I am more annoyed at this country's car centric transportation culture than the ride share drivers blocking the bike lane.
taxis do this all the time before "ride sharing" was a thing.
taxis do this all the time before "ride sharing" was a thing.
In some sense it’s not the taxi driver or ride share drivers fault they block the road or bike lanes it’s really just the system they are thrown into.
I've progressively gotten more left over the years to the point where I think that certain crime, while it should not be tolerated, should not so much be punished rather than the root cause be fixed.
While I think a lot of overhaul can/should be done to mitigate this specific issue, taxi/ride share drivers are absolutely being incredibly selfish when they do this and it's completely unnecessary.
The number of taxis is also capped (medallions), so the number of taxis in bike lanes was limited.
Then TNCs came along, and the number of taxi-like trips exploded, and suddenly there are far, far more drivers blocking bike lanes.
Furhermore, taxis were far better to deal with if you're a cyclist. There is a dedicated police unit for dealing with reports of problems with vehicle condition/cleanliness, operation, billing, etc. If you call in with a problem, a record is kept of such complaints, and a sworn officer investigates. Taxis have to carry a fairly high level of insurance.
And generally speaking, taxis were better for everyone, because: They are subject to random police inspection for condition, cleanliness, and adherence to regulations. They are required to pick up or drop off anywhere in the city, and can be fined if they refuse service from or to a particular area. They are required to have a certain number of handicapped-accessible vehicles and accommodate handicapped service requests.
TNCs, as they are called, have skirted all of this. In my city they turned out to generate a massive number of excess car trips - causing a huge increase in pollution and congestion.