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You are here: Home / Open Threads / When Lyft Came to Town

When Lyft Came to Town

by $8 blue check mistermix|  April 26, 201412:21 pm| 98 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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SAMSUNG

Rochester is now officially a Lyft city. Lyft, like Uber, is a car service where users summon and pay their part-time driver via a smartphone app using a stored credit card. I have no idea whether it will work here — my impression is that everyone here drives anyway, and cabs are certainly few and far between. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve used a cab in this town, after living here for almost 20 years. Maybe Lyft will morph into a Friday night / Saturday night service to get drunks home from the bars (which would be a good thing).

What I do know is the pink moustache that graces Lyft cars is going to look like the carpet in the seediest, grossest, most run-down titty bar in town after a few days in a Rochester winter.

Here’s an open thread since I’m going to lyft my ass out of my chair and go about my day.

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Reader Interactions

98Comments

  1. 1.

    dollared

    April 26, 2014 at 12:25 pm

    Are they claiming that they are exempt from all maintenance, safety, insurance and pricing regulation under the Blanket Exemption From all Regulation For All Venture-Backed Companies that was written in the Constitution?

  2. 2.

    evolved beyond the fist mistermix

    April 26, 2014 at 12:27 pm

    @dollared: I looked at their terms of service and one sentence stood out: “Lyft is not a transportation company”

    Riiight.

  3. 3.

    BGinCHI

    April 26, 2014 at 12:28 pm

    Oh, I thought “lyfting” was what metrosexuals did at the gym.

  4. 4.

    ranchandsyrup

    April 26, 2014 at 12:28 pm

    Wrote a post on past refusals to acknowledge my own privilege

    Rainy day schedule for us so we’re breaking out the play doh play sets.

  5. 5.

    Jewish Steel

    April 26, 2014 at 12:31 pm

    I have heard that Lyft drivers are encouraged to make small talk, fist bump their passengers, act like a buddy. I think I’ll walk to the airport, thank you.

  6. 6.

    mai naem mobile

    April 26, 2014 at 12:35 pm

    It’s supposed to rain in phoenix today which is really nice for a change. We’ve been getting 90+ temps which is way too hot for April. Just wondering, has uber ever had a robbing of a driver yet? I’ve never used uber but I am assuming u can hack into somebody’s phone ans use the service?

  7. 7.

    gbear

    April 26, 2014 at 12:36 pm

    I saw a couple of Lyft cars driving around the Twin Cities over the winter. I’ll confirm that the pink moustaches don’t look good after a couple dosings of snow and slush. One of them was half-drooping into a fu-manchu. The pink moustache is a really stupid identifier.

  8. 8.

    scav

    April 26, 2014 at 12:38 pm

    judging from what seem to be the Illinois plates, that photo of a mangled neon boa-wearer they ran over must have been pretty fresh too, possibly a springtime kill although we gets rain then as well. Just thinking the summer thunderstorms have the slight edge in silly logo marring.

  9. 9.

    aimai

    April 26, 2014 at 12:44 pm

    The only time I’ve seen a Lyft car was once, when it got involved in a massive road rage incident and was pursued by another car. The pursuing car caught up with it at a light, both parties ended up screaming at each other, and the pursuer got out, kicked the lyft car and tried to pull off its mustache. The whole thing was freaky and terrifying at the same time. Luckily I don’t live in a “guns are real popular” state or I’m pretty sure someone would have gotten shot.

  10. 10.

    Roger Moore

    April 26, 2014 at 12:44 pm

    @dollared:
    They can avoid all regulations that apply to a functionally identical industry just by calling themselves by a different name. Lyft isn’t a taxi service because it calls itself car sharing, Airbnb isn’t a hotel because it calls itself a room sharing service, and hedge funds aren’t investment banks because they call themselves something different.

  11. 11.

    Tommy

    April 26, 2014 at 12:45 pm

    Be interesting to see if it works. I feel like St. Louis could be another town where it could work. We have a pretty nice bus and rail service, but trying to get a cab can almost be impossible. I like to use the rail line, cause well when I lived in DC I got used to not driving and came to enjoy being about to read while somebody else “drives” me around. But getting a cab in DC was as easy as taking a breath. Here, well not so much. So if I have to go that far from the rail line, well it is a walk (buses often run strange times — or not at all on the weekends). Not always something I want to do it is 100 or raining.

    It is my experience people here LOVE their cars. I mean people around me on a 75 degree sunny day, drive two blocks to the 7-11 like corner store up the street. Think I am strange cause you know I walk. So maybe it might not work. But I have to think there are other folks like me. And there are at least two popular areas of St. Louis (Youth City & Central West End) that are kind of “hipster” so they might work in a limited area.

  12. 12.

    Roger Moore

    April 26, 2014 at 12:49 pm

    @gbear:

    The pink moustache is a really stupid identifier.

    AKA truth in advertising.

  13. 13.

    Tommy

    April 26, 2014 at 12:52 pm

    @Roger Moore: Look I am a marketing and branding guy, and that pink mustache might be one of the worse ideas I’ve ever seen and that is saying a lot. I’ve seen a lot of dumb things. Maybe even thought of a few of them myself :).

  14. 14.

    scav

    April 26, 2014 at 1:00 pm

    As this is open, for those that care there’s a downloadable Antony and Cleopatra (Kenneth Branagh and Alex Kingston) for the next week at the BBC Drama of the Week. To enhance the randomness suitable to a weekend, Sloths are internally rather interesting so they can breathe upside down. None of these are necessarily improved by pink mustaches, although, thinking about it, the Queen of the Nile . . . .

  15. 15.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    April 26, 2014 at 1:01 pm

    I’m somewhat sympathetic to the attempt to avoid regulation here because taxi service really is one of those places where the regulations have both the intent and effect of maintaining a cartel to limit supply. Ideally we’d have a set of regulations limited strictly to safety and consumer protection, but that’s not what we have in any city I know of.

  16. 16.

    Tommy

    April 26, 2014 at 1:07 pm

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): I don’t know if other cities do it, but how cabs work in DC is just about right. You pay by the number of zones you travel and the number of passengers. So it is my experience that in one of the most expensive cities in the nation cabs are pretty reasonable. Even more so if you are a business person that is just trying to get a few blocks from a metro stop to a meeting.

  17. 17.

    indycat32

    April 26, 2014 at 1:07 pm

    Does anyone have an electric lawn mower? I need a new mower and was considering electric, but the more I read the more confused I get. I have a small yard so don’t need anything big or powerful.

  18. 18.

    Baud

    April 26, 2014 at 1:11 pm

    @indycat32:

    I have one that I never use because I don’t like dealing with the cord. But I also have a big enough yard that electric wasn’t a good choice for me.

  19. 19.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    April 26, 2014 at 1:17 pm

    @Tommy: Charging by zones is a bad idea. Beyond that, the medallion system is openly designed to keep too few cabs in operation. And that doesn’t even protect the incomes of the drivers; the extra value accrues to the holders of the medallions, who often just hire drivers.

  20. 20.

    Villago Delenda Est

    April 26, 2014 at 1:22 pm

    Those pink moustaches remind me of this.

  21. 21.

    Villago Delenda Est

    April 26, 2014 at 1:24 pm

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): Please explain why “charging by zones” is a bad idea? Just asserting it doesn’t shed any light.

    Your comment about medallions, OTOH, has an explanation that does shed light. Follow that example!

  22. 22.

    Villago Delenda Est

    April 26, 2014 at 1:27 pm

    @Tommy:

    It is my experience people here LOVE their cars.

    How familiar are you with the automobile-centered lifestyle of Southern California? Have you seen LA Story? There’s a scene in it where Steve Martin drives two houses down to return a borrowed cup of sugar. The idea of WALKING two houses down is simply never considered.

  23. 23.

    Tommy

    April 26, 2014 at 1:28 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: I love the zone method, but that might be because of how I used cabs in DC. Usually it was to get from a metro stop to a meeting or to another bar. Shorter distances. Maybe within the zone. Or just two zones.

    Now if you are taking a cab from one side of DC to the other the pricing might be higher. Honestly the entire time I lived in DC I never really saw an analysis of this.

  24. 24.

    RandomMonster

    April 26, 2014 at 1:28 pm

    I’m expecting Lyft to be exploited by a serial killer at some point. (That idea has to be on the next season of Criminal Minds.)

    Also, a news item I saw about prostitutes renting AirBnB rooms is hilarious.

  25. 25.

    aimai

    April 26, 2014 at 1:30 pm

    @Tommy: Its a horrible system, created and maintained to benefit congresspeople who only travel through certain zones. The important people rushing through the center get charged next to nothing, while anyone coming in or going out gets charged a fortune.

  26. 26.

    Violet

    April 26, 2014 at 1:30 pm

    The moustache is stupid. Did Lyft start in some city with mostly nice weather?

    @indycat32: If it’s a really small yard, go with a weed whacker or use a manually propelled mower–the old fashioned kind.

    I will say that I bought a cordless weed whacker once. Despite the yard being small, the battery ran down on it so quickly that I couldn’t even do the front yard before there was no juice to make it work. Make sure you look into battery life and effectiveness if you go cordless.

  27. 27.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 26, 2014 at 1:31 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: Taxi medallions in NYC change hands for over a million dollars, and are owned mostly by investors, not actual taxi operators/drivers.

  28. 28.

    Tommy

    April 26, 2014 at 1:31 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: It is that bad here as well.

    My town is so safe I often don’t even lock my front door. I live at the edge of town in a small subdivision. I kid you not parents on a beautiful spring or fall day drive 1-3 blocks to pick up their children from the bus stop. So many people do it, and pull onto this ladies lawn, that she put up a fence so they’d stop. It just hurts my head this is done.

  29. 29.

    Villago Delenda Est

    April 26, 2014 at 1:32 pm

    @RandomMonster: The NYC Hotel industry is really steamed at AirBnB, they’re cutting into their swag. Oh, and instead of saying “we can’t stand competition”, they’re couching it all in terms of AirBnB flouting regulations and standards needed to protect consumers from people like us, the NYC Hotel Industry.

  30. 30.

    Villago Delenda Est

    April 26, 2014 at 1:35 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Of that I am aware. It’s a cartel, and by gosh, we’re going to defend our thing (La Cosa Nostra) to the death. The medallion system directly led to the alternative, the private car service industry that exists in NYC, because there are so few cabs out there, and yes, the medallion owners are raking in the bucks, not the actual taxi drives. The notion that the taxi driver is a small businessman, a brave immigrant entrepreneur making the American Dream a reality, is a blatant lie, but one that guys like David “Someday the world will be vastly improved when my broken body is found in a back alley” Brooks readily embrace.

  31. 31.

    scav

    April 26, 2014 at 1:37 pm

    @aimai: Another interpretation is that it is designed to relieve downtown congestion so in effect subsidies those rides preferentially. It’s not a perfect system, but neither is the other. Charge by mile encourages inefficient routes and especially takes advantage of non-locals who don’t know any better. Any system is going to be a tradeoff.

  32. 32.

    MomSense

    April 26, 2014 at 1:38 pm

    Since this is an open thread? Anyone here the crazy audio of the LA Clippers owner?

  33. 33.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 26, 2014 at 1:38 pm

    Taking advantage of this open thread to post, for anyone who might be interested, a great story on Storify which grew out of an attempt to understand who had kidnapped Simon Ostrovsky, a Russian-American journalist for Vice who’s been doing great work in eastern Ukraine. Ostrovsky has since been released, but the evidence in that story about Russian special forces involvement is, IMO, pretty hard to deny unless you’re named Bob.

    The part of the story I sort of love is the transcript of a leaked/captured conversation between the Russian spec ops guy in charge of the area (Strelkov) and the self-appointed “mayor” of Sloviansk (Ponomaryov).

    Strelkov: Slava!
    Ponomaryov: Yes, yes. Yes.
    Strelkov: Please sort out this business with the stiff, and get him away from us today… as quickly as possible. It’s lying here, stinking.
    Ponomaryov: The corpse? Yes, yes, I will. I’m just finishing up with the journalists right now, and then I’ll take care of it. The guys caught some… They’re bringing you some…
    Strelkov: Mhm. Yeah.
    Ponomaryov: …to the cellar. And then I’ll just come over and deal with burying that faggot.
    Strelkov: Ok, fine.
    Ponomaryov. All right, good.

    The “stiff” they’re talking about is Volodymyr Rybak, the head of the city council of Horlivka, whose body was found tortured and drowned a couple of days ago.

  34. 34.

    James E. Powell

    April 26, 2014 at 1:39 pm

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):

    Are either of the problems you note – too few cabs, low driver income – going to be solved by lyft or uber? In the long run?

    Why was the medallion system created? Did it formerly serve a purpose other than too few cabs?

  35. 35.

    Anoniminous

    April 26, 2014 at 1:39 pm

    @indycat32:

    Have you considered a push mower?

  36. 36.

    hamletta

    April 26, 2014 at 1:40 pm

    @indycat32: I had a corded Black & Decker for 15 years for my small yard in Nashvegas. It was still going strong, and I gave it to a friend when I moved out of state.

    I could cover the whole yard with two 50-ft. extension cords, and the battery would have added 20 lbs., and running out of juice before you’re done is a PITA.

    I had used a manual reel mower for several years, but my yard got so overrun with Bermuda grass that it became useless.

  37. 37.

    Villago Delenda Est

    April 26, 2014 at 1:42 pm

    @aimai: And here we have an explanation of why the zone system is not all that great for everyone!

  38. 38.

    JDM

    April 26, 2014 at 1:43 pm

    @dollared:

    Lyft, and Uber, are the Cliven Bundy’s of the transportation sector.

  39. 39.

    EriktheRed

    April 26, 2014 at 1:43 pm

    You say Rochester, but that’s very clearly an Illinois plate on that car. Did you just post that because of that moustache?

  40. 40.

    Villago Delenda Est

    April 26, 2014 at 1:44 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Tovarishch Bob Romanov, supporter of The Glorious Forces of Anti-Fascism in the Ukraine, of course begs to differ.

    You know, I saw the name of that Russian SF guy, and I immediately thought of Pasha from Doctor Zhivago.

  41. 41.

    Anoniminous

    April 26, 2014 at 1:46 pm

    @Anoniminous:

    Darn it. Meant “reel mower.”

  42. 42.

    gnomedad

    April 26, 2014 at 1:47 pm

    @indycat32:
    I use a rechargeable electric. It’s heavy, and have to replace the gel cell battery every few years, but it’s fine if you don’t have steep slopes and your yard’s not huge. It’s great to just wheel it out and go without messing with gasoline. If I put off mowing too long the motor can overheat and have the breaker cut out for a few minutes, but if I mow on any sane schedule it’s never a problem.

  43. 43.

    scav

    April 26, 2014 at 1:48 pm

    @MomSense: Just read about it. Hoo boy, the orders about “his” games and who she is to bring to them. Good strain of ownership over women along with the weapons grade prime other Shit. All-around Stirling Piece of work that individual. Has he not been properly media-trained too?

  44. 44.

    ArchTeryx

    April 26, 2014 at 1:51 pm

    @indycat32: I actually bought a Greenworks Twin Force for my mother not long ago and it works like a champ. The secret sauce seems to be two smaller blades instead of one big one (much easier to spin, much easier to sharpen) and lithium ion batteries (the mower comes with two, a heavy capacity and a backup, and runs off both at once). The batteries are about $100 apiece, but they last a long time and are very, very light compared with lead-acid. You pull ’em out of the mower – they’re only a few pounds apiece – and recharge them/store them indoors between mowings.

    Pricey, but may be worth it if your heart is set on a rechargeable.

  45. 45.

    PurpleGirl

    April 26, 2014 at 1:52 pm

    In NYC we have car services and metered taxis which use different charge methods. Taxis — medallion cabs — charge by metered distances. All are painted one of two colors — yellow which go throughout the city and limish green which only pick-up in the outer boroughs and can drop off anywhere. Car services are supposed to be ordered by phone calls (but the drivers do street hails anyway) and charge by zones driven in or crossed. A number of the new green borough cars were car service before. NYC also plays with the number of medallions it has, recently increasing the number to raise some money for the City.

  46. 46.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 26, 2014 at 1:53 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: Strelnikov, not Strelkov, IIRC.

    Anyway, I think the kidnappings of journalists and OSCE observers are helpful in clarifying the situation. I don’t think a movement which is confident of broad popular support typically engages in these sorts of tactics.

  47. 47.

    srv

    April 26, 2014 at 1:54 pm

    If you don’t have any taxis, then y’all are either filled with drinking drivers or mormons.

  48. 48.

    Villago Delenda Est

    April 26, 2014 at 1:55 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Yes, but it’s the similarity of the names.

  49. 49.

    ? Martin

    April 26, 2014 at 2:02 pm

    FFS, how many times can Everton trip over their own dicks in one game.

  50. 50.

    PurpleGirl

    April 26, 2014 at 2:02 pm

    The character in Doctor Zhivago was Pavel Pavelovich Antipov (Pasha) who when he became the revolutionary leader called himself Strelnikov.

  51. 51.

    maya

    April 26, 2014 at 2:04 pm

    Well that didn’t last long. Cliven Bundy has just been putsched.

  52. 52.

    aimai

    April 26, 2014 at 2:08 pm

    @scav: That is, in fact, my interpretation. Not “another interpretation.”

  53. 53.

    Joshua Norton

    April 26, 2014 at 2:10 pm

    Taxi service is horrible at best in San Francisco. I use Lyft quite often. It’s a lot easier than playing “taxi roulette” where you have to call 4 different cab companies and hope one of them shows up eventually. The app tells you if a driver is in your area and after they accept your call it tells you how long it will take to pick you up.

    And the pink mustaches are NOT stupid. When you have streets full of cars that all look alike, you can easily pick out the Lyft ride you’re waiting for. What are you going to do, go up to every car that stops near you and ask them if they’re your ride?

  54. 54.

    scav

    April 26, 2014 at 2:12 pm

    @aimai: But you’re interpreting uniquely in terms of negative consequences.

  55. 55.

    one of the jasons

    April 26, 2014 at 2:12 pm

    @Jewish Steel: Lyft/Uber drivers here in Pittsburgh are being ticketed by a single PUC officer who just calls them up, gets a ride, and then gives them a ticket. Last night they had a (young, conspicuously pierced) driver on the news complaining about the one-woman sting in terms of hurt feelings: “Y’know, here’s this person, you give them a ride, you chat, you build a rapport, and then they turn around and give you a ticket! It’s like, I thought we were friends, man” <- nearly verbatim

  56. 56.

    Amir Khalid

    April 26, 2014 at 2:21 pm

    @? Martin:
    And how many false dawns can Manchester United have in one season? They had them again and again under Moyes. Today, under the new Class of ’92 management, they’ve beaten relegation contenders Norwich 4-0 at Old Trafford. Not a real test by any means.

  57. 57.

    Mark C

    April 26, 2014 at 2:22 pm

    Given the history of Xerox and Kodak over the last couple of decades, the surprising thing about this post is that there are people still living in Rochester. Who knew?

  58. 58.

    Redshift

    April 26, 2014 at 2:23 pm

    @scav: They’ve gotten rid of the much-maligned zone system in DC. I don’t follow it closely, but my impression is that they’ve managed to make cabs less of a patronage system than it used to be. They’ve finally managed to require DC cabs to take credit cards, for example.

    As for whether a mileage system is more susceptible to ripping off out-of-towners than a zone system, let me point out that at least with mileage there’s a meter, whereas the zone system relies on the driver honestly representing where you’re going on a poorly-printed map posted in the cab. Visitors who don’t have an idea of the mileage are unlikely to have a good grasp of the zone boundaries either.

  59. 59.

    Tiny Tim

    April 26, 2014 at 2:27 pm

    Good riddance to DC zone system. It was perfectly designed to scam tourists, as the posted zone map was not oriented N-S making it impossible for out of towners to have any idea where they were going/which zones they were traveling through.

    One reason to have a well-regulated cab system is so that users can be reasonably confident they aren’t being scammed.

  60. 60.

    scav

    April 26, 2014 at 2:29 pm

    @Redshift: Good point. We could also throw in some arguments about simplicity and it’s impact on low overhead, the cost of meters increasing the barriers to who can be a taxidriver and the susceptibility of zone structure to gerrymandering. I’m not arguing for or against either system necessarily, just pointing out there are costs and benefits, winners and losers in either system. The medallions craft bottleneck is more problematic.

  61. 61.

    indycat32

    April 26, 2014 at 2:29 pm

    @ArchTeryx: I’ve been reading about the Greenworks mowers, but I’d have to order online and that worries me if there’s a problem. Lowes’ Kobalt brand also has 2 lithium-ion batteries, but I hate buying anything there because women customers at my local Lowes store tend to be invisible unless we’re in paint/wallpaper or appliances. In fact I was ignored just this morning.

  62. 62.

    Central Planning

    April 26, 2014 at 2:34 pm

    Anyone know if the Lyft mustaches have to be pink? I saw a tan colored mustache like that two days ago in Pittsford (suburb of Rochester).

    Does the service work well late at night, like 1am? I’m going to be in SanFrancisco next month for a week and expect many late nights.

  63. 63.

    bago

    April 26, 2014 at 2:36 pm

    The dudebros of Bellevue and generic old coots of the Pacific Northwest defeated an emergency funding proposition for public transport in Seattle.
    http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2014/04/25/a-picture-that-captures-the-failure-of-proposition-1-and-leads-to-thoughts-about-thomas-piketty

    This is epicly stupid, as we live in 2014, getting stuck on 520 suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks, and we all have smartphones and OneBusAway.org on call. The busses are pretty nice, with LED lighting and occasionally wifi, and techies on occasion might mingle with the Hoi Polloi. But, as Americans, we love our cars.

    It’s absurd. My Fox loving mother keeps buying clunkers that die so that she can drive to work three blocks away. This is an actual thing. It boggles the mind.

  64. 64.

    bemused

    April 26, 2014 at 2:36 pm

    I heard the audio. Wow. He seemed to get more and more upset as he tried to explain his objections. I thought he sounded more distressed than angry as the conversation went on and I wondered if it was because he couldn’t explain himself to himself.

    He’s 81 and wealthy and probably has never had to face his racism until he had a young AA/HIspanic much younger girlfriend.

  65. 65.

    Another Holocene Human

    April 26, 2014 at 2:36 pm

    @aimai: Too weird! I was telling a coworker about the way funeral processions in Mass are treated as sacred and that it’s not out of the bounds of possibility that if you disrespected one some bodies might not pull you out of your car and beat you and him being in a bad mood he said something about Florida has Stand Your Ground and he would just shoot anyone who came at him. (And the comment wasn’t directed at him!)

    I think I’d rather take my chances with ragey tough guy assholes than weenies with guns and good old boy sheriffs, but that’s just me.

  66. 66.

    Another Holocene Human

    April 26, 2014 at 2:37 pm

    @Roger Moore: And Paypal isn’t a bank.

    No really. Still working that fiction. Good luck getting your money back if you aren’t a US citizen who knows some lawyers who can write them nasty letters.

    Can’t believe those fucks are STILL getting away with it.

  67. 67.

    cleek

    April 26, 2014 at 2:38 pm

    i used cabs in Rochester a lot, when i was a college student. especially going to and from the airport and train & bus stations.

  68. 68.

    Another Holocene Human

    April 26, 2014 at 2:41 pm

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): There was a REASON they limited supply, although of course there are smaller cities that just want to extract a rent when they have no reason at all to limit supply.

    A primitive pre-cursor to congestion pricing.

    The Romans had a cart tax–you want to bring that wagon into the city, you pay. London’s system has its antecedant. It’s too bad people who live around the bridges in NYC are so short-sighted they can’t sign onto a uniform bridge toll system. Wouldn’t it be nice to get your neighborhood back from the daily toll jumpers? Apparently not. (The years of breathing leaded gas from decades of toll avoidings stalled in traffic have taken their toll.)

  69. 69.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    April 26, 2014 at 2:41 pm

    @MomSense: Chris Hansen, Steve Ballmer call your office, Clippers may need a new owner.

  70. 70.

    lamh36

    April 26, 2014 at 2:41 pm

    Magic Johnson Responds to L.A. Clippers Owner Donald Sterling’s Alleged Racist Remarks

    Since the alleged racist rant was released Magic Johnson has responded: “It’s a shame that Donald Sterling feels that way about African-Americans,” said Johnson, ” He has a team full of amazing African-American basketball players that are working to bring championships to Clippers fans. The Clippers have a strong minority fan base.”

    “@popcornreel: The reliable @stephenasmith says he’s been told by sources that additional tapes of #DonaldSterling will be released in the next few days.”

  71. 71.

    Another Holocene Human

    April 26, 2014 at 2:43 pm

    @Tommy: Yeah, I thought the zone system was all right, if pricey, but thought it was frigging stupid that major thoroughfares don’t have big bus lines like Paris does (or like Montgomery County does over the border) so you don’t have to spend $17 just to get to the closest subway station. I only took a cab in DC once because I was stranded at some hotel in Adams Morgan for a conference and I was too pooped to walk double digits of DC’s gargantuan blocks. Most of the many, many times I went I stayed within a reasonable (by DC terms) walking radio of Metro station headhouses.

  72. 72.

    Another Holocene Human

    April 26, 2014 at 2:48 pm

    @indycat32: My parents got a Ryobi in the late 1990s and ran it for over a decade. It would have worked better if they would have kept the blades sharp. Their lawn isn’t a postage stamp but it doesn’t run to multiple acres. Much nice than that old gas warhorse.

  73. 73.

    Another Holocene Human

    April 26, 2014 at 2:50 pm

    @Tommy: Actually, I do remember sharing a cab from Union Station back to Maryland once when the Metro was already shut down. I don’t think the price was absurd or anything.

  74. 74.

    lamh36

    April 26, 2014 at 2:51 pm

    Oh and in case yall thought thus dude and his racist bs was news to NBA…2011

    Donald Sterling allegedly acted terribly in the Clippers locker room
    http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/bl…

  75. 75.

    Another Holocene Human

    April 26, 2014 at 2:54 pm

    @scav: And I think you’re right–for many years transportation decisions were made with the notion that distance commuters should be funnelled onto the Metro, hence the lack of daytime local buses in the city center and the myriad discouragements to cars.

    The only problem being that the heart of the Metro system was doubled up for a discount and can’t actually safely accommodate the teeming masses they forced into it.

    I don’t follow every detail of WMATA any more but there was a point where Metro Center got super scary during rush hour due to overcrowding.

  76. 76.

    Amir Khalid

    April 26, 2014 at 2:57 pm

    @lamh36:
    Linky bad. You fix?

  77. 77.

    Another Holocene Human

    April 26, 2014 at 3:01 pm

    @Redshift:

    As for whether a mileage system is more susceptible to ripping off out-of-towners than a zone system, let me point out that at least with mileage there’s a meter, whereas the zone system relies on the driver honestly representing where you’re going on a poorly-printed map posted in the cab. Visitors who don’t have an idea of the mileage are unlikely to have a good grasp of the zone boundaries either.

    Ah hmmm mmmm….

    There are gypsy cab operators in DC. Oh yes.

    And they will take you on a ride. An exciting, twisting, looooooong ride.

    And a bargain! Such a bargain!

    From the DC Greyhound, to the Union Station, a journey of 300ft, 1000 paces.

    They will accommodate this need.

    (The DC zones were enormous. Much safer for tourists.)

    ETA: @Tiny Tim: DC is a big diamond, how frigging confusing can that be?! At any rate, my experience with DC livery drivers is that they were very professional.

  78. 78.

    lamh36

    April 26, 2014 at 3:02 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    Good link:

    http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Donald-Sterling-allegedly-acted-terribly-in-the-?urn=nba-304544

  79. 79.

    shelly

    April 26, 2014 at 3:06 pm

    Oh no, a News Max headline:

    Santorum: ‘I Don’t Know if I Can’ Run in 2016
    ******
    And America mourns.

  80. 80.

    lamh36

    April 26, 2014 at 3:11 pm

    @lamh36: from that link

    In November, my esteemed colleague Mr. Dwyer detailed Baylor’s description of Sterling fostering a “plantation mentality” within the organization. Now, some more details have come out about Sterling’s actions in recent legal filings, courtesy of J.A. Adande on TrueHoop. Here’s the juiciest part:
    “While ignoring my suggestions and isolating me from decisions customarily reserved for general managers, the Clippers attempted to place the blame for the team’s failures on me,” Baylor said in the declaration. “During this same period, players Sam Cassell(notes), Elton Brand(notes) and Corey Maggette(notes) complained to me that DONALD STERLING would bring women into the locker room after games, while the players were showering, and make comments such as, ‘Look at those beautiful black bodies.’ I brought this to Sterling’s attention, but he continued to bring women into the locker room.”

  81. 81.

    Another Holocene Human

    April 26, 2014 at 3:12 pm

    @shelly: Santorum is generally runny.

    /couldn’t resist, dammit!

  82. 82.

    srv

    April 26, 2014 at 3:12 pm

    @Central Planning: 415-648-3181, Arrow Cab. Mostly vets. They merged with Checker, so there’s a lot of crap out there like all the other companies, but that number always gets me a decent cab. If you need a regular pickup, just ask them and they’ll accomodate. They’d prefer picking up some sober bizguy than a drunk at 1am.

    nextmuni.com, buses do run into the AM. Uber & Lyft are pretty much a crapshoot from what I hear, just like most cab companies.

  83. 83.

    Another Holocene Human

    April 26, 2014 at 3:18 pm

    @srv: where i live the cabbies make their rent off drunks cuz they can “hit em in the head” ie charge them twenty for .75mi

  84. 84.

    srv

    April 26, 2014 at 3:32 pm

    @Another Holocene Human: Hipsters here don’t tip that great and use cards.

    The older vets, I think would prefer weed. Last cabbie told me he disembarked from Guam with a duffle of dope, walked into Haight, got high with a couple guys on the corner. One was looking for a place to live and the other took them up to the hostel that was on Ashbury. Someone there hooked them up with an apartment.

    Roommate was DH Peligro from the Dead Kennedys.

  85. 85.

    khead

    April 26, 2014 at 3:36 pm

    Mr. Bundy? Meet Mr. Sterling.

    Mr. Sterling? Meet Mr. Bundy.

    I’m sure you two will find a lot to talk about.

  86. 86.

    different-church-lady

    April 26, 2014 at 3:44 pm

    …is going to look like the carpet in the seediest, grossest, most run-down titty bar in town…

    And you know what that looks like how?

  87. 87.

    Violet

    April 26, 2014 at 3:47 pm

    @shelly: Santorum must not be thinking of running. He said this:

    Victories will be tough, he said, unless elected officials stop being obstructionists.

    Santorum said the libertarian streak running through his party distorts the definition of freedom, and that politicians wrongly look to President Ronald Reagan’s policies to address today’s challenges.

    Stop being obstructionists? Whatever Reagan did in the 1980’s wouldn’t work today? RINO!

    And this:

    “Do Republicans really care less about the person at the bottom of the ladder than Democrats do? To be painfully honest, I would have to say in some ways ‘yes,'” Santorum writes in his book, “Blue Collar Conservatives: Recommitting to an America That Works.”

    Traitor!

    Edit: Forgot link.

  88. 88.

    ? Martin

    April 26, 2014 at 3:56 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Well, a win is a win. But you won’t find me crying for MUs place in the standings. Every team needs a humility refresher now and then.

    And FTFY while I’m at it.

  89. 89.

    Amir Khalid

    April 26, 2014 at 4:05 pm

    @efgoldman:
    I’d really love to have them over, but the Secret Service are such a pain to have around. Besides, Michelle and her staff would take up too many places and there wouldn’t be room for everyone who wanted to come.

  90. 90.

    Ben

    April 26, 2014 at 4:14 pm

    @cleek:
    Me too, especially since I didn’t own a car, and the Rochester bus system is terrible. If only they brought back the subway…

  91. 91.

    BBA

    April 26, 2014 at 4:30 pm

    @Another Holocene Human: DC is a diamond. The zone map showed it as a square.

  92. 92.

    Anne Laurie

    April 26, 2014 at 4:53 pm

    @indycat32:

    Does anyone have an electric lawn mower?

    I’ve been using a corded electric mower, very happily, for twenty years now. (Well, technically, I used our neighbor’s hand-me-down for the first five or so, and then upgraded to the current Black & Decker.) Our mowable “yard” is actually a series of oddly-shaped areas, all of them reachable with a 75ft heavy-duty extension cord.

    The Spousal Unit looked at some cordless models, but I do most of the mowing (since I’m the one who doesn’t have a paid job) and the extra battery weight would’ve been a real problem for my wrists. He’s managed to run over & destroy one or two extension cords, mostly in the early days, but I don’t work fast enough for that to be a problem for me.

    I think about getting a reel mower occasionally, but the Spousal Unit says those wouldn’t work if we (I) continued our lazy attitude about not mowing until the weeds were at least four inches high.

    The battery models have probably gotten lighter in the last decade, but until our current compromise model dies of old age, we’re good!

  93. 93.

    Anne Laurie

    April 26, 2014 at 4:58 pm

    @Central Planning:

    Anyone know if the Lyft mustaches have to be pink? I saw a tan colored mustache like that two days ago in Pittsford (suburb of Rochester).

    That mustache may’ve been pink originally. A dedicated cleaner might be able to keep the fiber unfilthy, but there’s not much can remedy sun/salt bleaching.

  94. 94.

    Mnemosyne

    April 26, 2014 at 5:22 pm

    @lamh36:

    Who would have thought Sterling could be even creepier? Hello sexual harassment lawsuit on behalf of the players.

  95. 95.

    Southern Beale

    April 26, 2014 at 7:28 pm

    We have Lyft and Uber in Nashville. They’ve been successful enough to cause our local taxi companies to quake in their boots and try to get some legislative action to prohibit them. Didn’t work, tho

  96. 96.

    Joel

    April 26, 2014 at 8:01 pm

    Lyft and Uber have been in a knockdown, drag-out fight with the local cab companies here in Seattle. I am sympathetic to cab companies, but it’s worth mentioning that they have largely provided pretty crappy service in the decade that I’ve lived here. I’m unsure if Lyft or Uber are better, although the price is basically the same.

  97. 97.

    Mnemosyne

    April 26, 2014 at 8:44 pm

    I have to admit, I feel about taxi companies the same way I feel about barbers — they need to be regulated by the government because the danger of letting unregulated people do the work is greater than the annoyance of government regulation. Maybe I’m overly paranoid, but I would be unwilling to call a Lyft driver late at night if I were by myself.

  98. 98.

    Jewish Steel

    April 26, 2014 at 10:06 pm

    @one of the jasons: That is priceless!

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