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Nicholas Stehle is Vice President for Operations at The Martin Organization. When it comes to tech, he knows his stuff. — RDM
by Nicholas Stehle
January 20, 2015
From Los Angeles to New York, Conservatives love Uber. Why? Oh, that’s easy. Here are seven quick reasons.
1. Uber is market disrupting
Uber is a major market disrupter, and we all know how much conservatives – especially young people – love disrupting markets. Very few things have changed in terms of service and experience in the taxi industry over the decades. For the first time, incumbent taxicab companies have real competition for customers’ business.
Because Uber drivers are owner-operators, anyone can get into the game, and one or two large companies that offer poor service and nearly non-existent dispatch no longer hold entire markets captive.
2. Uber makes clean transportation available to more people
When drivers own their own cars, they keep them cleaner. People tend to be careful with their own property. Riders who trash cars are given bad reviews and won’t be picked up in the future. The net result: I hopped in a Mercedes sedan a few nights ago in Los Angeles, and it was spotless. It had been vacuumed recently. There was no blood or vomit in the floorboard (shock!) and the car even smelled of air fresheners. The free market makes this ride less expensive and more luxurious than the competition.
3. Uber drivers are friendlier – for a reason
Because riders rate their driver at the end of every ride, drivers have every incentive to (a) be friendly and (b) avoid unnecessarily running up fares. Recently one Uber driver missed my hotel’s entrance and had to turnaround. He quickly “ended” the trip, so as to avoid charging me for his mistake. Try getting that out of most any other transportation company. Once again, free market capitalism saves the day and makes the ride more pleasant for the rider.
4. It’s easy to split fares
Uber’s app allows you to easy split the fare between multiple riders. This means it’s easy to save money by splitting rides – even when you don’t have any cash handy. And really, folks: I’m not cheap, but am I the only person who gets tired of always being the guy stuck with the entire cab bill because no one else remembered their cash? I’m sure a check is the mail, but I digress…
5. Hailing a cab is a thing of the past
Few things are worse than standing on the side the road on a cold, rainy night trying to get a cab. Since you request an Uber car electronically via your Smartphone, hailing a cab is ancient history. We conservative men are gentlemen: we don’t like making our ladies wait in the cold or the rain for a ride. With Uber’s app, we simply request a car, track the progress via the app or text/voice with the driver, and step outside when our ride arrives.
6. Uber is cashless
Most people don’t carry large quantities of cash like we used to, and we surely don’t carry denominations suitable for tips. Uber takes care of that by (a) automatically charging your credit card via the app and (b) figuring in the tip automatically. I no longer need to carry hundreds of dollars around in my wallet and hit up expensive fee-based ATM machines to keep moving.
And come on: we’re conservatives. We work for a living. Who has time to hit up the ATM every other day?
7. Pricing is transparent
I like competition. I also like knowing exactly what something is going to cost before I buy it. Call me old fashioned. Call me (gasp) conservative. But gosh, I really detest hopping into a cab, expecting a $20 ride, and getting hit up for $65. You wouldn’t buy a car without knowing the price. Why pay for a ride without a price estimate? Uber gives you the rate based on demand at the time you request your ride. The app even requires you to enter the rate as an acknowledgement of higher demand. This allows people to pay more to get a ride when they really need it – or elect to hold off until demand dies down if the trip wasn’t all that important. This is at the heart of free market capitalism, and it’s one of the reasons conservatives love Uber.
— Nicholas Stehle is Vice President for Operations at The Martin Organization.
UPDATE: Study Shows Uber Drivers Work Fewer Hours and Make More Per Hour Than Taxi Drivers In case you were wondering if Uber was exploiting labor or some other leftist soundbite.
Rod is one of our nation’s leading minds. He’s smart, original, and very committed—a combination that one rarely finds.
Rod Martin and [former Howard Dean campaign manager] Joe Trippi are America’s two foremost experts on online politics.
Rod Martin is a Reaganite-Thatcherite conservative…[and] a man who has spent much of his life ministering to and working for the benefit of others. I know Rod as an advocate for freedom, a leader who understands the real changes we need in Washington, and who has the drive and ability to make those changes happen.
Rod Martin is the kind of dynamic leader who has the knowledge, ability and experience to lead us successfully into the 21st Century. His vision for America is compelling.
Rod Martin literally wrote the book on excellence. Humble yet brilliant, a man of love and compassion, with penetrating clarity he illuminates the world around us, and we are both stirred and enlightened.
Rod Martin is a born leader and an outstanding political mind. Anyone who takes him on is going to have a serious fight on their hands.
Rod Martin is a man of uncommon vision and character. Ever since I first worked alongside Rod in the early days of PayPal, I’ve been struck by his powerful vision for the future. Rod understands the intersection of technology, politics and culture in a way that few others do.
Rod Martin wears with uncommon grace an uncanny ability to link his vigorous faith to the practical challenges of both the business world and the political arena. Yet the respect he shows for others carries a warmth and modesty that are both too rare among those who are strong advocates of feisty positions.
America badly needs more leaders who really get the future. We need more Rod Martins.
Rod Martin is a modern day philosopher-statesman. He is a capitalist intellectual, a conservative iconoclast, a gentle adversary and a kind prophet. He inspires us towards a fresh national vision built upon the original founding principles.
Rod Martin is not only effective and efficient, but he is also perceptive, wise and gracious. He gets things done. He is a great friend and a great ally.
Rod is one of the sharpest, most gracious men I know, and one of the most gifted political thinkers today. His ability to analyze issues and communicate thoughtful insights on them have earned him the respect of people across the political spectrum.
I am proud to have been Rod Martin’s friend for a quarter century, and I can tell you that he is one of the finest men and most outstanding leaders in our church and in our country today. He has a knack for turning everything he touches to success.
Rod Martin is a cornucopian entrepreneur and eutropic thinker whose influence radiates through an array of companies, institutions, movements and churches. A renaissance American, he is also a prolific friend of freedom and faith around the globe.
If Rod Martin represents the next generation of leaders, America has nothing to worry about.
A leader and a servant, in public life and in private, Rod Martin strides at the top of his profession, and has nowhere to go but up. He is in the truest sense of the word ‘outstanding’.
Rod Martin is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished thought leaders today. He is a wonderful mentor, a humble role model, and a deep inspiration for the next generation of scientific innovators and entrepreneurs.
Rod’s achievements pale beside his character and his brilliance. He sees what others can’t. He leads when others won’t.
Rod Martin is one of America’s finest young minds.
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