Uber, Taxi Drivers Engage In Shouting Match Ahead Of City Council Hearing
(CBS) -- A news conference turned into a shouting match ahead of the City Council hearing on allowing ride-sharing services to pick up passengers at O'Hare and Midway airports, reports WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore.
Scores of drivers for the smartphone app based Uber car service were clad in blue T-shirts and chanted, "Airport now" at City Hall as their news conference was beginning. A crowd of regular taxi drivers in green T-shirts answered with shouts of, "Same service same, same rules."
When she could speak, Alderman Emma Mitts, who chairs the City Council License Committee, declared support for letting Uber, Lyft and similar services work the airports with the mostly part-time drivers.
"Uber is creating tens of thousands of jobs for riders on the West and the South side and the city of Chicago," Mitts said.
Regular taxi drivers want ride-sharing service drivers who operate at the airports to have chauffeur licenses like them.
Later, someone from the taxi side rushed the podium, but police stopped him.