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Cab, limousine, Black Car Drivers call on Lightfoot to cap Ride-share Vehicles in the City

Drivers for taxi, cab and limousine services are asking the new Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot to again review the regulations of the ride-hailing industry.

Uber and Lyft drivers are joining limousine and taxi drivers to call for a cap on the ride-sharing vehicles in Chicago.

Lightfoot is being asked to cap the limit the number of the ride-hailing vehicles in Chicago. The drivers want to ban out-of state vehicles and hold ride-hailing and ride-sharing companies accountable to a wage-minimum standard.

The directors of the Blackcar Drivers United, Cab Drivers United AFSCME Local 2500 and Chicago Rideshare Advocates are asking new Chicago officials for the review of the old regulations.

Last year in August, New York enacted a one-year moratorium on new ride-hailing licenses

The groups want similar rules to be passed in Chicago. They ask to mimic a minimum pay requirement for ride-hailing drivers. These laws are now in place in New York.

Mayor Lightfoot did not respond to the message. In an interview by the Chicago Sun-times , she mentioned that she favors the laws of capping the ride-sharing vehicles because the city suffers from heavy congestion.

“There’s no rush hour anymore. It’s perpetual. We have tens of thousands of new cars on the roads … because of ride-share. They’re … (driven by) people who don’t even live in Chicago. In many instances, people don’t even live in Illinois,” Lightfoot said.

Chicago Rideshare Advocates issued a statement: “Drivers of all types – taxi, rideshare and Chicago limousine – are calling for a fair, safe, transparent system of regulation that works for everyone — not just wealthy investors in Uber and Lyft.”

A procession of cabs, limousines, and black cars – with messages written on them – are planned to drive from an forest preserve near O’Hare international airport to some of the limo staging parking lots inside the airport.

To get a professional limousine service in Chicago choose Elite Chicago Limo for your transportation needs.

Uber Faces More Legal Action for Unfairly Keeping Drivers Tip Money

Uber, an app based service that lets you rent a limo on demand from your smartphone is considered one of the best start-ups of 2013. It even received a gigantic investment from Google Ventures. However, that did not stop upset limo drivers from filing a lawsuit against it.

Two San Francisco limousine drivers filed a lawsuit against Uber for keeping 50% of the gratuities to itself. The app keep customers credit card information and charges automatically so there is never any interaction between the driver and the customer regarding the payments. The customers see the gratuity being added on the card so hardly any tip extra.

The drivers claim the app pockets the tip illegally. They claim Uber violates California labor law and a small amount of other laws. It is not the first legal action lawsuit taken against Uber by its drivers. Earlier this year a Boston driver sued the company behalf of all the Massachusetts drivers on the same grounds – for keeping tip money. Last summer, Chicago cab companies claimed that Ubers tip keeping policy was illegal (it was only the part of the bigger lawsuit against Uber Technologies)The creators of the app responded quickly: “our technology platform has allowed thousands of drivers to generate an independent wage and build their own small businesses on their own time. Frivolous lawsuits like this cost valuable time, money and resources that are better spent making cities more accessible, opening up more possibilities for riders and providing more business for drivers.”

However, Uber failed to mention how many local limousine companies went under of filed for bankruptcy because their drivers left them to work for the app. Also, local companies lost a big portion of their clients because of the app.

The state laws generally do not allow tips to be cut by employees. However, there are some exceptions: for example in restaurants, where the tips are split up among the waiters. Uber does not explain the client their tip policies. If the customers knew only the portion of the tip reaches the drivers, maybe they would tip additional. Unfortunately tipping additional is discouraged by the app, because Uber sees it as interference with smooth ride experience.Despite the lawsuits, Uber is getting more accepted both among the riders and chauffeurs. Whatever the outcome of that legal lawsuit is it probably won’t interfere with the popularity of the app. More about Uber read here.

Limo Service for Concerts – Chicago Pitchfork Music Festival 2012

Chicago Pitchfork music fest is coming! The annual three day indie festival starts on Friday, July the 13^th at 3:00 pm and lasts until July the 15^th. The event will take place at the Union Park 151 W Randolph Street, in the West Town neighborhood of Chicago. A great idea to enhance your concert experience is renting a limo Chicago with a chauffeur!

Date: July 13^th, through July 15^th, 2012
Location: Union Park, 151 W Randolph Street, Chicago IL

There are going to be many great performances by Vampire Weekend, Hot Chip and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Feist and other bands. Three day passes are already sold-out; however, there are still plenty of one day tix. The price goes as low as $45 per ticket.

A luxury limo service will definitely make you look like a celebrity when arriving at the concert. You might even be mistaken for some superstar musician! Depending on the size of your party, there are several different sizes of limos to choose from. A stretch sedan ranges from 6 to 12 passenger capacity. An SUV truck normally seats from 10 to 20 passengers. Of course, there are some monster SUV limousines in Chicago such as Hummer H2 or Cadillac that can comfortably seat a party of 24 to 26 people.

The more friends you invite to the Chicago Pitchfork Music Festival, the more fun you will have in a limo! For reservations visit http://www.elitechicagolimo.com

Girl blowing kisses out of the Chicago limousine window

And what about the rates? Normally, Chicago limo companies have hourly based rates with 3 hour minimum. The rates vary with the size of the limo. Depending on the car and the operator, rates got from $65/h to $225/h for a monster size SUV. Of course, there prices do not include the tip for the chauffer at the end of the concert. However, the more hours you book , more likely it is that you will get a discount for an extended time service.

A limo service for a Chicago concert is a great idea for a party of any size. Limos can enhance your experience and will be a lot of fun riding to and from the festival. And most importantly, the Pitchfork Music festival is almost here!