How Bad Has Ride-Hailing Been for Cities?
The new book “Disrupting D.C.” argues that the arrival of Uber was a disaster for the nation’s capital. But did for-hire ride companies deliver some progress, too?
In 2014, taxi drivers in Washington, DC, parked their cars on Pennsylvania Avenue to protest the arrival of Uber and the city’s permissive regulations governing the new ride-hailing industry.
Photographer: Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images
I will always remember when I first learned about Uber.
It was January 2012, and I was working in the Wilson Building, the District of Columbia’s city hall. As the then-mayor’s director of business development and strategy, I sought to diversify local employment beyond its concentration of federal government and professional services jobs. Nurturing the city’s nascent technology sector was a high priority, and I had grown acquainted with many of its leading executives.