Looks like Uber could be coming to Birmingham....

How does Uber work if it's approved in Birmingham, but you need a pick up in Homewood or Hoover or somewhere? Would it only be pick ups in Birmingham proper?

I didn't realize it was still banned in some places. Had it in Fayetteville for a year or so now.

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They won't be able to legally do a pick up unless they get a business license for the particular municipality involved.

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But I thought business license requirements were a sticking point for Uber a year or so ago when it first was being discussed. Maybe the city requires a license for each vehicle instead of the parent company? I don't know.

Just seems it would defeat the purpose if it were only limited to Birmingham proper. I've never used Uber so not sure how it works in big cities with suburbs.

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and you don't have to deal with the weird arse taxi drivers.

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...until they start driving for Uber.

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But I thought business license requirements were a sticking point for Uber a year or so ago when it first was being discussed. Maybe the city requires a license for each vehicle instead of the parent company? I don't know.

Just seems it would defeat the purpose if it were only limited to Birmingham proper. I've never used Uber so not sure how it works in big cities with suburbs.

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I don't know how other states work, but they and everyone else need a business license for every municipality where they operate in Alabama. Contractors, lawn care companies, delivery companies, etc all have the same requirement. They (like all those other businesses) will also be responsible for remitting the appropriate taxes to that jurisdiction.

It used to be a lot harder. In the past, some places were calendar year, others were fiscal year, and still others were a year from the date of purchase. Also, what might be a taxi service in one city could be called something else a mile down the road. About 10 years ago, the state adopted a pretty uniform license law where the rates are controlled by the local jurisdiction but the date ranges and business definitions are now uniform.

When it comes to policing the license requirement, it's easy for the PD or code enforcement officer to check the business license of the guy with the lawn care truck. Not so much the guy in the Sonata who just dropped somebody off at a house. While there are no guarantees, I think it is reasonable to assume if Birmingham lets them in the smaller cities will probably follow. The drivers will almost certainly operate in those areas anyhow. The municipalities know it and they'll want to get the revenue.

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Certainly an example of how Bham Metro has way too many municipalities

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It can't be that bad. It west, it's absurd how many municipalities exist. In Denver area, there are multiple cities with less than 100 people, and are only like 12 square blocks total, yet have 10+ cops. And they're not their to serve and protect, but to bust balls and extort money.

Uber is pretty cool, although around here, a lot of people prefer Lyft. I've used them both, though the only time I tried Lyft, it was at 1.75x pricing, so it was more expensive than the regular Uber, similar as the XL.

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I'm guessing the way Birmingham code is written now, each driver would have to have his/her own business license, and Uber wants just one license for the parent organization.

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I'd be VERY surprised if they're going that route. To make that sale, they're basically saying the drivers are employees instead of independent contractors. Right now they're in the middle of a very heavily contested court case in federal court (California) where drivers are suing saying they're employees. Uber's already lost at the district court level.

It won't play well in court if they're arguing that drivers are employees when talking business licenses but contractors when talking labor law.

Ours are literally connected to Denver.

One, called Lakeside, that has only 8 residents and a cheap amusement park, allowed a Walmart, even though the entire surrounding population was against it. But they were one the wrong side of the street, so there was nothing they could do. It sucks when these municipal jokes can affect the entire surrounding area.

Though luckily, some small municipalities were greedy enough to open a ton of dispensaries in the neighborhood, which I haven't heard any complaints about. Plus, they're open till midnight, instead of just 7 like most places. So they're not all bad.

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One, called Lakeside, that has only 8 residents and a cheap amusement park, allowed a Walmart, even though the entire surrounding population was against it. But they were one the wrong side of the street, so there was nothing they could do. It sucks when these municipal jokes can affect the entire surrounding area.

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Interesting. In Alabama, you can't incorporate unless you've got a minimum of 300 residents. You don't lose that status if the population goes below that number as long as you continue to hold elections and maintain the functions of government so there are a handful with smaller populations, but those are all towns that were much larger but then died off so nobody's building a house much less a Wal-Mart in them.