Saving Uber

The news last week was that the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory  Board fined an Uber car the prohibitive sum of P200,000 for being a colorum vehicle, that is, a private car conveying paying passengers without having obtained a franchise and paid a fee at the LTFRB.  The LTFRB bragged that it lassoed the car and driver in a “sting operation” and, according to its rules, the vehicle could be impounded for as long as three months.

It gloated that nobody gets away with breaking the rules, especially not Uber, in spite of its reliable service that many Metro Manilans have come to depend on.  And, the LTFRB added, it is doing this for the safety of the Uber-riders who are not covered by insurance.

Really, LTFRB?  How much safer than Uber, with its new vehicles and professional drivers, is a regular taxicab, bus or jeepney with a proper franchise and insurance coverage? 

Before trying to pull Uber off our streets, the LTFRB should set its sights on public utility vehicles, the quality and safety standards of which are spotty, at best.  The taxicab operators are reportedly complaining that they are losing business to Uber.  I don’t doubt that they are.  Even if Uber costs some 25 to 50 percent more than a regular cab, depending on the time of day and the state of the traffic, it’s  worth it, given the superior service and peace of mind it provides.

Using an app, the subscriber sees on his android screen the cabs nearest to where he is. He contacts the driver and gets a response by text or voice, telling him how long it will take for the cab to get to where he is.  A private car, a late model, new and squeaky clean, arrives driven by a driver who is courteous, unobtrusive, professional.  The passenger is delivered safely to his destination with the minimum of fuss. No money changes hands in an Uber ride. The fare is charged automatically to one’s credit card.

Compare this to riding a cab which is like playing Russian roulette, or as Forrest Gump would put it, like opening a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. You’d be lucky if you get a kind and friendly driver who takes you safely where you need to go, and not a dour and impatient one who will drive you through narrow unfamiliar streets – shortcut kuno – that almost doubles your cab fare. There are those who choose their passengers and destinations, and others who think you owe them a favor for stopping for you on a rainy Friday night, and even before the trip starts, try to shake you down for a large tip. 

There are slow and dim-witted drivers, and aggressive daredevil ones. There are the pasaway who insist on talking into their cell phones or texting while driving. Last week, I asked my taxi driver three times to stop his furious texting, telling him it wasn’t safe. When he ignored me, I reminded him that what he was doing was against the law. When he continued to ignore me, I said that if he got into an accident and one or both of us got hurt, I would testify that he was breaking the rules. Only then did he toss his cell phone on the seat beside him. Then he asked with undisguised contempt, “Where did you say you were going?”

Should I be grateful that he was only rude and not criminally homicidal?  Because that’s my other issue with taxis. There have been too many cases of cab riders who were taken on a joy-ride and robbed, if not hurt or killed, by criminal drivers and their co-conspirators. 

This is probably unfair to those cab drivers who are honest and upright, and operators who try to keep their cabs clean and well-maintained and their meters honest, but the many we encounter who are arrogant and ill-mannered, and who terrorize passengers with fast meters, reckless driving in rolling coffins threating life and limb, have given Manila taxis a bad name. Clearly, standards must be set and enforced for taxicabs, as well as other public utility vehicles.

I only take cabs at stations where the guard writes down the plate number of the car and the name of the driver before allowing it to leave. Even then, I do not feel safe. I end up striking a conversation with the driver, the equivalent of whistling in the dark, in the hope that if he has any evil designs, he’ll think twice about victimizing someone he has already exchanged views with.

MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino who knows the situation in our streets better than anyone else, has asked the LTFRB to go easy on Uber which has helped ease traffic by providing this ride-sharing alternative for car owners who can now leave their vehicles at home.  While there must be rules to guide the orderly management of public transportation, the LTFRB may wish to give serious thought to the pros and cons of disallowing a service that clearly responds to the public’s demand for safe, reliable and convenient means of public transportation.  

Dear LTFRB, with so much on your plate  —  going after sub-standard taxicabs, colorum buses, trip-cutting jeepneys, smoke-belching tricycles, unsafe school buses, and fare hikes and rollbacks — a good rule to follow is to set your priorities. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Uber works, so please leave it alone.  The riding public deserves the alternative it provides to the dreadful public transportation system in our woebegone city.