Empower

@billybinion Wonder what % of the folks on here advocating for DC public transit have ever actually used DC public transit.

Once again, rideshare in DC is an absolute joke. Got an 18 (!) minute Uber wait before the app canceled and couldn’t find another driver. The lawmakers who forced alternatives like Empower out of the market should be ashamed. Just making people’s lives harder for no reason.

@billybinion We find it interesting that all the anti-Empower posts come from folks with no followers. They spent $3.4 billion on AI in 3 months and Uber can't even figure out how to create bots with meaningful followers.

@FriendsFamilyDC @MayorBowser Leave McDuffie off your ballot; he’s in Uber’s pocket too.

Using Uber for the first time in about 4 years thanks to @MayorBowser essentially killing Empower. Thanks Mumbo Muriel.

@paulcwagner @nbcwashington We are very glad this individual was apprehended. Threats of violence are illegal and should be prosecuted. Any suggestion that this person is connected to Empower is completely absurd and defamatory and was never suggested by former Councilmember McDuffie.

This is the video he posted to X. It is unclear if 17 year old has any connection to the ride share company Empower. @nbcwashington

Breaking-DC Police have arrested a juvenile in connection to a threat sent to mayoral candidate Kenyan Mcduffie’s daughter on April 15th. Below is info from MPD along with the original complaint made to police.

@SegravesNBC4 @kenyanmcduffie @nbcwashington We are very glad this individual was apprehended. Threats of violence are illegal and should be prosecuted. Any suggestion that this person is connected to Empower is completely absurd and defamatory and was never suggested by former Councilmember McDuffie.

Breaking: 17 year old charged with sending death threat to @kenyanmcduffie through his daughter’s social media account. No word if suspect is connected to @ride_empower @nbcwashington

@richmintz 15 minutes of research to determine a company that everyone loves is a “deliberate bad actor.” What a complete gas bag. But keep posting. You have 10,000 followers. We only have 2,000. More visibility for Empower the better. Maybe suggest we kidnapped the Lindbergh baby next!

And finally: I knew only the rough outlines of this situation until tonight. Until this week I was "Empower-curious"! But it only took me about fifteen minutes or research to determine that Empower is even more of a deliberate bad actor than I had thought.

"Empower has repeatedly offered" etc. is their formal PR line, verbatim. (Impressive message discipline.) There are so many violations here! It takes a lot to get *me* to side with Uber. But this kind of stonewalling will do it! 1/

@richmintz You probably don’t even realize you’re indirectly being used by Uber. You’re probably buddies with some elected official whose campaign is funded by Uber and they tell you about Empower knowing you’re ignorant and pompous enough to repost garbage.

I say again: I am no fan of Uber, which took advantage of a short-term regulatory gap to nearly break the existing taxi and FHV industry, and provides a vile customer experience besides. But at least they pay their taxes and found a way to operate within the rules! 7/

@richmintz It’s amazing how someone that knows absolutely nothing about the topic can pretend to be an authority.

More: presumably the TLC can't prosecute drivers for citizen-reported safety violations because as far as TLC records are concerned, the rides never occurred! The ALJ will just throw it out. And they can't ID dangerous drivers via base records because there is no base! 4/

@richmintz Every driver that uses Empower in NYC is licensed by TLC using a TLC licensed vehicle. There are no insurance issues. Anyone even suggesting otherwise is a liar or ignorant. Period.

Empower is not registered as a base, so (among other things) they're not certifying drivers' insurance compliance. Illegal. They say they don't have to register (or so I assume, otherwise they would have done it). The TLC says they do, and the legal system seems to agree. 2/