Sad 'Stache

Uber Drivers Protest Low-Fares with Low-Grade Art

On the corner of 17th and Vermont, beside the freeway and just up the hill from both the Uber and Lyft driver recruitment/services offices, sits this sign. Its DIY vibe in not-so-subtle contrast to the massive Uber and Lyft billboard trucks constantly cruising the neighborhood, the sign serves as a reminder of the questionable employment practices (widespread across the tech industry) that both companies use to drive down operating costs.

And while this lone poster seems a sad testament to how little recourse drivers have when they feel they’ve been taken advantage of by either company, it does feature a sweet drawing of an upside-down Uber logo driving a mustachioed car. So I guess all is not lost.

Comments (25)

Sympathy? What about the cab drivers whose incomes were decimated by these scabs?

Fuck fuck fuck cab drivers. They go the longest routes. One time I was yelled ‘i left my phone in there’ and he pressed the gas. No to mention the dirt cars and horrible service. You’re joking with this comment right? 

I’ve finally had it with uber and their horrible business practices so I deleted the app and emailed them to destroy my account (billing and personal information).

Im sorry but I have no sympathy for these cab drivers, long before uber and lyft, when we just had regular taxis I would dred even calling a taxi. I would wait on hold and maybe have someone answer the phone. when the dispatcher did answer they would be rude and maybe someone would show up to take you to the airport  and maybe not. When I did manage to get a cab on time I was scared out of my mind and often carsick. the  cabbies would blow threw stopsigns and red lights flooring it and slamming on the breaks. ps I am not some old fart writing this. I am a 27 year old female who has lived in this city for a good amount of time. at least with uber when I set up a pick up they come. 

I’m waiting for people to finally begin admitting they take phone-app cars simply because the GPS tracking allows riders to know exactly how many more minutes of Orange Is The New Black they can squeeze in until their wifi-summoned chariot arrives to carry them to yoga class.  Sadly, I doubt many of these people care about the drivers (how can you care about someone else’s well being when you aren’t Facebook friends?).

In my limited experience, Uber drivers don’t speed around town out of courtesy to the rider…it’s because they have no idea where they are going.

Give a taxi another try. Since the whole ride share theing they’ve changed. They take cards now with no questions, cars are cleaner, and the drivers know the city way better then the ride share drivers. It’s still a couple bucks more though. 

I use taxi’s thru Flywheel, but wouldn’t call the dispatch or hail them.

I will echo Louise’s tale in that literally in my 40+ years, I have never been as scared in a car than I was in a SF taxi. And more than once.

In fact, if there is any bright spot to the taxi/uber/lyft wars, its that taxi’s have become waaaaaay more customer friendly. Funny what a little competition can do.

Weird that you think there is such a huge difference, because many people driving you now used to drive (or still do drive) taxis…. so I don’t know what’s different for you. And yes cab dispatch is/was terrible.

I get your issues, but what about your serfs, er, I mean your drivers. Do you really have no concern for how they are treated? Oh. As you were Ms. Antoinette. 

Also…you’re 27. How long have you lived in the city? 3yrs? 5?yrs? 

I don’t know where you’re coming from, but from my experience there was always a huge difference between taxi drivers (extremely aggressive/dangerous) and Uber/Lyft (normal).

Sigh… there are different ways of being normal… Perhaps try expanding your horizon? Have you considered the fact that most uber/lyft drivers tend to be from your generation while taxi drivers tend to be from a different generation?

In any case… I think one reason why Uber/Lyft riders feel more docile to you is because they are too busy figuring out directions on their phones… SINCE FEW OF THEM KNOW HOW TO DRIVE PROPERLY IN THIS CITY!

Putting a bunch of amateur drivers on the road for 8 hours a day is the equivalent of letting your average joe run an air taxi service off in his two-seater Cessna from a commercial runway.

So your idea of driving “properly” in the city is the way that taxi drivers drove before Uber/Lyft??

Ummm, no. Literally in all my years of being a passenger in someone elses car, being in a taxi was always the most consistently stressful. Sorry: fact.

It has gotten considerably better since Uber/Lyft have come along though.

“many people driving you now used to drive (or still do drive) taxis…. so I don’t know what’s different for you.”

What’s different is that there’s more of them (because the supply of available rides isn’t artifically restricted by the low supply of taxi medallions anymore), and they have more to fear from giving a bad experience (the city almost never follows up on taxi complaints, while enough bad ratings on Uber actually will get you disabled).

Someday rideshare companies will indeed need to grow up. But no one - other than some sullen cabbies - is going to want to go back to the miserable pre-Uber situation with taxicabs in SF.

I can never tell if SF cab riders are the softest in the country or if they have never traveled elsewhere. Cabbies might not be great (though yes, hailing them in less frequented areas or when it rains is always a biyatch), but they’re FAR, FAR better than those in cities like New York, Miami, DC, or (the worst) Chicago.

Truer words were never spoken, louise.  Don’t worry about the snarky hipster losers commenting here.  They’ll be waiting on the corner with their thumbs up their asses trying to hail a cab, while we cruise by in our Ubers.

Fuck. Is it hard being so sick all of the time?

I love how people who are bringing up legitimate complaints about a severely flawed “ride share” industry must be “snarky hipster losers”.

I’m almost certain this poster was made by Uber and Lyft drivers, not cabbies.

More low grade protest art

…is currently on view at the DeYoung.

By Kieth Haring.

FACT: Taxis have and will continue to suck. Their drivers are also SUPER sketch.

And you will continue to suck at trolling. You are boring. Like really, really boring.

My bad. Just kidding, fuck you.

Thanks for that. I needed a good yawn.

I’m an internet tough-guy… don’t mess with me. #hashbrown