Thursday, March 22, 2018

March 22

When ride-share giant MegaRide launched in Dallas, Texas, their slogan was, "Ride ANYWHERE, and ride for LESS, with MegaRide." The Dallas County Taxi Commission petitioned to keep MegaRide from entering the private transportation business in Dallas, which they basically ran as a monopoly. A public hearing was called by County officials - a technicality, as such meetings, although mandated, were rarely attended by members of the public. To the surprise of the Taxi Commission, there was not an empty seat in the meeting room - most of them were occupied by black residents who had banded together with the support of a community organizer. Attendees were each given three minutes to speak freely. One after another, the black residents of Dallas made their public comments about the difficulty they'd had over the years, in getting taxis to pick them up or drop them off in Oak Cliff, a predominantly black community, and how they welcomed an alternative to yellow taxis, especially one that pledged their drivers would cover every corner of the county. 

Also in attendance were several taxi drivers, all of whom spoke about how MegaRide's aggressive advertising, coupled with their business model would make it impossible for them to earn a living wage as taxi drivers. Several drivers who spoke accused MegaRide of providing transportation to the residents of Oak Cliff to attend the hearing.

While the driver's stories were compelling, County officials could not ignore the strong point made by the large contingency from Oak Cliff, and ruled that MegaRide could, indeed, begin operating in Dallas.

A mere 18 months after MegaRide was given the go-ahead, Alamo Yellow Cab, a company well known for refusing fares to Oak Cliff, filed Chapter 11. A spokesperson for the company made an official comment to the press: "Next Tuesday, the 120 men who now earn their livings and feed their families as Alamo drivers will no longer have jobs to go to. I would urge the good people of Dallas to remember, the next time they hail a MegaRide car, that the two or three dollars they're saving is ruining the lives of very real people, by stealing their livelihood. I have lived in Dallas my entire life, and have always known this city and county to be a community where we all hold each other up. I never thought I'd see the day when the people of Dallas would tear one another down with such callous disregard." 

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