Uber's recent PR maelstrom should have marked a moment of opportunity for San Francisco cab drivers, who've long viewed the multibillion dollar car-hire startup as a scourge.
But if cabbies saw the moment, they immediately squandered it.
On Nov. 17, the same day that Uber executive Emil Michael roiled the blogosphere by suggesting that his company hire opposition researchers to smear its critics, local taxis staged a massive, poorly timed "park-in" at San Francisco International Airport. Meant to highlight regulatory gaps that purportedly give car-hire startups an unfair advantage, the protest instead created gridlock, exasperation, and, inevitably, a flurry of angry tweets.
The following week, two demonstrators received scolding letters from the airport's curbside management program, saying the drivers now face a year of probation for disruptive behavior. Both also had their pickup privileges suspended, according to airport spokesman Doug Yakel.
"The thing angering us is that we have to follow all these rules...and there's little enforcement on everybody else," San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance board member Barry Korengold gripes. He insists that when SFO permitted Uber and the rest to pick up airport passengers in October, it essentially rewarded them for bad behavior.
That complaint has become a veritable liturgy for taxi drivers, who met with airport officials on Friday to voice grievances — and flog their techie competitors — once again. "We'd much rather see this type of exchange rather than an action that ultimately alienates the taxi industry's own customer base," Yakel says.
In the meantime, Uber is quietly recovering, even surging. It's now valued at $40 billion.
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