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Libertarian will argue for freedom to travel at transportation forum

Dallas County Libertarian Party Chair Paul Petersen will speak at the public "Transportation for Hire Forum" at City Hall Tuesday, September 2 (6:00 pm to 9:00 pm) to discuss "policy changes that grew out of the Uber furor."

Paul Petersen on Channel 11 News in 2010: Then the big transportation issue was regulating texting while driving. Today the issue is regulating transportation for hire.

When Uber came to Dallas a year ago the establishment taxi and limo companies cried foul. Why? Because Uber was competing directly with the traditional transportation-for-hire industry by moving people from where they were to where they wanted to go...inexpensively.

But Uber isn't a taxi or limo or shuttle or even a ride-share business. The company explains "We don’t own the cars. We don’t employ drivers. We partner with the small businesses in the city."

Can you say "there's an app for that"?

That's right, Uber is a mobile application. When you download it to your phone you can use it to request a ride "with the push of a button" and a driver will pick you up and take you where you want to go.

"I am a frequent Uber user and love it," Petersen declared to Dallas Libertarian Examiner and anyone else who will listen.

Petersen, in fact, want's to do more than just defend Uber at his forum appearance; he wants to make it a Libertarian Movement.

"I'm sure there will be several people there who say that the City should leave Uber alone because it is fast, safe, clean, reliable, etc., and others who will still want to rabble-rouse about the shameful attempt to cripple Uber by the politicians that Yellow Cab has bought and paid for," Petersen rails.

"I agree with all of those things," he adds, "but hope to make the stronger point that the city should leave Uber (and Yellow, and Lyft, and me) alone because it is none of their damn business."

Dallas County LP Vice Chair Curry Taylor supports the bigger point.

"Where does the jurisdiction for the city government to take control of so many aspects of our lives come from?" he asks. "Most people accept it without question. Libertarians would say that the role of a city government is much more limited. With the advent of companies like Lyft and Uber, yet again the apologists for city government power have been proven wrong when they say that the existence of a basic service without the direction, bureaucracy, and/or consent of the government is inconceivable."

"I will make sure and mention my LP affiliation," Petersen pledges, "and the fact that we advocate smaller, cheaper, and less-intrusive government on all issues, not just Transportation for Hire."