Fare Play or Uber-Disruption?

In a 43-3 voting rout this week, São Paulo’s city council elected to ban Uber in the Brazilian mega-metropolis infamous for traffic congestion. This follows a prohibition passed in Rio de Janiero earlier this year and mass protests by taxi drivers this summer in the Colombian capital of Bogotá. Mexico City, for its part, opted to regulate the app-based cab service rather than ban it, but all the regional turmoil shows just how much new technologies can disrupt the old guard. While similar battles have played out all over the world — with Uber and game changers in other sectors like Airbnb — the fight against this new tech in Latin America has been particularly strong. And so far, taxi drivers are winning in some areas despite many consumers’ desire for better, more convenient transportation options.