The simplest difference between TNCs and public transit agencies is that TNCs have a profit motive. That means their stakeholders are not the people in the cars bearing their logos—neither drivers nor passengers. Their stakeholders are their shareholders. This means that even if they simply act as a one-stop transportation app, they have motivation to steer consumers to the most profitable option. If they become a full-fledged transit provider, this motivation could have devastating consequences for neighborhoods and routes deemed not profitable enough.

But it is not simply being beholden to shareholders that makes this a bad deal for the public. TNCs have repeatedly demonstrated that they believe themselves to be above accountability. Khosrowshahi may say he wants to run a bus system, but when it comes to employing workers or complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act the company changes its tune. TNCs have maintained they are mere technology companies, not transportation companies, in order to get around regulation. (Rosenblat & Stark 2016). They have established a strategy of overcoming cities’ efforts to block or regulate them by entering a market illegally if necessary, then using their early adopters to advocate for them when cities try to enforce regulations against them (Calo & Rosenblat 2017). They also have a pattern of distancing themselves from any negative outcomes. Witness how quickly they placed the blame solely on the safety driver in the death of Elaine Herzberg, who was hit by an Uber autonomous vehicle in March 2018, or to peg Michael Hancock, the driver who shot a passenger to death in 2018 in Denver, as a lone bad seed.

Then there are the problems that stem from the apps themselves and the way the TNCs use them. This is known as algorithmic management—“a diverse set of technological tools and techniques to remotely manage workforces, relying on data collection and surveillance of workers to enable automated or semi-automated decision-making” (Mateescu 2019)—and it has serious consequences for workers and the public. While your city may have public safety announcements warning against fatigued driving, if city government partners with TNCs, they are supporting the opposite. In my own research, as well as that of Alex Rosenblat at Data & Society, drivers—who are theoretically free to set their own schedules, given they are independent contractors—are manipulated by the app to work long hours and drive fatigued. In addition to the simple arithmetic of making ends meet on a cut of the profits, which is low and frequently changing, TNCs drive workers to work long hours by using gamification (“Are you sure you want to log off? You’re almost at $40!”) to keep drivers on the road when and where the company wants (Tran 2017).