Stop the Uber Bully:

Stop the Uber Bully

Archive Note — 2026: This post comes from a turbulent period for the traditional taxi industry as rideshare companies rapidly entered local transportation markets. I was angry about what those changes meant for small taxi operators like Abraxi Taxi, and the language reflects that frustration. I have preserved the post as an opinion from its time. Some regulations, companies and circumstances discussed below may have changed since it was originally published.

There has been much in the news about bullying, and that is a good thing. Bullying can be destructive and leave lasting damage on its victims. Hopefully, the age of the bully will be short-lived.

But strong-arm tactics aren’t confined to the schoolyard. They can show up in the business world, too.

At the time I wrote this, I believed that was exactly what small taxi companies were experiencing with Uber.

Uber and other rideshare companies were rapidly changing the transportation business. They called themselves “ridesharing” companies rather than taxi companies, while those of us already operating cabs watched them provide many of the same basic services under a very different business and regulatory model.

To an independent taxi operator, that distinction didn’t feel particularly convincing.

Here in St. Augustine, Florida, taxi companies operated under local requirements governing vehicles for hire. We dealt with business licensing, commercial insurance, driver requirements and other regulations that came with operating a traditional taxi service.

Then rideshare arrived.

From where I sat behind the wheel, it looked like two groups competing for the same passengers while playing by different sets of rules.

That was what made me angry.

Abraxi Taxi wasn’t interested in being browbeaten, and I encouraged other cab companies and taxi drivers to speak up as well. I wanted our mayor and city commissioners to address what I saw as an uneven playing field.

If regulations applied to vehicles for hire, my argument was simple:

Enforce them fairly.

Competition doesn’t bother me. Competition can make businesses better.

But competition works best when everybody understands the rules—and when comparable businesses aren’t operating under dramatically different expectations.

The transportation industry was changing whether taxi drivers liked it or not. Technology wasn’t going away. Smartphones weren’t going away. Neither was the customer’s desire for convenient transportation.

Traditional taxi companies had to get better.

But government also had a responsibility to decide what the rules were and apply them consistently.

That was my argument then.

And beneath all the anger, it’s still the point I was trying to make.

Abraxi Taxiom: Lyft above the hype.