association.

"It's a little bit of a back-and-forth thing," He said. "It's a real battle."

The most common beef critics have with Uber is the company's policy of hiring individual drivers who are covered by their own insurance policies – which typically cover only non-commercial use of the vehicle.

That means most policies won't pay for injury or financial costs that occur when the passenger is in the Uber car.

Bennett said Uber provides a backup insurance policy covering drivers if their own insurance doesn't cover an accident.

But Sutton said Uber instructs drivers to direct passengers to the driver's personal insurance – and drivers could lose that insurance if they admit to using their cars commercially.

Bennett said there are no immediate plans for Uber to come to Southwest Florida, but that generally the larger metro areas in a state get service first, then the smaller ones.

So far, in Florida, Tampa, Jacksonville, Miami, Gainesville and Orlando have service.

Uber's future is unclear, with rapid expansion that's occasionally interrupted by government bans: at present, the service is illegal in the country of Germany although Uber is appealing the court decision.

Don't write off traditional taxi services just yet, Griffin said.

Nothing can compete with the accountability that comes from local ownership, she said, scoffing at claims of technological advancement.

"We have an app here, a local app," Griffin said. "You hit the app and we answer the phone. We have dispatchers 24 hours a day."

UBER AT A GLANCE

• What: Provides rides to passengers using independent contractors using a phone application

• Where Based in San Francisco; operates in 42 countries and more than 200 cities around the world

• History: Founded in 2009; officially launched in San Francisco in 2010

• Conflicts: Taxi and insurance groups argue that Uber improperly circumvents regulations intended to protect passengers and drivers.

Connect with this reporter: @DickHogan (Twitter) or email dhogan@news-press.com