Uber, the popular app-driven black car service that has been a controversial addition to the traffic landscape in Miami-Dade, has been booted from Broward County as of last week.
And Uber drivers are getting citations in Key West — where at least one driver was arrested for driving without a license.
And where do you think these drivers are fleeing to?
To Miami-Dade, of course, where the outlaw company, which operates outside the regulations imposed on taxi cabs and limousine drivers — and apparently without the background checks that these drivers must pass — still feels welcome. So welcome, in fact, that Uber is opening a headquarters office in Brickell and recruiting 10,000 more drivers.
Why all the success in the 305? What’s the difference? At least 18 lobbyists between the two companies — including many of those who run the mayor’s kitchen cabinet — and an administration and county commission who have, apparently, created a double standard and look the other way as rules are broken.
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez is a fan of the service. He has admitted that he uses Uber when he
travels outside Miami-Dade, even though he has publicly admitted that they operate illegally. So has Commissioner Esteban Bovo, who wrote an editorial in April on his efforts to “legalize” the service — but without much of the regulation that the taxis must be submitted to.
Bovo’s legislation — which taxi owners all the “Santa Clause ordinance” — was tabled after he saw he didn’t have the votes, but he is trying again.
Meanwhile, the administration apparently instructs the county’s consumer services and code enforcement departments not to enforce the existing regulations already there for what Miami-Dade calls “for hire transportation,” which obviously includes these ride sharing services that have been operating illegally for more than a year. Both Uber and Lyft got a total of 2,500 citations last year and at least three cars were impounded. Lyft lobbyist Jorge Luis Lopez called it the cost of doing business. But there’s been no real enforcement since then.
Read related story: Lobbyist Jorge Luis Lopez — civic leader? Or rogue scofflaw?
Taxi drivers are in an uproar. They are losing customers — especially millennials — to this high-tech, mobile-friendly alternative.
But the reason Uber is gaining a foothold in Miami-Dade is not because their cars are cleaner or smell nicer than cabs. It’s not because their drivers are more polite or informed about Miami — in fact, Ladra has seen 
quite the opposite.
No, Uber is doing well simply because it’s easier and cheaper. A ride to Miami Beach from Coral Gables will cost $20 — during off peak times, that is — while a taxi cab charges a flat rate of $35. Demand, however, drives the prices up in what Uber calls “surge pricing” — a new, fancy term for price gouging — and it can cost you four times as much to get home as it cost to get to the Miami Heat game from Kendall.
And how do they undercut the taxi cabs and limousines. By operating outside the rules that govern “for-hire vehicles”:
- Uber drivers do not have to have commercial insurance. Most drive with just PIP and liability
- Uber cars do not need to go through quarterly inspections every three months to ensure that their vehicles are in good condition
- Uber drivers do not have to have a chauffeur’s license.
- Uber drivers do not have to undergo a county background check. There have been multiple rapes and sexual assaults reported across the country and , last month, an Isis-loving Uber driver was arrested after the FBI uncovered his terrorist plot.
- Uber drivers do not have to pay the county $2-$5 like taxis and limousines do every time they pick up a passenger at the airport — and they are’n’t supposed to pick up fares at the airport, but they’re outlaws and do whatever they want.
Gimenez and other Uber enthusiasts argue that competition is good for both
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