Series: Crimp Your Ride

urbanists, flickr

The proliferation of so-called “rideshare” or ride-for-hire companies, like Lyft, Uber, Sidecar, and others has left cities scrambling to figure out whether and how to regulate this new transportation option. Meanwhile, taxi drivers have organized to try to defend their livelihood and point out that they, unlike ride-for-hire drivers (for now), are subject to a thicket of rules and costly investments in order to do their job. A real-life comparison of taxi vs. ride-for-hire kicks off this series in which Jennifer Langston examines the hurdles and opportunities in the new ride-for-hire economy.