- AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
- Getting a Lyft in Chicago could change real soon.
It was one hell of a mustache ride, but it’s looking more and more like the laissez-faire heyday of rideshare companies like Lyft and Uber is drawing to a close. Two separate pieces of legislation are currently pending that would regulate app-based driver services—a bill at the state level, HB 4075, and an ordinance at the city level.
Another, vociferous subset of the proregulation crowd includes backers of the traditional taxicab system. They’re pushing these regulatory measures—via lobbyists behind the scenes and politicians in front of them—to protect passengers, sure, but primarily, they say, to protect cab drivers whose livelihoods are threatened by the johnny-come-lately rideshare drivers (although some rideshare drivers, for Uber anyway, are cab drivers). Looking out for their many drivers certainly has a nicer ring to it than looking out for the business interests of the few taxi company owners. But it’s worth noting that the taxi industry just formed a $1 million political action committee to ensure more local politicians see things their way.
I’m guessing that at some point the average consumer has been made seethingly angry by both rideshare apps and taxicab companies—the former for its ridiculous fares during periods of surge pricing, the latter for aggressive, rude, or hyperreligious drivers, in my own experience. But most people would like to have a more technologically friendly alternative to phoning or physically hailing a cab. And it’s true—they’d prefer not to be killed or molested along the way. The city ordinance also lays out background check procedures for rideshare drivers.
