The ban of Uber in Las Vegas reveals the stark reality: As Firefox founder Blake Ross explains, for years authorities have been trying to keep taxis from scamming tourists by taking them the wrong way from the Las Vegas airport to the Vegas Strip. Using the tools available to it, the Nevada Taxicab Authority tried everything from roadside checkpoints to giant signs to creating a system for passengers to submit reports (PDF) when they were taken by the wrong route from the airport. All to no avail. The Taxicab Authority is now planning to create its own software to monitor these trips, which at one time was to be funded by taxing rides in taxis.
In contrast, the sharing economy figured out in a matter of weeks a problem that regulators in Nevada could not solve over the course of several decades. Through its five-star rating system, Uber is able to determine within an instant whether or not a driver took the passenger the correct route.
In the name of protecting passengers, however, tourists in Las Vegas are unable to take advantage of this service. Instead they are left with the patchwork of solutions devised by the Taxicab Authority, which isn’t serving them well.
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