Touch The Screen, Get A Ride
CROWLEY: It's the latest smartphone craze getting people around town, but not everyone's happy about it. Here's Dan Simon in San Francisco.</s>DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Candy, a San Francisco technology company called "Uber" is altering the transportation industry with its innovative way to get a ride. We spoke with the company's CEO about the growing phenomenon and the controversy it's generated in the nation's capital.</s>SIMON (voice-over): With one touch of the screen you can get a car to pick you up. It's called "Uber," a smartphone app that is fundamentally changing how people get around. The price 50 percent to 70 percent more than a regular taxi, a price many are happily willing to pay. No cash needed. No tip and you are billed automatically.</s>TRAVIS KALANICK, CEO, UBER: It's a really elegant experience, right? You push a button on your iPhone or your android device or even SMS and in 5 minutes a town car arrives. Doors open for you and you get in the car.</s>SIMON: Travis Kalanick is the tech wizard who dreamed up the concept. "Uber" doesn't own the cars. It works with existing limo companies and gets a cut of the proceeds. (on camera): As an entrepreneur, did you ever think you would be running a car service?</s>KALANICK: Absolutely not. It was for me, my co-founder and our hundred friends to be able to push a button and an s-class Mercedes rolls up. That was it, right, but everybody wanted it.</s>SIMON (voice-over): CNN covered "Uber" shortly after it launched two years ago. Back then it was only in San Francisco and quickly gained a following. Now it's in 13 cities including the nation's capital where "Uber" was an instant hit.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Uber" is fantastic, efficient, and affordable.</s>KALANICK: Nancy Pelosi referred to "Uber" as a magic carpet ride.</s>SIMON: But technology and D.C. politics have met a serious clash. Washington is a taxi town and the drivers feel threatened.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The guy that owns "Uber" lives in San Francisco, California.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to cost me money, number one. Number two, I feel like I'm going to lose my job.</s>SIMON: The powerful taxi cab lobby got the city council two weeks ago to consider a measure that would have forced "Uber" to set the minimum fare for a ride five times higher than that of taxis. Consumers went ballistic.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've received over 5,000 e-mails from people who use this service.</s>SIMON: The council backed down and will let "Uber" stay the way it is at least until December, but the controversy exposed an age-old problem. Technology advances don't benefit everyone. Should consumers be forced to pay a price so the earnings of some workers won't be adversely affected? In D.C., the answer for now is a resounding, No.</s>SIMON (on-camera): As this technology becomes more pervasive, it's likely to impact other industries. Case and point, another San Francisco company called Cherry, it offers on-demand car washes, the car wash comes to you. Probably not great for the traditional car wash business but an added convenience for consumers -- Candy.