The political culture in California is a curious one. California voters keep electing lawmakers and a governor who treat them like medieval peasants by passing outrageous laws. Then, the voters pass propositions that repeal the most onerous of those laws. In most states, voters just get rid of the offending politicians and elect more sensible ones in their place.
Assembly Bill 5, a law that did violence to the gig economy, was one case in point. The law, passed with the support of labor unions, affected a whole host of professions, including freelance writers and photographers, but was primarily aimed at the ride-sharing industry, including Uber and Lyft.
The law reclassified independent contractor drivers who worked for ride-sharing companies as employees, with all the rights and privileges that go with it, including generous wages and benefits such as health insurance. Uber and Lyft, along with delivery companies such as DoorDash, threatened to leave California, feeling that the regulations imposed by AB5 would make it impossible for ride-sharing companies to operate.
Fortunately, the good people of California repealed the anti-ride-sharing aspects of the law by overwhelmingly passing Proposition 16. People in America’s most populous state will still be able to summon a ride with a smartphone and be driven to work or wherever in a clean, relatively inexpensive vehicle.
The ride-sharing industry has been a boon to both passengers and drivers. The elderly, disabled, and poor have a convenient way to get from place to place. Hitherto, people who could not drive their own vehicles were reduced to public transportation, taxis, or the kindness of friends and relatives. Drivers, who tend to regard working for Uber or Lyft as a side job or something to make a little extra money while unemployed, find the flexibility of being a contractor appealing. They did not find having no ride-sharing gig available appealing at all.
The ride-sharing industry is safe in California for now. However, the same may not be true nationwide, as Joe Biden has been elected president of the United States. Biden tweeted in May his full support for AB5 and his opposition to Proposition 16.
Whether the tweet put out under Biden’s name was serious or just a sop to the Sen. Bernie Sanders supporters in the Democratic Party is unclear. If the Republicans maintain control of the Senate, Biden’s hostility to the gig economy may not matter. What sort of mischief a President Biden could make through executive orders remains uncertain.
If Biden is able to do violence to the ride-sharing industry, all he may accomplish is to accelerate the time when autonomous vehicles replace the ones with drivers who show up a few minutes after one taps on a smartphone. The development would be tough on people who have relied on working for ride-sharing companies for extra money, but it would be great for the rest of us, according to a recent article in Forbes. Our daily commutes will be safer, less stressful, and even less polluting if we can just sit back and let the computer do the driving for us.
Some futurists have suggested that autonomous ride-sharing cars will effectively end privately owned automobiles. Why put up with the hassle of paying a car note, not to mention maintenance and insurance, when one can just let a big ride-sharing company take care of those things? The end of privately owned cars would free up space occupied by parking lots, driveways, and garages.
Mass transit could become obsolete. Why trudge to the bus or rail stop and spend hours making several connections when one can go where one needs to go in relative comfort, speed, and safety? Ride-sharing already provides an alternative to the bus or train. Cheap, autonomous cars could put an end to them.
It’s doubtful that Biden recognizes some of the unintended consequences of many of his policy positions or of the future effects of technology development. He once referred to a “record player” as if that were still a thing in the 21st century. But the ride-sharing industry, combined with technologies such as autonomous vehicles, is changing the way we will commute. The ignorance of politicians such as Biden and the people who run blue states such as California is a great pity. But all they can do is gum up the future. They cannot stop it.
Mark Whittington, who writes frequently about space and politics, has published a political study of space exploration titled Why is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon? as well as The Moon, Mars and Beyond. He blogs at Curmudgeons Corner.
