As I’m sitting in the airport café, enjoying a nice breakfast before I have to find my gate, I was pondering the ride I took to get here.
And wondering – why in the heck don’t we have Uber in South Dakota?
Now, it’s not perfect. That whole surge pricing/multiplier thing is confusing, so a ride I thought was going to cost me $11-15 ended up costing me thirty.
It doesn’t explain ahead of time that the multiplier is added on top of the fare instead of being the fare. But, my ride was pleasant, arrived on my location within two minutes, and I didn’t have to leave a tip.
In a taxi, with the tip, the ride would have been $30 anyway, so it was a wash.
The ease and convenience of using Uber was tremendous. So, of course, in South Dakota it runs up against attitudes like this:
Assistant City Attorney Keith Allenstein said though the companies themselves would fall outside of Sioux Falls’ jurisdiction because they don’t operate local brick and mortar dispatch centers, existing city rules governing both independent contractors and taxi cab drivers would apply to ride-hailing drivers.
“If they keep a vehicle as a vehicle for hire, then these do apply,” Allenstein said. “I don’t think there’s a need to change anything in ordinance right now to regulate the drivers.”
Uber drivers are independent contractors and in Sioux Falls would need to apply for operators permits, have their vehicles inspected, obtain independent contractor licenses, provide proof of insurance and get commercial license plates. Sales tax remittance would also be required.
And…
But others aren’t so sure the rules should be tinkered with. Councilor Rex Rolfing said although he’s always open to revisiting city ordinances, certain parts of what’s on the books are necessary for public safety and fairness. Waiving the sales tax requirement, for instance, would create an uneven playing field between Uber drivers and traditional taxi cabs, he said.
“Who would (pay) it if they didn’t do it?” Rolfing asked. “It’s like doing things in a cash-only situation. That’s not going to be good for everybody in the long run.”
With attitudes like that, we should not be shocked if it’s reported that politicians like Rolfing bemoan the use of an automobile over the horse and buggy.
With attitudes like that at the city level, it also becomes incumbent upon legislators at the state level to provide a framework for modern notions of the taxi service, since local officials are still wondering where all the dinosaurs went.
In our society, one certainty is progress. In all aspects, we simply don’t do things as we have for the past hundred years. In business, “It’s the way we’ve always done things” is a recipe for failure and extinction.
If business finds better and more efficient way of doing things, such as a modern notion of the taxi, government should be there to facilitate.
So, legislators…. If the city of Sioux Falls is too bound by inertia and a desire to be trapped in the past, ignore those still looking for dinosaurs and standing around. Take the lead.
I think the biggest reason South Dakota does not have Uber yet is that the independent contractor interest is not quite there yet. They will recruit people from all over the country on their site. As far as I know, the only thing holding up Uber in South Dakota is a lack of interest. That will likely soon change. As with the fare multiplier and rates, one runs into the same problem using taxis. How it is calculated depends on the company, which can be annoying when there are dozens of companies in a place like DC.
Good gosh, keep it on topic all of you. I’m not home more than a few hours, and I have to get out my editing stick.
Since part of the concern involves how sales tax is collected, that’s going to involve the state, whether Sioux Falls complains or not. That could come in the form of a change in law, or it could come from DOR, which is what I’d expect, as opposed to a repeal. (I’d argue on-line collection, which is already allowed under state law).
Same thing goes for the alleged requirements for commercial plates. There are plenty of people who drive clients around, and they don’t have commercial plates (such as my profession, real estate) what you get is a livery coverage for your vehicle. However, when you are doing it exclusively…. there’s another item that would need to be clarified in state law, and not city ordinance.
Legislators can easily create a framework, and make it work for all cities.
Uber works great! Great way for people to earn. Convenient for users. Absolutely no reason this wouldn’t work in Sioux Falls
What ever happened to local control? It’s bad enough to have voter initiatives turned over or altered so they have no meaning. Now the state has to create rules and regs for the one city in SD where s taxi is needed? Gimmie a break.