Uber Makes the Case for NYC Cyclists to Download Lyft

It's hard to make livable streets advocates take the same side of an issue as the taxi medallion industry, but Uber's general manager in New York, Josh Mohrer, is giving it his best shot.

In a Q&A with Kevin Roose about Uber's clash with City Hall, Mohrer completely flubbed his chance to make a pitch for congestion pricing or Donald Shoup-inspired curbside parking reform as the alternative to a cap on new for-hire vehicles.

Bike lane scapegoating from a company whose professed intent is to upend private car ownership. Another ingenious PR moment for Uber, whose NYC customer base must include many thousands of people who also make trips by bike.

Blaming a safety improvement like bike lanes for congestion is emblematic of the farcical public debate about Uber in New York right now. Rethinking the for-hire vehicle industry should be an opportunity to put big ideas on the table. But instead of talking about what we want from our streets and transportation system, we're having a big shouting match about what's responsible for traffic and congestion.

City Hall, Uber, and even Streetsblog have played into this framing of the problem. I think we can do better, and tomorrow I'll post some thoughts about how to reframe the discussion.

In the meantime, I'm downloading Lyft.