I miss Lyft enough to use bold typeface at some point

I don't hate taxi companies. I hate

• Calling for a cab
• Not knowing where my cab is
• The impersonal divide between me and my driver
• Haggling over directions/expecting to be "taken for a ride"
• Having my dispatched cab mistakenly take another customer
• Paying via carbon-paper credit card machines as I'm stepping out of the cab

I've seen what it's like when these things are fixed and I love it. I first tried Lyft in the summer of 2013 and I was instantly hooked. I understand Uber, SideCar, and a few other rideshare companies offer similar services. I wouldn't say I love unconditionally Lyft, but I do love

• Hailing a cab with a few taps on my smart phone
• Knowing exactly where my cab is
• The friendly vibe with each and every Lyft driver I've ever had. It really brings the city together.
• Regular navigation system use with a point-to-point fare structure. Common sense!
• Knowing exactly which Lyft is mine--seeing exactly what the car and driver look like, and having the driver recognize my face, eliminating confusion even when several Lyfts are being hailed on the same block.
• Paying via phone with my linked credit card and allowing my driver to get to his next fare.

Then there were several other things that Lyft did that delighted me to the point of addiction:

• Smart phone chargers as a regular feature
• Water (even though I didn't usually take it)
• Candy (even though I didn't usually take it)
• Swapping stories and news about the city

This represents a clear example of what's technically known as "deshittification:" a vast improvement on a substandard customer experience.

This Lyft car looks like what it feels to take a rideshare cab.

Then then Seattle city council enfuckified (once again, a technical term) the situation by capping the total number of drivers rideshare companies were allowed to have on the road. When I went to try to get a Lyft today for the first time in months, there were no drivers and I was forced back into using a traditional taxi company again (ugh). I wouldn't say I hate the Seattle city council. I hate

• Siding with interests who want to kneecap competitors with legislation rather than adapt to delight their customers
• Wiping out transformative improvements in industry at the stroke of a pen
• Telling the citizens it's for their own good

I didn't take taxis often, but when I did, it wasn't pleasant. Then I switched to Lyft and loved it (though I'm still an occasional customer only).

I pay attention to politics not to achieve a deeper meaning in my life, but to prevent those who seek meaning through meddling from messing it up for people who are just trying to live their lives--situations just like this.

DEY TOOK ER LYFT!

The good news for the Seattle city council is that I don't hate them. The bad news for the Seattle city council is that I don't have to hate them to vote against them next election. 

The council members who have insisted on rideshare caps don't deserve the vote of the great city of Seattle. They have screwed Seattle rideshare customers in the name of "fairness"[1]:

• Mike O'Brien
• Kshama Sawant (her particularly anti-progress position was quoted here)
• Nick Licata
• Bruce Harrell

These four have betrayed the trust of our city. Vote against them the next time you have a chance.

There was one ally for consumers against kneecapping rideshare services whose support is easily Googleable: Sally Bagshaw. Her position in favor of a superior riding experience can be found here. She's earned her position. Yay Bagshaw!

The founders gave us a Republic, if we could keep it. Go out there and keep the crap out of it.

1 - If you read both sides, part of the argument for caps is to limit the unfair advantage that rideshare companies have against the more regulated taxi cab companies. It's hard not to notice that this lower regulation accompanied a tremendously improved customer experience. If regulations are making it difficult for taxi companies to compete, I submit to you that pushing the burden of these regulations yet wider is a substandard approach. In other words, this demonstrates that more regulation != more consumer protection.