
Using curious tactics to prove their value as transportation aides, taxi drivers in Mexico actually caused traffic jams to protest the presence of Uber in Mexico.
Hundreds of taxi drivers marched through Mexico City Monday chanting “Uber Out!” and demanding city authorities ban the online ride service. Some drove their pink-and-white cabs in ranks, snarling traffic along the city’s main boulevard.
The drivers say that Uber and other ride-sharing services evade the tax, registration and safety laws that regular cabs are subject to. Taxi drivers’ leader Eleazar Romero told the rally that “we are not against technology. We just want a level playing field, we want everyone to follow the same tax rules we do.”
This protest isn’t about fairness, it’s about control. The taxi drivers in Mexico should be protesting to lower the tax burden on themselves, rather than to raise the tax burden on Uber.
In response, Uber offered free rides to all passengers on the Monday following the protest.