# People in Jail Get Better Facilities Than Rideshare Drivers



## MHR (Jul 23, 2017)

*Rideshare drivers expose deplorable condition of portable toilets at San Antonio International Airport

City calls situation 'unacceptable,' shifts blame to vendor in charge of maintaining toilets*

https://www.ksat.com/news/defenders...toilets-at-san-antonio-international-airport/
SAN ANTONIO - San Antonio International Airport officials have promised to take action after the KSAT 12 Defenders were provided photos and videos of the unsanitary conditions area rideshare drivers are forced to endure when using portable toilets at the airport's official rideshare lot.

The lot, located at the corner of International Street and Northern Boulevard, has a row of port-a-potties for drivers to use while taking customers to and from the airport.

The footage shows toilets that have overflowed with raw sewage and chemicals on the floor, urinals that appear to be covered in dry, crusted urine and handwritten notes imploring officials to do a better job of keeping the toilets clean.

People in the jail get better facilities than the rideshare drivers," said Michael, a rideshare driver who said he is forced to use the port-a-potties two to three times a day. "It's pretty sad. The city can provide better facilities."

As a comparison, Michael provided the Defenders videos of the facilities for rideshare drivers who take people to and from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

That airport has an actual brick-and-mortar building with restrooms inside.

San Antonio International Airport officials did not respond to multiple requests to provide an interview for this story.

A woman working for the company that provides and cleans the portable toilets, Cortez Liquid Waste Services, said on the telephone she was not made aware of issues with the port-a-potties until Jan. 21, the same day the Defenders reached out to airport officials about the toilets.

The employee said the port-a-potties were on the schedule to be cleaned every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and that after an airport official contacted a Cortez field supervisor, the entire units were switched out.

An airport spokesman released the following statement late last week:

*Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. The condition of the port-a-lets was unacceptable and we acted immediately to correct the issue and hold the vendor accountable for meeting their contractual obligations.

Per the terms of the contract, Cortez Liquid Waste is required to ensure all units are clean, in good mechanical condition and must be serviced thoroughly, at least twice, and up to four times per week. It does not appear that level of service was occurring. We were unwilling to accept the cleanliness of the facilities and had Cortez replace all six of the port-a-lets. They delivered six replacement port-a-lets late Tuesday afternoon.

The minimal effort of restocking supplies and replacing chemical treatments does not fulfill the parameters of the contract - and we will continue to enforce our expectations of the overall cleanliness of the port-a-lets and their compliance with the full extent of the contract.

We have also directed that they increase the daily services and cleaning of the port-a-lets to four times per week, and we will determine if additional servicing is required. We will also look at adding additional port-a-lets, based on the usage by ride-share drivers.

Because Cortez was not living up to the standards and expectations of the contract, we did not pay any additional fees or incur any additional charges to replace the port-a-lets.

Lastly, we are placing signs in the area with a contact number to the appropriate airport personnel, if patrons have issues with the facilities, they can contact us directly so we can immediately address their concerns. The Airport had not received any complaints within the past 18 months prior to you bringing this to our attention.

Again - thank you for bringing this to our attention. Providing a safe, secure and sanitary environment for our ride-share partners is important to us.*

~ You can see the nastiness of the toilets if you visit the website through the link, it's pretty gross.

I have to say I have never visited the porta-potty at this airport because all porta-potties are inherently gross but, I have been in the lot on cleaning day, the stench is enough to gag a maggot. Michael does have a valid point about the toilets at the ABIA lot, they are much nicer. Anything is nicer than these.


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## Uberchampion (Oct 17, 2015)

As an american uber driver there is a 50/50 chance you have been in jail so I apologize if you are providing a first hand comparison. 

Based on anecdotal information I have gathered from various rap songs. Jail kinda sucks.


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## 1.5xorbust (Nov 22, 2017)

It might be motivation for drivers to look elsewhere for trips. Nah probably not.


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## Cold Fusion (Aug 28, 2019)

Uberchampion said:


> As an american uber driver there is a 50/50 chance you have been in jail so I apologize if you are providing a first hand comparison.
> Based on anecdotal information I have gathered from various rap songs. Jail kinda sucks.


Seriously, which one Isn't an Uber driver ?


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## Jon Stoppable (Dec 11, 2019)

Really? Someone put a gun to their heads and forced them to wait in the queue *and* not make a stop elsewhere on the way back to the queue?

That said, there are proper indoor facilities at my airport, and about the only time I go in the queue is to use them :biggrin:


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## MiamiKid (May 24, 2016)

MHR said:


> *Rideshare drivers expose deplorable condition of portable toilets at San Antonio International Airport
> 
> City calls situation 'unacceptable,' shifts blame to vendor in charge of maintaining toilets*
> 
> ...


In 4 1/2 years driving rideshare, have yet to be forced, even once, to use an unsanitary toilet.

This argument sounds like "bleeding heart" entitled position.
&#127864;


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## rideshareMN (Jan 25, 2017)

thanks for posting that story MHR; it's rare to see a story that is actually trying to help drivers, and it's appreciated; when I first started ubering in the Minneapolis area 4 years ago, we didn't have a safe, lighted staging area and we didn't have access to clean restrooms...when people land in our city the first real contact with locals is likely to be a rideshare driver -- it really is in the cities best interest for those drivers to have been staging in a safe area with access to proper restroom facilities


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## Invisible (Jun 15, 2018)

Disgusting photos. Now I see why so many male drivers here use a water bottle to urinate in.


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## MHR (Jul 23, 2017)

rideshareMN said:


> thanks for posting that story MHR; it's rare to see a story that is actually trying to help drivers, and it's appreciated; when I first started ubering in the Minneapolis area 4 years ago, we didn't have a safe, lighted staging area and we didn't have access to clean restrooms...when people land in our city the first real contact with locals is likely to be a rideshare driver -- it really is in the cities best interest for those drivers to have been staging in a safe area with access to proper restroom facilities


Thanks, I'm glad someone other than myself realized this article was a small positive for drivers. This airport has mostly treated drivers as a necessary evil, it's good to shine some sunlight on that practice.

I know no one is being forced to use the pota-potties but unsanitary conditions is a bandwagon everyone can jump on. Get people hooked with that situation then slowly segue to more important issues.

Just my unsolicited $0.02


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## Jon Stoppable (Dec 11, 2019)

Hey, I have no problem with saying the johns are filthy. "The johns provided for drivers are unsanitary." That's true. "The drivers are forced to use unsanitary johns." That's false, and it plays into the notion that we are employees rather than ICs who may come and go as we please.


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## kingcorey321 (May 20, 2018)

They only clean these restrooms once daily.
If they were to clean twice daily they be ok.
Those pics were not that bad trust me i have seen them worse .
I went to the bathroom after getting the pax in a local hotel


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## Blatherskite (Nov 30, 2016)

The issue shouldn’t simply be that rideshare drivers aren’t afforded sanitary toilets, but that some shiftless, full-of-shite, government contractor is lounging at home counting up his feces-stained specie while drivers are smearing their steering wheels with the hep.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Uberchampion said:


> As an american uber driver there is a 50/50 chance you have been in jail so I apologize if you are providing a first hand comparison.
> 
> Based on anecdotal information I have gathered from various rap songs. Jail kinda sucks.


Home of the " FREE" !


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## Nina2 (Oct 6, 2018)

Jails seem to treat prisoners better then Uber or Lyft treats us


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## MiamiKid (May 24, 2016)

Nina2 said:


> Jails seem to treat prisoners better then Uber or Lyft treats us


Hope you're not still driving for them?


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## BillC (Mar 5, 2017)

Ever heard of a gas station? McDonalds or other fast food restaurant? Any commercial business with public restrooms will be cleaner than any airport's TNC-dedicated parking lot.


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## uberdriverfornow (Jan 10, 2016)

MiamiKid said:


> In 4 1/2 years driving rideshare, have yet to be forced, even once, to use an unsanitary toilet.
> 
> This argument sounds like "bleeding heart" entitled position.
> &#127864;


And in 4 1/2 years you also have never taken any position on the side of rideshare drivers.


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## Atavar (Aug 11, 2018)

People in prisons have better facilities because they clean and maintain those facilities instead of crying for someone else to do it for them.


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## TheDevilisaParttimer (Jan 2, 2019)

Cold Fusion said:


> Seriously, which one Isn't an Uber driver ?


The guard taking the photo


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## TemptingFate (May 2, 2019)

kingcorey321 said:


> They only clean these restrooms once daily.
> If they were to clean twice daily they be ok.
> Those pics were not that bad trust me i have seen them worse .
> I went to the bathroom after getting the pax in a local hotel


Article says the johns are cleaned twice WEEKLY!


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## gooddolphins (Apr 5, 2018)

Only a rideshare driver could do a comparison to a jail bathroom. Uber says they do background checks lol. Driver probably just got out of prison.


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## MiamiKid (May 24, 2016)

Nina2 said:


> Jails seem to treat prisoners better then Uber or Lyft treats us


What's the big deal?
&#127864;


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## TemptingFate (May 2, 2019)

gooddolphins said:


> Only a rideshare driver could do a comparison to a jail bathroom. Uber says they do background checks lol. Driver probably just got out of prison.


Uber only checks for felony convictions in the past 7 years so if you were released from jail 8 years ago after serving 20 years for a homicide, you're good to drive.

Actually, if your conviction was 8 years ago and you were released this year, looks like you are clear to drive!


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## gooddolphins (Apr 5, 2018)

TemptingFate said:


> Uber only checks for felony convictions in the past 7 years so if you were released from jail 8 years ago after serving 20 years for a homicide, you're good to drive.


That's the Uber way


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## MiamiKid (May 24, 2016)

TemptingFate said:


> Uber only checks for felony convictions in the past 7 years so if you were released from jail 8 years ago after serving 20 years for a homicide, you're good to drive.
> 
> Actually, if your conviction was 8 years ago and you were released this year, looks like you are clear to drive!


Nope, they go back way longer. As they should.


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## TemptingFate (May 2, 2019)

MiamiKid said:


> Nope, they go back way longer. As they should.


Do you have any evidence for that assertion or are you just full of crap as usual?


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## TheDevilisaParttimer (Jan 2, 2019)

Just double checked it. Only goes back seven years. Which is bad news for everybody except Uber/Lyft and felons.

I have a strong feeling though if Uber went back 15 years and/or a complete ban on violent felons then the driver pool would be nearly cut in half.


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## MiamiKid (May 24, 2016)

TemptingFate said:


> Do you have any evidence for that assertion or are you just full of crap as usual?





TemptingFate said:


> Do you have any evidence for that assertion or are you just full of crap as usual?


You would be the one who needs evidence.


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## KK2929 (Feb 9, 2017)

Guess what ??? At LAX, the Lyft and Uber holding lot are worse then those shown.
There is no where to wash hands, not that the male drivers would do it anyway. These same drivers pickup at the LAXit lot and greet their pax with a hand shake. YIKES !!!!!!


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## TemptingFate (May 2, 2019)

MiamiKid said:


> You would be the one who needs evidence.


As expected, you are full of crap as usual.


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## MiamiKid (May 24, 2016)

TemptingFate said:


> As expected, you are full of crap as usual.


As expected, that would be you.

My two cents 
&#128526;


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## gooddolphins (Apr 5, 2018)

TheDevilisaParttimer said:


> Just double checked it. Only goes back seven years. Which is bad news for everybody except Uber/Lyft and felons.
> 
> I have a strong feeling though if Uber went back 15 years and/or a complete ban on violent felons then the driver pool would be nearly cut in half.





KK2929 said:


> Guess what ??? At LAX, the Lyft and Uber holding lot are worse then those shown.
> There is no where to wash hands, not that the male drivers would do it anyway. These same drivers pickup at the LAXit lot and greet their pax with a hand shake. YIKES !!!!!!


If there was a place for them to wash their hands they probably would try to take a bath there


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## MiamiKid (May 24, 2016)

gooddolphins said:


> If there was a place for them to wash their hands they probably would try to take a bath there


Good point. Let them deal with the filth.
&#128513;


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## Another Uber Driver (May 27, 2015)

Blatherskite said:


> some shiftless, full-of-shite, government contractor is lounging at home counting up his feces-stained specie while drivers are smearing their steering wheels with the hep.





KK2929 said:


> At LAX, the Lyft and Uber holding lot are worse then those shown.
> There is no where to wash hands, not that the male drivers would do it anyway.


There are several reasons that I keep a bottle of Spray Nine and a roll of paper towels in the trunk. This is one of them.

The Jiffy Johns at the three airports here are just as filthy and disgusting as they are in the article. There is a gasolene station at Dulles Airport that has a "real" bathroom. It is filthy and disgusting, as well.



BillC said:


> Ever heard of a gas station? McDonalds or other fast food restaurant? Any commercial business with public restrooms will be cleaner than any airport's TNC-dedicated parking lot.


I have seen them just as filthy at businesses, especially gasolene stations. I have seen them just as filthy at Icky-D's and Booger King. In fact, there is one Booger King here, in a rather nice neighbourhood that has had disgusting cans for years. It must be paying someone
to pass its Health Board inspection.



Kevin Kargel said:


> People in prisons have better facilities because they clean and maintain those facilities instead of crying for someone else to do it for them.


On the garbage that Uber pays, they can not afford to wash their own cars. How are they supposed to afford brooms, dust pans, mops, buckets, Parson's Ammonia, Babo, paper towels, trash bags and TP?



gooddolphins said:


> If there was a place for them to wash their hands they probably would try to take a bath there


We have a poster on the Washington Boards who went into the bathroom at National Airport back when they let us use real bathrooms. He saw some guy who was washing his feet in the sink. He used to refer to the TNC Yard as the "foot bath" after that.


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## Atavar (Aug 11, 2018)

Back in the day when I was driving truck if you used the facilities at a truck stop and someone noticed you didn't wipe out the sink or wipe off the toilet seat you would get called seven kinds of a-ho on the spot.
If you look in those pictures the worst of the filth is caused by the patrons disregard for the next guy. When you see dirty tp on the floor, excrement on the walls and seat and floor, toilets clogged with rolls worth of tp, filth in the sink, those are all caused by the lowlifes using the facilities.
It is yet another example of the entitlement generation expecting everything to be done for them.

Wiping out a public sink when you are done or wiping off a toilet seat is just common courtesy. If you don't do things like this then your parents didn't even do the bare minimums raising you.


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## NorCalPhil (Aug 19, 2016)

Uh, portable sh!tters are not disgusting. The people who use and abuse them are savages.


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## Cdub2k (Nov 22, 2017)

TemptingFate said:


> Uber only checks for felony convictions in the past 7 years so if you were released from jail 8 years ago after serving 20 years for a homicide, you're good to drive.
> 
> Actually, if your conviction was 8 years ago and you were released this year, looks like you are clear to drive!


And Uber doesn't do background checks at all on Uber Passengers. So some where out there an Uber Driver with a felony on his record is driving around a Passenger with felonies on their record as well


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## Demon (Dec 6, 2014)

Simple solution: Uber & Lyft should pay for better facilities for the drivers.


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## Buckiemohawk (Jun 23, 2015)

TheDevilisaParttimer said:


> Just double checked it. Only goes back seven years. Which is bad news for everybody except Uber/Lyft and felons.
> 
> I have a strong feeling though if Uber went back 15 years and/or a complete ban on violent felons then the driver pool would be nearly cut in half.


When I signed up to drive a cab, they did a full FBI background check. Nothing slipped by them. They knew where i lived and everything. You didn't get to drive for them with felony or even certain misdemeanors. UBEr, backlogs the check and thats why you get all these crazy stories.


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## MiamiKid (May 24, 2016)

Cdub2k said:


> And Uber doesn't do background checks at all on Uber Passengers. So some where out there an Uber Driver with a felony on his record is driving around a Passenger with felonies on their record as well


And they shouldn't do background checks on their customers. HUGE civil liberties violation.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Nina2 said:


> Jails seem to treat prisoners better then Uber or Lyft treats us


Prisoners HAVE RIGHTS !

YOU DONT.


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## MiamiKid (May 24, 2016)

TemptingFate said:


> Article says the johns are cleaned twice WEEKLY!


Twice weekly seems more than sufficient to me.
&#128526;


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## Mtbsrfun (May 25, 2019)

*THESE PEOPLE ARE USED TO SHITTING IN HOLES AND YOU WANT THEM TO WIPE OFF A PORTABLE TOILET SEAT? WHILE POOP RIVERS FLOW THOUGH TYRONES FRONT YARD UBER
DRIVERS GET
FREE
TOILETS.*


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## itsablackmarket (May 12, 2015)

Cold Fusion said:


> Seriously, which one Isn't an Uber driver ?


None of them. They look well fed, healthy, and happy. Uber drivers don't.


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## Ssgcraig (Jul 8, 2015)

When are people going to wake up and realize that nothing is provided for you as a rideshare driver. Well, one thing is, the app to match you with PAX.

Don't sit at the airport that has shitty jons.

Rocket science.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Ssgcraig said:


> When are people going to wake up and realize that nothing is provided for you as a rideshare driver. Well, one thing is, the app to match you with PAX.
> 
> Don't sit at the airport that has shitty jons.
> 
> Rocket science.


" NO NEED TO TIP " !

" LOWER RATES MEAN MORE MONEY " !


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

MHR said:


> *Rideshare drivers expose deplorable condition of portable toilets at San Antonio International Airport
> 
> City calls situation 'unacceptable,' shifts blame to vendor in charge of maintaining toilets*
> 
> ...


People in Jail have the Right to an Attorney.
People in Jail GET TO FACE THEIR ACCUSERS !
People in Jail get Trials & Hearings !
People in Jail have Healthcare !
People in Jail have a Right to Appeal Convictions.

Uber Drivers get Deactivated Due to Slander with Uber deciding.
Uber Drivers never Know who their Accusers are !
Or even if their Accusers ARE REAL !


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## goneubering (Aug 17, 2017)

uberdriverfornow said:


> And in 4 1/2 years you also have never taken any position on the side of rideshare drivers.


That's why I put him on Ignore.


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