LETTERS: How far will taxi companies go to survive Uber revolution?

Is a taxi war coming to Las Vegas?

It's been almost a year since Uber first arrived on the Las Vegas scene, and the service is now lawfully open for business. Two days ago, while out walking, I found some Uber fliers on the ground. They were near UNLV, so that means Uber is targeting the young progressives. The flier offered $20 off the first Uber ride. Who can resist a nearly free ride?

Now we can only wait and see how much of the taxi business Uber takes. That's when the war between taxi companies will start. The Taxicab Authority has allowed cab companies to put more drivers on the road out of fear that Uber's presence would expose the incompetence of government controlling every aspect of the transit business. People who live and travel off the Strip understand this when they find themselves waiting multiple hours for a taxi ride.

So if and when Uber takes 20 percent of the business, then at least 20 percent of the existing taxi drivers and cabs would no longer be needed. In a Utopian world we could theorize that all the taxi companies would share the loss, but this is Las Vegas, and the several thousand cabdrivers are all employees of approximately a half-dozen companies. Those few companies have grown fat and rich off their government-protected monopolies, but all the rules have been thrown out the window by ride-sharing transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft.

Some cab companies might switch to a lease system or another structure that will guarantee a predictable profit. Other companies may see the need to buy out or shut down other cab companies by whatever means necessary. This could include private contracts on casino and hotel properties for those cab companies that pay for the right to pick up passengers.

Either way, a war is coming. And if Uber is bringing in outside people to kick start its business, let's hope they aren't texting and doing GPS searches while driving. That will mean more accidents in an already bad city to drive in.

Gil Lay

Las Vegas

Government pay

Your editorial on federal workers' overcompensation was right on and useful ("The real pay gap," Oct. 12 Review-Journal). You could write the same article about the local government workers also.

Union-driven overpayment, when compared with the pay received by the average local citizen, is ridiculous. Are the local government politicians willing to address this issue head-on? Who, besides government employees, have gotten raises over the last seven years? There are no Social Security increases that compare with the government employees' negotiated cost-of-living raises that have nothing to do with the CPI increase.

Dirk Dahlgren

Las Vegas

So long, Haggen

I read the article by Jennifer Robison in Saturday's Review-Journal, "Haggen workers scramble," about the looming closure of grocery stores recently taken over by Haggen, and I have a few comments to add.

I had regularly shopped at Albertsons on the corner of Lake Mead Parkway and Boulder Highway for 12 years. Haggen came in and closed the store for two days. I went into the new store to buy a few items. A Red Bull that cost $1.99 at Albertsons was now $2.39. Six bottles of Lindeman's chardonnay cost $18 more than before. A pork chop was $5.99 a pound, whereas at Albertsons it was $3.25 per pound.

Haggen is now trying to blame Albertsons for its failure. Did the company ever consider that it was because their prices were through the roof? I think not. I believe Haggen thought it could screw residents with prices at least 30 percent higher than Smith's, where I now shop. In my opinion, Haggen has incompetent top management. Goodbye, Haggen, and good riddance.

I feel sorry for the loyal employees who always treated me with respect.

Richard Brand

Henderson

Background checks

Regarding Barbara Nelson's letter touting background checks ("Oregon shooting," Wednesday Review-Journal), would some reader much wiser than I am please write in and let us all know how background checks keep handguns out of the reach of criminals?

La Vonne Armbrust

Las Vegas