The saga of the conflict between Uber and the St. Louis Metropolitan Taxicab Commission has taken more twists and turns than the Great River Road. This fall, the battle came to a head as UberX defiantly launched in St. Louis on September 18 and filed a lawsuit claiming anti-competitive practices. The MTC promptly filed its own suit, hoping to halt Uber’s services. For now, St. Louis waits for the conundrum to be sorted out in court. In the meantime, here are a variety of colorful quotes from the past six months.
“It is no accident that St. Louis is the largest metropolitan area left in the United States in which UberX is unavailable. The reason for that is because the MTC, by law, is controlled by the traditional taxicab industry; it is the proverbial fox guarding the henhouse.” —Uber’s lawsuit
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“We were going to find ourselves in court anyway. I think they [Uber] rolled the dice; if they lose, they’re really done.” —MTC attorney Neil Bruntrager to the Associated Press, shortly after UberX filed its lawsuit
“To be the only major city in the United States that doesn’t have ride-sharing is like being the only hotel in town that doesn’t have WiFi.” —Jim mckelvey of Third Degree Glass Factory and Square, during a meeting in late July
“I love @Uber in other cities. Why is #STL the largest area without it?” —St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong, via Twitter
“That didn’t go well.” —Arch Grants winner Edward Domain, just after being ejected from an MTC meeting for calling the commission “cowards”
“If #uber can do it I can do it too. I’ll be using my personal vehicle for cab runs tonight. Cash…” —Activist, mayoral candidate, and former Laclede Cab Co. driver Umar Lee, via Twitter
“Uber has depicted this commission as a bunch of jamokes.” —MTC member J. Kim Tucci, at a meeting in late July
“I’m pretty confident that the police chief and the police department have more important things to do than track down Uber drivers.” —Mayor Slay’s Chief of Staff, Mary Ellen Ponder, after Uber defied the MTC by launching its UberX service in St. Louis
“No matter how long you wait for your driver, they will never pick you. They’ll just circle endlessly, which is a metaphor of this whole craziness between the MTC and ridesharing right now.” —Goober Co-creator Tyler Kessler, speaking about his Uber parody app
