Uber Moves into Las Vegas, Then Kicked Out

Timing is everything. Only one day after I wrote this article stating that Uber was not in Las Vegas, they began service in Las Vegas. Last night I spent 90 minutes writing an update with a nice workaround for the Uber restrictions. All of that was in vain as I learned this morning the Uber service was dismantled after a Carson City judge signed an order preventing Uber from offering any service until at least November 7th. Sometimes writing is challenging.

It’s always been pretty obvious how powerful the taxi lobby is in Nevada but how serious are they about insuring they keep Uber out of the state? You got to love this quote from the article…

“Five unmarked white Nevada Taxicab Authority vehicles surrounded his blue Ford Focus as he was driving east on Fashion Show Drive about 3:30 p.m. He was pulled over while trying to drop off two passengers. Two undercover officers wore black ski masks.”

Really, they needed FIVE unmarked vehicles to pull over one little Ford Focus and two officers had to wear ski masks? Like someone would recognize them? Maybe the only surprising part was that the authorities didn’t have SWAT backup with a tank.

But one thing stays in place. As I was going to include in my ‘Uber Comes to Vegas’ post, the Nevada Taxicab Authority early this week successfully pushed through an 8% increase in taxi fares. No doubt this will stand.

Now it looks like Orlando and the State of Nevada will be center stage next month as both are challenging Uber. As I said before, Uber will agree to some regulations but definitely not the part where Orlando wants them to charge 25% more than the taxi services. And the Nevada case will be more interesting because Uber has been trying to get statewide rules rather than separate regulations for each city. Much more to come on this story.

Are you getting dizzy from all the “Now you see Uber,” “Now you don’t?”