Uber suddenly wants regulation
Uber built its business on flouting regulators. They undercut the taxi cab industry by ignoring the onerous licensing and standards that were on the taxi cab industry and grew into one of the biggest companies in the world.
It's business plan was basically ignoring the law and hoping it would become so popular that consumers would force a change in the law. It worked in most cities.
Now that it's in a dominant position, it has a fresh take on regulation. It joined with Lyft and some other car sharing services and outlined a list of Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities.
10. WE SUPPORT THAT AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES (AVS) IN DENSE URBAN
AREAS SHOULD BE OPERATED ONLY IN SHARED FLEETS.
Due to the transformational potential of autonomous vehicle
technology, it is critical that all AVs are part of shared fleets,
well-regulated, and zero emission. Shared fleets can provide more affordable
access to all, maximize public safety and emissions benefits, ensure that
maintenance and software upgrades are managed by professionals, and actualize
the promise of reductions in vehicles, parking, and congestion, in line with
broader policy trends to reduce the use of personal cars in dense urban areas.
This basically says that regulators should block everyone else except them from using autonomous cars because only they can ensure a "well-regulated" fleet.
The bigger tragedy is that with enough well-placed political donations, they will get the regulations they want.
Finally, this tidbit came from Matt Levine, who writes an excellent newsletter for Bloomberg that you really should subscribe to.
