Residents of the nation’s capital face a growing likelihood that they’ll have to pay a lot more simply to get around in a private vehicle. The District of Columbia Council’s fetish for overregulation and seemingly corrupt deference to the Uber rideshare firm’s lobbying is the reason why.
Such absurdity is the D.C. Council norm. The council excels at being both hyper-ideological and policy illiterate. Its members define themselves by pro-crime, pro-cronyism, and, as in the case of councilman Trayvon White, apparent pro-corruption policies. Mayor Muriel Bowser is only a little better. Bowser has used critical public services such as the city’s 911 call center as patronage landing spots for her incompetent friends. In return, city residents get the privilege of being walloped in their wallets. D.C. already has some of the nation’s highest tax rates, with income taxes set at 8.5% on earnings between $60,000 up to $250,000, and sales taxes set at 6%-10% (from next October, 7%-10%). But the council and its D.C. government partners are also determined to make residents subservient to powerful corporate interests.
A case in point is their obedience to Uber in its war with competitor Empower. When Uber first entered the D.C. market in late 2011, it found great success by offering a cheaper and better service than local taxicab companies. But to secure this success and its later dominant position as the city’s rideshare service of choice, Uber also had to resist major lobbying by taxicab companies and associated efforts by the D.C. Council to regulate it out of existence. To its credit, Uber persevered. Now, however, with truly capricious hypocrisy, Uber is lobbying hard to apply that same regulatory zeal against Empower.
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Since entering the D.C. market a few years back, Empower has consolidated a growing market position by offering often significantly cheaper rides than Uber and fellow rideshare firm, Lyft. Empower’s business model centers on charging only a monthly membership fee to its drivers and then allowing them to keep all their earnings from each ride. This has also allowed the firm to lure numerous drivers away from Uber and Lyft, which generally take up to 50%+ of each fare. Empower’s success has been rooted in its joint offer of cheaper transport options for riders and greater earnings for drivers. There are now hundreds of thousands of rides via the Empower app in the D.C. area each month.
Uber and Lyft aren’t happy. They are losing riders and revenue. To make up for these losses, both firms are offering more regular and more generous discounts to riders who use Empower. But Uber and Lyft have some powerful friends. As Martin Austermuhle reports for the 51st, recent days have seen the city’s long-running battle with Empower CEO Joshua Sear heat up. Sear was ordered to shut down or face imprisonment. But Empower is now contending that by newly allowing drivers to use its app for free, it does not fall under regulatory rules. A D.C. judge is now considering this argument.
The D.C. Council will be hoping the judge doesn’t listen to legal reason. Led by Bowser, councilmembers such as Brianne Nadeau, and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, the city has taken numerous steps in its effort to eradicate Empower. Schwalb has shown little interest in going after the juvenile criminals who plague D.C. with robberies and carjackings. But he loves targeting Empower and, most recently, buses that idle their engines to power air conditioning systems during D.C.’s boiling summer months. Conflicts of interest loom large with Schwalb. His former employer, the law firm Venable, has held lucrative contracts with Uber worth hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. We’ll see whether Schwalb returns a hero to Venable once his government service is concluded.
D.C. officials might be beholden to wielding the regulatory hammer to protect their friends, but they are openly derisive toward Empower drivers and users. When, in September 2024, Empower users sought to exercise their right to offer comment on regulatory proposals, Nadeau simply canceled the related hearing. As the Washington Examiner has reported, Nadeau adopts a similar approach to her constituents when they are victims of crime. She simply ignores them. She adopts an equally dismissive approach to transportation costs in D.C. As Austermuhle reports, “Nadeau says that riders who are concerned with the cost of Uber should use the city’s traditional taxicabs instead.”
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If Empower continues to face such unfair legal headwinds, it might be time for President Donald Trump to leverage his influence in favor of D.C. residents. There is precedent for positive executive action amid the D.C. government’s dysfunction. The D.C. Council responded to the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement not by confronting both police misconduct and rampant crime rates, but by gutting the city’s police force and making it easier both to get away with and avoid consequences for crime. In contrast, Trump’s crackdown on D.C. crime is delivering successful results.
If D.C. remains determined to prevent hard-working drivers and over-taxed residents from coming together to their mutual benefit, Trump should contemplate coming to their aid.
The author uses Empower among other rideshare firms.
