创新租车服务Uber遭遇拦路虎

    而Uber不仅只是一家高成长公司，也不是靠一时走运才在旧金山博客搜索引擎technorati中名列前茅。很多公司还在将如今移动设备普遍带有的定位功能用于登记、虚拟奖章、优惠券等相对初级的用途。Uber不只着眼于商业。它希望推动出租车这个美国第七大的交通运输系统进行一场革命。这个目标已经为它赢得了大量信徒，包括喜剧演员戴夫•坎贝尔和演员爱德华•诺顿。风投家马克•安德森并不是Uber的投资者，但他却称其为“非常棒的体验”。Airbnb的首席执行官布莱恩•切斯基则说：“Uber使得没有车的生活变得非常简单。”

    不过，Uber仍面临很多挑战。比如，通过Uber搭车，价格可能很昂贵，平均最多会达到普通出租车费的两倍。黄色出租车收费13美元的路程，通过Uber搭车可能要26美元左右，具体视当时情况而定。节假日出租车供不应求时，价格甚至会更高。事实上，它的定价模式在元旦前夜已引起了争议，一位用户搭乘半英里路程，耗时仅两分钟，结果却被收取了75美元。总共有超过95位用户投诉。Uber不得不一一处理，退还车费。“我们汲取了教训，从中也学到很多东西，”Uber总经理兼业务运营副总裁莱恩•格雷弗斯称。Uber表示，未来价格通知将更加清楚明了。

    Uber的最大挑战可能还是来自市政当局。2010年底，就在Uber董事会任命卡兰尼克为首席执行官的同一天，旧金山市政交通局（San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency）要求Uber停止经营。他们指控Uber无证运营和销售出租车服务，并威胁要对公司处以罚款，包括每笔违法交易罚款5,000美元。第二天，Uber就把“出租车”从公司名称中去除了。迄今为止，当地监管部门再无异议。

    华盛顿与Uber的争端可能更难解决。林顿称：“Uber根本没把华盛顿放在眼里，他们甚至都没花功夫核对或审查驾车者，确认他们拥有合法的手续。”他还提到了一项城市法律，该法律规定，按时间和距离收费的车辆都应获得出租运营牌照。这自然与Uber的定价模式有冲突。卡兰尼克声称，Uber在进入华盛顿市场前，曾与华盛顿出租车委员会核实过相关事宜，获得了许可。“我们进入一个城市时，从不忽视应当承担的责任。”华盛顿地方议会所属环境、市政工程和交通委员会（Environment, Public Works, and Transportation Committee）主席、民主党议员玛丽•彻对林顿的行为深感意外，她承认“这样做太草率了，不是我习惯的方式。”Uber正在咨询当地律师斯考特•伯顿，后者称Uber并没有做任何违法的事情。卡兰尼克和林顿计划于2月中旬面谈，展开正面交锋。

    Uber, meanwhile, is more than a fast-growing business or the flavor of the moment with the San Francisco technorati. Many companies still use the now ubiquitous geolocation feature in mobile devices for relatively rudimentary aims -- checking in, virtual badges, coupons. Uber's ambition is not just commercial. It wants to revolutionize the country's seventh largest transportation system. And that has earned it plenty of evangelists. Comedian Dave Chappelle and actor Edward Norton are fans. Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, who is not an investor, calls it a "killer experience." Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky adds, "Uber makes it very easy to not own a car."

    Still, Uber faces plenty of challenges. For one, the price of an Uber ride can be steep. Average fares cost up to two times as much as regular cab fares. A ride that may tally $13 in a typical yellow cab could clock in around $26 via Uber depending on conditions. On holidays, when demand for cabs far outstrips demand, fares may climb even higher. In fact, its pricing model proved controversial on New Year's Eve when one user was charged $75 for a two-minute, half-mile drive. In all, more than 95 users complained. The company was forced to refund fares on a case-by-case basis. "We took our lumps, and we learned a lot from them," says Ryan Graves, Uber's general manager and vice president of business operations. In the future, the company says price notifications to be clearer.

    Ultimately, Uber's biggest challenge may be with municipalities. In late 2010, the same day Uber's board made Kalanick CEO, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency demanded the company cease and desist operations. Because Uber was allegedly running and marketing itself as a cab service but without a permit, the company was threatened with fines, including $5,000 for every transaction it made. The next day, the startup dropped the word "cab" from its name. So far, that has appeased local regulators.

    D.C.'s beef with Uber may be harder to resolve. "Uber was so disrespectful to the District of Columbia, that they didn't even bother to check and vet their drivers to make sure they were all legal," Linton says. He also cites a city law that requires cars that charge by time and distance be licensed as taxis. This supposedly conflicts with Uber's pricing model. Kalanick claims Uber checked with the commission before deploying in D.C. and got a green light. "When we enter into a city, we don't take that responsibility lightly," he says. Democratic Councilmember Mary Cheh, who chairs the D.C. Council's Environment, Public Works, and Transportation Committee, was surprised by Linton's actions. "It was too quick, too precipitous, and not the way I like to do business," she admits. Uber is consulting with local attorney A. Scott Bolden, who says they've done nothing illegal. Now, Kalanick and Linton have a meeting scheduled to air their grievances face-to-face in mid-February.