From L.A. Weekly the other week, we see how
cash-strapped municipalities protect the public, by screwing around
with innocent people trying to
provide a fair and needed service to other innocent people.

Here’s what the L.A. cops did to licensed, registered, and
insured limo driver Andy Chung:

Andy Chung became suspicious when he turned
down Figueroa Street. He had received a call asking for a ride
to Westwood. But as he approached
the Hotel Figueroa, he saw that another vehicle
had been pulled over by the police. He kept driving….

A few minutes later, the fare called again and asked why the cab
never showed up. 

“The driver was there,” Chung said. “The police were there. Are
you the police?”

“I’m not the police,” the man replied. “I’m a student. I need to
go to Westwood.”

In fact, the man was an undercover cop. Shortly after Chung
circled back to the hotel, he was in handcuffs — accused of
operating an illegal taxi.

Chung, 65, is a state-licensed limo driver, with valid
registration and insurance. Nevertheless, he had run afoul of the
byzantine licensing scheme that governs taxi services. And he was
about to pay dearly for it.

At a court hearing in March, Chung refused to accept a plea
bargain. He believed he had followed the rules. The judge found him
guilty and sentenced him to 150 days behind bars.

And the best part? Potential customers of these service
providers who use “legal” taxis pay a surcharge to help pay
overtime to LAPD’s finest to pull this sort of crap, and a
thousand such arrests of drivers trying to deliver a
service happen every year in L.A.

The legal distinction between a sinister limo and a legally
protected taxicab is that limos have to have both pickup and
dropoff pre-arranged, with paperwork to prove it, not just pick up
anyone who needs a ride. This sort of archaic law of course helps
stymie the super-efficiency-raising innovations in transportation
services like Uber.

Uber, a San Francisco–based startup, allows passengers to
arrange limo trips with their smartphones. The Uber app works as a
booking service for state-licensed town cars. Taxi regulators in
San Francisco and Washington, D.C., have alleged that Uber is
actually operating as a taxi service without following local taxi
ordinances.

The company does not appear to have much of a foothold yet in
Los Angeles, but if it gains traction here, both the city and the
franchised taxi companies are likely to raise similar
concerns. 

In other words, bad law that funnels money into the city’s
system through fines will trump the more efficient use of vehicle
and driver hours and satisfying people who need to get around for
hire. Government, where would we be without you? Getting more
rides, cheaper.

A great Wired article on the potential wonders
of Uber.