Uber might have lost battle, but the war has just begun
The Southern Nevada transportation landscape took a sharp turn last week with Uber’s announcement that it was temporarily shutting down until it could find a way to operate legally in the state.
Although sudden, it certainly wasn’t unexpected.
For the just more than a month that the company was transporting passengers in the Las Vegas Valley, critics — and regulators — pegged Uber as an illegal operator.
It was disingenuous for the company not to present itself as a transportation provider. That is Uber’s end product, and one of the biggest differences between the company and Clark County’s taxi companies is that Uber uses technology built into its smartphone app to dispatch a driver instead of a live person on a telephone in a radio control center.
The other big difference is in how the cost of a ride is calculated. Cabs have meters; Uber has a formula that calculates time and distance using Google Maps and a stopwatch function.
But for those critics who think Uber is gone for good, think again.
A cabdriver who tweeted Wednesday night after Uber announced its shutdown that he would be willing to give those drivers a ride sounded prematurely smug. If nothing else, Uber management has proved that it is persistent and unafraid of picking a fight with a strong opponent. The company’s leaders have said repeatedly that Las Vegas has been the toughest market it has ever tried to crack.
But they’ll keep after it because the stakes are so high. Uber is a global brand, and Las Vegas sees 40 million tourists a year. Many of those tourists have heard of Uber and probably already have the Uber app on their phones. So don’t expect the company to walk away from such a big opportunity.
“Uber received a temporary court order today suspending our operations in Nevada and your ability to partner on the platform,” Uber officials wrote to their contracted drivers on the night of the suspension.
“That means effective immediately, you will no longer be able to accept rides on the platform. However, that doesn’t mean we’ve stopped fighting for you. Right now, the Uber team is working on solutions to this temporary suspension. Our only priority is getting you back out on the road so you can continue to earn a living, pay your bills and put income in your pocket.
“We will not rest until you have the right to create your own small business on the Uber platform and until every Nevadan has the freedom to choose a safer and more reliable transportation option — riding with you.
“We are working tirelessly to fight for the freedom, flexibility and opportunity Uber provides to driver partners like you. Rest assured we are committed to you and getting you back on the road as soon as possible. We are in this with you for the long haul.”
Does that sound like a company that plans to cut and run?
I thought the last line was an interesting choice of phrase, considering the connotation “long haul” has within the taxi industry. When the company originally posted on its website that it was suspending operations, it had a blog post titled, “Nevada, we’re here for the long haul.” The blog has since been edited and is now titled, “Nevada, we’re here for the long term.”
There’s little doubt Uber means that and would concede that it lost a battle in what’s likely to be an extended war.
Uber’s mistake was attempting to run over a regulatory system that has seen illegal operators before and knows how to deal with them. Those illegal operators weren’t as organized, persistent or well-financed as Uber.
And don’t expect the regulators or the taxi industry to back down, either.
The high stakes of transporting people on our roads assures that.
HEAVY TRAFFIC
Special events will result in some heavy traffic on city streets this week.
The National Finals Rodeo rolls into town Thursday for its first of 10 nightly performances. The event traditionally is sold out so the streets around the Thomas & Mack Center — Tropicana Avenue, Paradise Road and the northbound McCarran tunnel route to Swenson Street particularly — will get jammed up between about 6 p.m. and the rodeo’s 6:45 start time.
Performances will let out at around 8:45-9 p.m.
The Runnin’ Rebels basketball team will play at its home away from home, the Orleans Arena, at 7 p.m. Friday, so expect above-normal traffic on West Tropicana Avenue and Arville and Cameron streets that night.
The Great Santa Run, a fundraiser for Opportunity Village, comes to downtown Las Vegas on Saturday morning. Hundreds of people will be running a 5-kilometer race or walking a mile in Santa suits on streets in the vicinity of the Mob Museum and the Fremont Street Experience from about 8-11 a.m.
The holiday season kicks into high gear with two performances Saturday by the Las Vegas Philharmonic and the Las Vegas Master Singers at Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts.
Performances begin Saturday at 2 and 7:30 p.m., so the streets around the Smith Center — Grand Central Parkway, West Symphony Park and Clark avenues and City Parkway — will see concert traffic a half-hour before each performance. Add in holiday shopping traffic at the nearby Las Vegas Premium Outlets North, and you’re bound to see a number of cheerful motorists grinning through the gridlock.
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ROAD WORK AHEAD
■ Lamb Boulevard will be closed intermittently between Oquendo Road and Quail Avenue through Wednesday. Construction on a Clark County Water Reclamation District project will occur daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
■ The right shoulder and travel lane of southbound U.S. Highway 95 between Las Vegas Boulevard and Eastern Avenue will be closed from 9 p.m. Monday, through 6 a.m. Dec. 9 for the replacement of a sound wall and to replace a 6-by-12-foot gap created by a recent accident.
■ The left two lanes of northbound Interstate 15 distributor-collector road between Russell Road and Tropicana Avenue as well as the mainline onramp will be closed until 6 a.m. Dec. 7 for guardrail repairs. The northbound I-15 exit ramp to Tropicana Avenue and Frank Sinatra Boulevard, Exit 36, also will be closed.
■ Lane restrictions for a paving and sidewalk project scheduled on Eastern Avenue between St. Rose Parkway and Silverado Ranch Boulevard and the intersection of Coronado Center Drive, Sundays through Thursdays from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., through the end of 2014.
■ Eastbound lanes on Rue de Monte Carlo near Las Vegas Boulevard South closed through Dec. 31.
■ Intermittent lane closures planned on Whitney Ranch Drive from Russell Road to Arroyo Grande Boulevard through December.
■ Intermittent lane closures planned on Warm Springs Road from Arroyo Grande Boulevard to Boulder Highway in Henderson through December.
■ Lane closures on Main Street to turn Main and Commerce streets into one-way pairs through December.
■ Lane restrictions on Rainbow Boulevard from Ann Road to Tropical Parkway through the end of December.
■ Traffic delays likely on 26 miles of northbound and southbound Interstate 15 between mileposts 69 and 95 through early 2015.
■ Street, sidewalk, lighting and landscaping improvements are scheduled on Bridger Avenue between Main and Sixth streets through April. Traffic will be restricted to a single lane each direction.
■ The northbound sections of Rancho Drive and Decatur Boulevard are part of a street-widening project through November. Two lanes will be open in each direction. Other portions of the project will continue through May.
■ Lane restrictions on Grand Teton Drive between Durango Drive and Rainbow Boulevard through May.
GASOLINE PRICES
The average gasoline price Friday in the Las Vegas Valley was $2.97 per gallon. It was $2.98 in Nevada. The national average of $2.79 is down 6 cents from a week ago, down 24 cents from a month ago and down 49 cents from a year ago.
