Boston Convention Center-

I had a drop off Tuesday AM at the Boston Convention Center. Usually I pull in by the Westin and let the pax out, but as I approached the building I saw that there were only a few vehicles stopped in front, so I pulled over and the let the pax out. I was approached by a Convention Center employee who told me the drop off area was for cabs only, even though it was mostly empty. When I asked where for Uber, he said "Maybe across the street".

When is the state and city going to realize that ridesharing is here to stay, where taxis are not so sure? Ubers can't use the many designated taxi stands and there are few legal options for pickups/drop offs on most city streets - you get the choice between stopping in a bus/taxi stop/crosswalk or blocking a travel lane or bike path or both. As far as I can see neither city or state has made any accommodation for ridesharing other than the Logan TNC lot, mess that it is. Time for Uber/Lyft to rally their riders to press for some reasonable accommodations to be made so rideshare can be safer for both pax and drivers.

During the big Bio week I got a number of pickups on the city side ( which is in Google Maps as the Northwest Lobby on West Side Drive). This location became my goto dropoff spot, as there was easy access from the Service Road and there was no traffic to deal with at all, even when traffic on Summer Street in front was backed up a few blocks. Unfortunately I just discovered this arrangement, it did not appear that attendees knew of it.

Of course pickups out front were a mess, traffic delays and general confusion. I did get a few pickups on that same West Side Drive, who told me they had been directed there by a Convention Center person. Again, these went very easily and quickly.

So the general mess at Bio just reinforces the fact that state agencies dont give a thought to organizing rideshare activity, even when they are going to be hosting some 18,000 attendees from around the world...let chaos reign, and then damn the Uber drivers who dare to stop in the taxi drop off... A few signs and a note in the attendees packet, maybe a Uber geofence around the building to route pax to the pickup locations, and perhaps Boston could have looked a little more like the world-class city its wishes to become.