Locally based Barwood Taxi is one of five Maryland cab companies that filed suit last week against Uber, claiming the app-based car service is hampering its ability to do business.
In a press release, Barwood Taxi President Lee Barnes said it’s “impossible” for his drivers to compete with Uber when Uber doesn’t have to comply with the same state taxi regulations. Uber, which is battling taxi companies around the country and world on many of the same issues, said it will defend its customers’ right to competition and choice.
It seems as if Barwood will keep pressing its own case. On Thursday, two days after an Uber driver in D.C. apparently took riders on a police chase of sorts, Barwood’s official Twitter account tweeted out links to the story in the Washington Post.
Uber DC expanded its service into Bethesda last summer. That puts it in direct competition with Barwood, the company of light blue cabs that started in 1960 in Bethesda. Now, the company has almost 500 vehicles and is one of five taxi companies licensed to operate in Montgomery County.
What do you think? Should companies like Uber have to play by the same state and local taxi rules? Or is Barwood out of line for challenging a new competitor in court?
Photo via Barwood Taxi
