El Paso Inc. wrote in their Monday, September 22, 2014 post (www.elpasoinc.com) that Uber is now operating in El Paso.
Uber is a jitney service where people can use their smart phone to arrange a ride instead of taking a taxi. Users say that the service is quicker and more convenient than using our traditional taxi companies.
Part of the Inc. post included this:
“I’m all for it,” said city Rep. Claudia Ordaz, City Council’s newest and youngest member. “I think this is a good opportunity for the city to look at the vehicle-for-hire-regs and maybe revamp them so that services like this can abide by the rules.”
Our city representative says that she’s all for the new service, even though it appears to be illegal to do this in El Paso.
Rules
Many of our elected officials seem to have difficulty remembering that our laws must be obeyed. If we don’t like them we should change them. If this service is truly illegal in El Paso, then what she said is irresponsible. A better response might have been “the City needs to look into how we want to handle this. I think that I would vote for an ordinance that would allow Uber to operate legally”.
Instead what we saw was a city representative once again deciding that they have the authority to violate or encourage others to violate our laws.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
Well, this is new. I disagree with your statements, for a change. First, you tell us what she said: (“I think this is a good opportunity for the city to look at the vehicle-for-hire-regs and maybe revamp them so that services like this can abide by the rules.”) Then, you try to say that she did not say it! She said the appropriate thing, from your perspective! Personally, I don’t like what she said, because it implies that the greedy City Council thinks they may have found yet another revenue stream; something else they can tax and charge fees for use.
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John,
I guess that I messed that up. If it is illegal then the city representative should not condone it. Yes, I suspect that they will try to find a way to tax this also.
Brutus
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Uber has been around for several years and by this time, every city has tried to sue them to regulate or collect taxes to no avail.
I’m sure our Progressive City Attorney will create some scheme, bless her heart.
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Uber operates in most all “larger” cities without a problem.
If the Taxi drivers are now “Horse and Buggy” oh well, too bad.
Uber requires full insurance and has requirements.
I hope there is not “another tax” the city wants to drum up to “regulate” Uber.
How can you regulate an Internet service anyway?
There are no signs on these cars. The Uber drivers may change every few days or from week to week.
College students MAY work their Uber car just during the summer to raise money for college the rest of the year.
The CITY has no idea who these are and when they change.
Uber is not a local company and does not have to follow any local rules. It’s not something you can pin down and say; OK, were gonna come and tax you for this or that and you have to pay.
PAY or what?
You’re gonna disconnect the Internet from everyone in town?
is that the power the CITY thinks it has?
Uber rides are about half the price, or less, than a Taxi.
Its a private service, from person to person and the CITY has nothing to do with it.
There is no way for the CITY to collect anything from them.
Might as well try and tax the street people, the panhandlers, the door to door Orange and Apple sellers.
The people that use Uber are not the general public but only those that ACCEPT what the deal is.
Just regular people with a car with time on their hands and if they want to Carpool with a person, so what.
If the CITY gets involved, then it will also be illegal for you to ride with someone to work and you pitch in some gas money.
Same thing.
Its just organized carpooling, on the Internet.
And if the Uber guy/lady, wants to also pick you up for free because they will also combine a trip to the suppermarket at the same time as your trip, so what.
The Uber guy also might drop you at the airport next time for free.
Yeah, so what.
Some Uber drivers are not EVEN IN TOWN ! ! !
Some might be in the next city.
A Las Cruces Uber driver that has to drive his wife to downtown El Paso to work, can also pick up someone from the courthouse and take them back to Kern Place or the West Side on his WAY back home to Las Cruces.
In Dallas, some Uber drivers are actually in Fort Worth and have to drive back and forth themselves and . . . You hitch a ride for a few bucks. Yeah, so what. Nobody’s business. Just you the Uber guy and the Internet.
And he might even do it for FREE if you become friends.
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And adding, I think its Obvious that after the first time you use Uber and chit chat with the fellow for 30 minutes or more and he gives you his cell phone number: You no longer have to go thru Uber if the Uber driver will just accept a phone call.
And you ask him: How much to take me down to So & So Auto Parts to pick up some car parts? And he might say $10 bucks. And if he is available, he comes over and you give him $10 bucks cash. It is no longer Uber at this point.
So, regular Uber users can become. . . . . friends “somewhat” and its just friends giving friends rides.
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Now if the CITY wants to tax something, find a way, dig and dig, and have 13 lawyers go over every inch of the baseball contract and see how to TAX them for something else.
Maybe a Baseball Tax: Every baseball hit in town must pay $99.00 tax for each ball thrown.
or a Noise tax. Residents around the baseball stadium are having to MOVE because of all the racket. They cant sleep. There is no enjoyment of life. There are Property Rights and Rights of Peaceful enjoyment of your home. The homes were there first.
So, FINE and tax the baseball owners for Noise and Loss of Property Rights.
Renters can move right away, but home owners might take a loss or take a year or longer to sell and move.
One of the RIGHTS of Home Ownership is Peaceful Enjoyment.
Mountainstar has violated that.
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It’s like everything else. Selective enforcement.
Those in charge pick and choose which laws to enforce or not, and who to go after. If the city really wants to make some money, it could start simply enforcing the law that forbids talking on cell phones while driving, unless you have a hands-free device. I’m sick and tired of watching near accidents involving people talking on phones. It’s as though the law doesn’t even exist.
Shortly after the law was put in placed, city council decided the fine was too steep and offered offenders the option of simply putting a “No Talking, No Texting” bumper sticker on their vehicle rather than pay the fine. That was another stupid move.
They could also enforce laws against jaywalking on major streets like Mesa and Sunland.
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Uber is a great idea. Join the 21st century sharing economy, El Paso! What will they do about the internet booking for shared-home lodging? No HOT to collect.
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