Is Uber Good for Cape May County? You Decide

When we go to buy something, we prefer to be offered choices, right? Nowadays, the world has several alternatives to the traditional taxi; two of them are Uber and Lyft. The Herald recently ran an article by Rachel Rogish entitled, “Taxi Drivers Urge North Wildwood Council to Regulate Uber Operators in the City.”
At a recent North Wildwood council meeting, taxi drivers complained that their businesses are facing unfair competition from Uber, because Uber goes unregulated whereas taxis are regulated. The taxi drivers added that they’ve been in business a long time and needed relief from these upstarts.
If you were these government officials listening to this complaint, how would you respond? I think you would have to ask yourself, is Uber failing to provide appropriate service to their customers, which would require governmental intervention, or is this simply competition of one business against another?  If there are no problems with their service, then you have no place in the argument. You would leave them to work it out by competing to offer the best service to the customers.
The taxi companies could appropriately respond: “OK, we’ll do that, but we need relief from one-sided and burdensome regulations.” That would be a fair request, and North Wildwood should heed it, and not maintain regulation for regulation sake. There is far too much of that, and it stifles the economy.
At the meeting, North Wildwood council agreed to look into the matter. They also said that they would consider coordinating regulations with the rest of the island. However, before they do that, again, we should ask, why? Are the regulations imperative? If there is no compelling need, ditch them. It should not burden itself with taking on that body of work; that is the job of the free-market system which has made America so productive.
What the council really needs to do is to read the comments by Uber and taxi users posted under the Herald article, which appear on the Herald Facebook and website, or read a range of comments in the synopsis posted below. These comments tell it all, right from the horse’s mouth, from the very customers who use both the taxis and Uber: 
Gene Summers, Middle Township High School — I’ve always loved the … “I don’t think it’s fair,” (comment, and the) — “We’ve been here for years” defense. If a business or life were only based on what was fair, or how long you’ve been somewhere, we would never progress as a society. Ask Blockbuster if Netflix is fair. Ask MySpace if Facebook was fair. Innovation is the key to progress. If you don’t like something, change it, create something better. But don’t just sit there and whine; that won’t get you anywhere.
Tyler Durdin — Deal with it! It’s a changing world,
Jason Downie — No one wants to pay more to ride in dirty taxis.
Joanne Starzmann-Morrison – Yes, cabs around here are disgusting!
David Smith — Uber prices are regulated through the app and are on average with taxis.
Patty Ackley — Some cab drivers tell you it costs more than it really does.
Raymond Kacerek — The cabs are awful, and you can never get one when you need one.
Robert Zuzulock — The towns are safer, and fewer people are getting behind the wheel when intoxicated.
Jeff Trout — In a county with horrible public transit and limited options to travel around, we should do everything we can to have as many options to get around as possible.
Thomas Moore — Only had to use Uber twice and it worked great. Super happy to help me get to my location, fast, and cheap. Like $13 from the airport to my house. Sorry cabbies buy your own car and drive for Uber is my advice.
Joe Palasch — Most cab companies in this county need the fear of competition. Here the cabs are junkers, dirty and price gouging and unreliable…Please bring on more choices.
Frank Patrinicola — A desperate attempt to use government (i.e. force) to save an industry that had every opportunity to improve the quality of service over the years – yet chose not to. And now that someone has “built a (far) better mousetrap” they are in survival/panic mode.
Patricia Bockius-Murray — Taxis won’t take rides off the island until bars close. Uber is the way to go!
Brian Reed — I hope city council is reading these comments.
Helen-Ann Lloyd — Our family uses Uber ALL the time, and we love it! Meet super nice drivers, clean cars….. We’ve called cabs, and they don’t show. This is competition at its best!
Joe Miller — Cabs in Wildwood have been HORRIBLE for years. Uber is the best thing that’s happened.
Carol Mayerson — Free market competition is always the best way to go. If taxis offered a better service, they’d have nothing to worry about.
Jessica Kapsimalis — Last two cabs I was in down here overcharged and stunk like cigarettes. One, because the driver was smoking. While on the island we used Uber. Great experience.
Kevin Sullivan — Maybe it would be less of an issue if the cab companies actually had meters or zone-based rates, answered their phones when called, ran vehicles that weren’t falling apart, and didn’t decline service to anyone who is going more than five minutes.
Konstantin Doronkin — As a cab driver, I absolutely agree with everything here.
Dawn Marie Lang — Try getting a taxi at night in North Wildwood! City council should be happy that Uber is there and is most certainly decreasing the drunk driving! Leave Uber alone. It is a great service. If the taxi services want to stay in business, they need to pick up their game!
Scott Apel — Yellow Cab won’t take a call to the Crest from N. Wildwood. Without Uber, there would be many drunk drivers making the streets unsafe. Thank God for Uber.