Oxford Alderman Jay Hughes Puts Ride-Sharing Company Uber on Notice: Drivers Will Be Arrested

The City of Oxford, Mississippi is stepping up its campaign to crack down on the ride-sharing company Uber.

In an email sent out Tuesday night, October 21, 2014, Alderman Jay Hughes put the company on notice:

“NOTICE: Due to the repeated and flagrant violations by unauthorized drivers for hire, in unauthorized vehicles, notice is hereby given that beginning immediately all unauthorized drivers of vehicles for hire in Oxford, particularly including those using the Uber application, will be arrested on site and their vehicle towed from that location. No further notice will be given, and this item will again be on the agenda for the Thursday meeting.”

Hughes is upset because Uber is not complying with his taxi laws the City of Oxford passed this summer.

“Uber drivers who were stopped over the weekend advised officers that the Uber management instructed them to continue disregarding local and state laws and that Uber would pay all of the fines,” Hughes’ email went on to say. “Thus, the fines are no longer a deterrent, and an arrest will stay with the driver and his/her record.”

The average wait time to get an Uber car in Oxford over the weekend was 4 to 20 minutes, according to customers who used the Uber app.

The company is successful and consumers are flocking to use Uber’s services across America and into Oxford.

As Mississippi expands in population and swells with tens of thousands of tourists each weekend, Uber is poised to be successful here.

In the last four years, the company has grown to a net worth of $18.2 billion, and in San Francisco alone, Uber makes more money than the city’s entire Taxi industry combined.

Uber is famous for challenging what it calls “the Big Taxi Cartel” and has won many victories against cities and states around the globe.

A bus owned by Cline Tours, Inc. of Ridgeland, Mississippi. No Oxford Taxi Medallion visible. Photograph by Newt Rayburn.

But Uber weren’t the only “drivers-for-hire” who may have been breaking local laws this weekend.

During a simple walk down the street, I saw limousines with no visible Oxford taxi medallions, and even a large medallionless bus that was parked in the middle of North Lamar, dropping off a group of people.

According to city code, drivers-for-hire must purchase a City Medallion and display the symbol on their vehicle.

Looks like the City of Oxford has a continuing problem with its taxi laws, and local officials may have to take yet another look at recently passed legislation, or face litigation that ultimately the taxpayers of Oxford will have to pay.