Double standard: Miami-Dade lets Lyft, Uber run over rules

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the economy and the consumer. But that is only true when the competition is on an even playing field. Otherwise, it’s a hostile takeover.

All taxi owners and drivers — some of whom are coming up with a mobile app of their own — want is for the same rules to apply to everyone. Why is there a double standard?  Could it be the many lobbyists who fund the mayor’s and commissioners’ campaigns?

The county has made millions off regulating the taxi industry, through medallions they sell that allow new cars on the street according to the growth of the population. In other words, the county limits the number of taxis that can be on the street, but not the number of Uber and Lyft cars. In 2012, they sold six for an average of $400,000 a piece. They also get paid a fee for the quarterly vehicle inspections and each time a taxi picks up a passenger at the airport ($2). There are millions coming into the county budget via the taxi industry.

Why not regulate ride sharing the same way? Why let a company from California come into the county and set up shop illegally. Everyone knows they are operating illegally. Cities in Europe and all over the U.S. — like Portland, Oregon, which sued Uber over illegal operations — are cracking down.

But not here, noooooo. Rather than get shut down or even challenged in Miami-Dade, they get the other cheek while electeds fall all over themselves to change the rules for them.

What’s next? Can someone rent a van, outfit it with some sirens and medical equipment and call it an ambulance, transporting patients to and from hospitals without the proper permits and credentials? How about a bus service? Can someone with a party bus suddenly start picking up and shuttling passengers from FIU to downtown and back again?

It would certainly be cleaner and nicer than the county buses.

Could Ladra open a restaurant next to Versailles, but with no certificate of occupancy, no business license, no commercial insurance and no liquor license? Hell, with such little overhead, we could sell croquetas for half the price of Versailles and La Carretta. How much you wanna bet that county officials would shut that place down in a Little Havana minute?

County officials do not have the right to let scofflaws operate illegally because they have palanca or have bigwig lobbyists who play golf with the mayor. Uber should be shut down until the county revises the regulations and makes the company jump through the same hoops that the taxis do.

It’s not about the fare. It”s about being fair.

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  Carlos Gimenez, Esteban Bovo, Lyft, Uber