If you look closely enough at the legislation that is being called up today in the Florida Senate (HB 509), it’s pretty clear that it was written by Uber's lobbyists. The legislation places minimal restrictions on Uber at the State level and prohibits individual municipalities from imposing their own regulations, except for the Airport Authorities, as they get to impose greater restrictions because Airports can charge Uber money for access to the airport traffic. What this legislation does is legalize Uber X, UberXL, Lyft & Lyft Plus provided that Uber and Lyft get the drivers special TNC permits to drive their own personal cars.
What this legislation does not do however is address the thousands of Florida small business owners who currently operate legally in the State of Florida as Licensed Vehicles for Hire.
These companies operate commercially insured, city inspected & permitted Vehicles for Hire. Locally these companies have hundreds of cars & drivers who work full time to support their families. They have been operating in Jacksonville for years providing Black Car service to local business executives, tourists, and of course, many of the politicians voting on this legislation.
Originally Uber was going to support our local business owners, they approached the Florida City council in 2013 and the Jax Vehicle for Hire Ordinance was changed to accommodate Uber and Uber was essentially added as an additional dispatch service for the Licensed Vehicle for Hire Companies in Jax. UberBlack was created. Not all the companies signed on with Uber, but many of them did. Uber had an exceptional service here, UberBlack was providing great service, drivers were making a living wage and residents of Jacksonville benefited from the partnership between Uber and Jax's small business owners. The Vehicle For-Hire companies were buying more & more vehicles and were hiring more & more drivers, Uber was providing a great service to the folks in Jax and the fares were cheaper than our local taxi rates. It was a win win for the Vehicle for Hire Industry in Jax, everyone was following the rules, paying the fees, local companies were partnering with the TNC’s and everyone was winning.
Then Lyft came to town. They started operating an illegal “gypsy” cab service with folks in their personal cars driving around passengers and accepting “donations” for payment. Lyft hired part time drivers, they cut the rates drastically and allowed regular folks to drive their own vehicles, without inspections, without permits & without commercial insurance to carry passengers around our city. Jacksonville, and other municipalities around the state allowed Lyft to illegally enter the Vehicle for Hire market and they did not enforce the law. Uber had invested in the Vehicle for Hire industry here in Jax, they were growing leaps and bounds, and Lyft came into Jax and threatened all of it with their illegal “*********” service model at drastically reduced rates. Uber had no choice but to create the UberX product and release it immediately in Jacksonville to protect it’s market share in Jax. Uber released Uber X simultaneously all over the U.S. in response to Lyft’s attempt to illegally piggy back on Uber’s success.
Today, a year and a half later, UberX & Lyft have driven the fares/rates for UberX & Lyft down so low that in order to compete, Uber has drastically cut the rates for the UberBlack service and local Vehicle for Hire companies have had to do the same to stay competitive. Since Lyft entered the market, It has been a steady race to the bottom in terms of rates, wages, and now service as most good drivers are leaving because they can no longer earn a living wage.
The Black Car Drivers in the Vehicle for Hire industry provide exceptional customer service. These are not sub-standard taxi’s. Local companies hire professional men and women who are licensed Chauffeurs, they drive modern-exceptionally clean and comfortable sedans and SUV’s. These drivers were once able to earn a living wage and provide for their families. But not anymore. Fares have been slashed, wages have been slashed, and small business owners in Jax and around the state are no longer able to compete.
The Florida Legislature and the Jacksonville City Council is allowing these legitimate Florida-Small business owners to be run out of business by these slick San Francisco based Tech companies and it is not at all in keeping with the “Business” friendly reputation that Florida strives to maintain. The size of these companies should not matter, these are Legal entities, and the Florida Legislature and the Jacksonville City Council are abandoning these local business owners by not enforcing the laws on the books, by not regulating UberX & Lyft and forcing them to pay the same costs, pass the same tests and compete with the Legal business owners in Jax. By granting an unfair advantage to these billion dollar tech companies they are allowing them to steamroll over the local Vehicle for Hire economy and professional men and women who have followed the rules and built these businesses to support their families are not only being disrupted, they are being sacrificed on the alter of progress and it is shameful. If the legislature and the Jax City Council had stepped in immediately and done what other cities like New York have done; Allowed only the UberBlack service to operate in Jax, we would have the finest fleet of Uber cars in the industry in Jacksonville, our residents would be getting great service at exceptional savings, the drivers would be earning a living wage and Jax would be a shining example of how Small Business Owners, government and the tech giants can work together for progress.
willing do go through everything else to meets the city's guidelines. And again, I carry the same limits as you do commercially, which may not be standard, it is certainly higher than the usually of people buying state minimums. And thanks to USAA, I am covered while cyber cruising for my fare. With collision. 
