Boston ordered to revise regulations on taxis, ride-hailing services

[FrodosPet]

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/03/31/boston-ordered-revise-regulations-taxis-ride-hailing-services/YtU60Y01l8TiEGbQu82qsL/story.html

By Jim O’Sullivan GLOBE STAFF MARCH 31, 2016

A federal judge Thursday gave Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s administration six months to revise the way it regulates taxis and ride-hailing firms such as Uber and Lyft, part of an ongoing legal and political battle still shaping the way the two industries operate.

US District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton pressed city officials on their decision to impose one set of regulations on traditional taxi companies and another on the up-and-coming transportation network companies, or TNCs, showing sympathy to the cabs’ claim that their equal protection rights had been violated.

Gorton said the differences between the way the two sides operate is significantly narrower than defendants had argued.

“They are both ‘hackney carriages’ as the term is defined by” a Boston Police Department regulation governing taxicabs, the judge wrote.

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[SheilaT]

1. Recently I had my first ever experience with Uber,

and I was quite pleased with it.

My son was visiting, and he has a smart phone and the app needed. (I'm a bit of a dinosaur without a smart phone). We wanted to go to a local sports bar to watch a basketball game (I don't have a TV, another indication of what a Luddite I am). He contacted Uber, the driver showed up in about ten minutes. When we were ready to come home, another ten minutes. Both cars were clean and new, the drivers very nice. Even though Uber has some sort of no tipping policy, I tipped. The first driver tried to refuse, citing the policy, but I insisted. The second was happy to accept.

I feel a bit guilty, because I'm quite aware of all the controversy about Uber and Lyft. But in my city there is only one taxi service, and sometimes the wait to get one is quite long. I'll admit, I'd use Uber again in a heartbeat.

[leveymg]

2. Uber must operate as a cab, or be outlawed as a business model.