LeCanadian

Top Menu

  • Login
  • Archives
  • Les Actualités
  • Advertising
  • Sexy Pages
  • Contact Us

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Foodie
  • Headline news
  • Health
  • Letters · Editorials
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • UFO · Exopolitics
  • Montreal
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login
  • Login
  • Archives
  • Les Actualités
  • Advertising
  • Sexy Pages
  • Contact Us

logo

Header Banner

LeCanadian

  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Foodie
  • Headline news
  • Health
  • Letters · Editorials
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • UFO · Exopolitics
  • Montreal
  • Add miso to your slaw for a gut-healthy (and delicious) snack

  • Don’t even think about entering a smoke-filled room, for your heart’s sake

  • What causes diabetes leg pain? Symptoms, home remedies, treatments, and prevention

  • Healthy habits for a healthier body: 13 Reasons to choose nutrient-rich whole foods over processed junk foods

  • Pompeii had streets repaired with iron before it was buried, according to recent research

Montreal
Home›Montreal›Is there life after Uber? What Montreal could learn from Austin, Texas

Is there life after Uber? What Montreal could learn from Austin, Texas

By admin
September 27, 2017
1258
0
Share:

If ride-hailing giant Uber carries through with its threat to pack up and leave Montreal next month, the city might want to look to the example of Austin, Texas, about how to fill the void.

Austin is often cited as an example of a city that stood up to Uber’s perceived corporate bullying and won, refusing to blink in a regulatory showdown with the multinational giant with deep pockets.

Uber left town, but ride-hailing in Austin survived and thrived with new models.

For a little while, at least.

  • Uber threatens to leave if Quebec insists on stricter rules

Parallels with Quebec

Uber arrived in Austin in 2014 and quickly became popular in the city known for universities, music festivals, and tech companies.

But like Quebec, as Uber’s popularity grew, local governments tried to introduce regulations and Uber chafed.

The main sticking point came when the City of Austin wanted to require all Uber drivers to get a fingerprint background check administered by the city.

Uber argued that requirement was too arduous and wouldn’t work with its business model.

Uber gathered signatures from its members to put the new rules to a vote as a ballot initiative, and spent millions trying to convince people to side with them.

The move backfired. Voters sided with the city.

The day after the result was announced in May 2016, Uber left town.

Non-profit steps up

That’s when a group of tech entrepreneurs in Austin decided to do something to fill the void.

They invested money and expertise to develop their own ride-hailing service, called Ride Austin.

Ride Austin logo

Ride Austin started as a non-profit ride-hailing service in Austin after Uber left town 2016. (Ride Austin)

“There is life without Uber, and you can definitely set up your own successful ride-share organization,”  Bobbi Kommineni, vice-president of strategic programs and operations for Ride Austin, told CBC.

“The key difference is that we’re non-profit. We didn’t build Ride Austin to make money. We built Ride Austin as a service to the community,” Kommineni said.

  • New Uber CEO apologizes for company’s past mistakes, vows change

Kommineni said it took about a month to develop the app. Ride Austin hired many ex-Uber drivers who’d been left in the lurch when the company left town.  And because it was set up as a non-profit, it was able to pay drivers a lot more.

While Uber takes a cut of about 20 per cent of each fare, Ride Austin takes only two per cent.

‘We grew very very fast’

Kommineni said they started off slow in June 2016.

“I think on the first day we did 116 rides and we thought ‘oh wow, that’s great’. We were operating in one zip code of Austin downtown,” she said.

Bobbi Kommineni

Bobbi Kommineni with Ride Austin said the company’s strength is that it’s non-profit.

“We grew very, very fast. Once people knew we were available, they were using us across the city,” Kommineni said.

She said by last spring, Ride Austin was averaging about 60,000 rides a week.

Other small startups and ride-hailing services moved into Austin as well and flourished.

Uber was gone, but life went on. Some said for the better.

Then Uber came back.

Uber tough to compete with

From the time it left Austin, Uber began lobbying politicians at the state level in Texas.

The company eventually convinced them to adopt a new law essentially overruling Austin’s local law requiring drivers to get fingerprint background checks.

  • Uber stripped of London licence, vows to appeal

Last May, Uber returned to Austin. Some of the smaller ride-sharing services left town.

Kommeneni admitted that Uber’s return almost instantly cut Ride Austin’s market share in half.

Susan Shaheen, co-director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at the University of California at Berkeley, said the Uber model is difficult for customers to resist, even when they have a viable local alternative.

“Uber has that scale and that distribution, so people perhaps wait less time to make that ride match. We know that wait times are part of the success factors of these companies,” Shaheen said.

“Another major factor is that larger companies such as Uber subsidize rides, so they’re cheaper,” she said.

Alternatives still possible

Kemmoneni said Ride Austin will soldier on, focusing on the advantages it has over Uber.

“We’re local. We’re a non-profit, and people know our drivers are better taken care of,” Kemmoneni said.

As many Montrealers lament Uber’s possible departure, Shaheen said Austin’s year without Uber showed that life can go on.

“I don’t necessarily see that as a tremendous obstacle to cities, as long as they have a vibrant alternative to on-demand mobility,” Shaheen said.

Read more…

Post Views: 1,319
Previous Article

Build Muscle Faster, Safer and Easier With ...

Next Article

CBC Investigates Search for Quebec adoption records ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Related articles More from author

  • Montreal

    Montreal holding coyote information sessions in response to rise in sightings

    November 13, 2017
    By admin
  • Montreal

    Bill Clinton praises NAFTA during conversation with Jean Chrétien in Montreal

    October 5, 2017
    By admin
  • Montreal

    ‘This is living hell’: Mother of missing Montrealer ramps up efforts to find son Jesse Galganov

    December 1, 2017
    By admin
  • Montreal

    22 things to do in Montreal this weekend: August 16 to 18

    August 16, 2019
    By admin
  • Montreal

    28 Most Exciting Things To Do In Montreal This Summer

    June 9, 2019
    By admin
  • Montreal

    ‘We had to fight our way along’: Wurtele twins look back on breaking barriers at 1948 Olympics

    February 9, 2018
    By admin

 


Click here for more.



Mark's



Popupar Articles

  • Week
  • Month

Week

  • Think venomous spiders ar... (Natural News) The triangle-weaver spider, scientifical...
  • 'What happened to us?' U... PALO ALTO, Calif. — A perfect California day. The sun w...
  • How to prevent and treat... (Natural News) Nutrient deficiency is a likely and dang...
  • Pompeii had streets repai... (Natural News) Like any ancient Roman city, paved stone...
  • What We Don’t Know About... There is much confusion over what the term socialism me...
  • Acute and chronic causes... (Natural News) Stomach pain and nausea are unpleasant h...
  • A Critique of Ecosocialis... I wrote this commentary in 2011 for my book, TANSTAAFL:...
  • Cancer and cruciferous ve... (Natural News) In American households, it’s common to f...
  • Ignition Breathalyzers fo... Quebec revolutionizes road safety by requiring twice ch...
  • Add miso to your slaw for... (Natural News) Coleslaw is a common side dish that’s of...

Month

  • YouTube is planning to de... (Natural News) Content creators everywhere are starting...
  • After lithium-ion batteri... (Natural News) The world’s running on batteries – lithi...
  • All the Best Places to Ea... In the summer of 2016, I drove up north from New York C...
  • Place Ville Marie is firs... Place Ville Marie is now valued at $1.006 billion, 15 p...
  • Dean Foods files for bank... (Natural News) The largest commercial milk processor in...
  • Control your blood pressu... (Natural News) High blood pressure (hypertension) is no...
  • Think venomous spiders ar... (Natural News) The triangle-weaver spider, scientifical...
  • 5 Ways to reduce your ris... (Natural News) Dementia is a collective term for diseas...
  • Downtown Montreal Is Now... Chinese-Peruvian fusion cuisine is now represented in M...
  • Things You Need to Know A... Insurance companies never want to pay their clients for...

Popular on The Le Canadian

  1. AgoraCosmopolitan
  2. Agora Publishing Consortium
  3. Le Journal Canadien
  4. Dominion: Food News
  5. LeCanadian.com
  6. The Ottawa Star
  7. Capitalistocracy.com
  8. Trudeausociety.com
  9. OttawaRestaurantGoers.com
  10. Toronto Business Journal
  11. Blogpei.ca
  12. Synergeticsgroup.ca
  13. Happyhomeinc.ca
  14. JournaldeGatineau.ca
  15. OttawaBusinessDaily.ca
  16. AgoraBooks.ca
  17. Thenextweb.ca
  18. BBW Singles
  19. Transgender Singles
  20. Montreal Business Journal
  21. Astroglossary.ca
  22. New York and New Jersey Business Journal
  23. Ottawa Book Expo - Salon du Livre d'Ottawa
  24. TorontoBook Expo - Salon du Livre d'Toronto
  25. Atlantic Canada Business Journal
  26. Vancouver Business Journal
  27. Greater Toronto Area Business Journal
  28. The Toronto Times
  29. Hamilton Journal
  30. The Law Journal
  31. Toronto Report
  32. The Government

Recent Posts

  • Add miso to your slaw for a gut-healthy (and delicious) snack
  • Don’t even think about entering a smoke-filled room, for your heart’s sake
  • What causes diabetes leg pain? Symptoms, home remedies, treatments, and prevention
  • Healthy habits for a healthier body: 13 Reasons to choose nutrient-rich whole foods over processed junk foods
  • Pompeii had streets repaired with iron before it was buried, according to recent research
  • Think venomous spiders are scary? Meet a spider that launches itself into the air – at high speeds
  • Rind and all: This unusual orange remedy can help address constipation
  • Improve your sleep quality within 1 week by quitting this harmful habit
  • Ambushed by canola oil – that toxic “food stuff” that’s found in nearly everything processed these days
  • Acute and chronic causes of nausea and stomach pain: Prevention and natural remedies

Most Viewed Posts

  • Automated China –Mass-Producing the Future (56,436)
  • Citizens of Italy unleash mass protests against mandatory vaccination law (34,160)
  • Why Investors are Putting Their Money on High-End Real Estate (32,423)
  • Montréal : le cœur battant de la génération Y (31,732)
  • Une Autre Facette de Richard Lipman : Le Soutien d’un Psychologue à la Fondation Fauna (27,102)
  • Health: Shampoo Helps Hair Loss Sufferers (25,686)
  • Introduction To How And Where You Can Trade CFDs (23,831)
  • Canada’s Property Values Rise, In Spite of Signs of Market Slowdown (15,126)
  • “Not Gonna Write Poems” A Poetry Book by Dr. Michael Lee: Could He Be The Next Shel Silverstein? (14,185)
  • Smoking is Still a Problem in Society – But it’s a Problem That’s Being Addressed (11,235)

Visitors

  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Foodie
  • Headline news
  • Health
  • Letters · Editorials
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • UFO · Exopolitics
  • Montreal