Category Archives: sharing economy

INTERIM. Sharing Economy. New Statewide Rules from the East.

Which state legislature passed new statewide ride share rules? Massachusettes

What fee does it levy? 20-cent per ride surcharge to fund state infrastructure improvements

What requirements are placed on ride-share companies?

  • insurance thresholds
  • two-step background check for drivers
  • no fingerprinting requirements
  • decals on ride share cars will be mandatory
  • cars will be required to pay commercial toll fees

What state agency will regulate ride share?  Department of Public Utilities…

Top 5 Legal issues Hitting Ride Share

Why are we concerned about legal issues related to ride share?

  • Within 4 years, 40% of all American workers will be independent contractors

The top legal issues related to ride-share:

  • Liability
    • Before picking up a fare, is the driver working for the ride share company?
  •  Insurance coverage- whose responsible for it?
  • Are drivers employees or indpendent contractors?
  • Does the sharing economy, using an app, trigger products liability?
  • How does ride share fit with driverless cars?

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TREND. Sharing Economy. Low Income Communities. 3 Points of Informed Intel.

Which communities are considering ride share for low income communities? low income communities in California

How does the program organize?  California Air Resources Board (CARB) agreed to include bike-share in its Car Sharing and Mobility Options pilot program.

Why do advocates for bikes want into ride share? Electric bikes and non-car vehciles like golf carts are low emission vehicles that can solve transportation problems by offering neighborhood vehicles

Streetsblog California…

Trend. Ride Share Data Transparency. Legislative Action in the East.

Which easter state legislature is confronting transparency in ride share data? Massachusettes

Included in recently passed statewide ride share laws is sharing which information with regulators?

  •  financial documents
  •  reports of crashes and other incidents

Is the information that ride share companies provide public? No.

Salem News | Our view: Legislature needs to make ride share information public

INTERIM. Trend. Sharing Economy. New Ride Share Rules in Chicago. 3 Key Pieces of Intel.

The new ride share regulations passed this week in Chicago will:

  • NO required fingerprint background checks for drivers
    • fingerprinting rules will be studied for 6 months
    • the requirement was dropped to avoid major comapnies pulling out of Chicago ride share
  • Requires drivers to take a 1-day online course to get a chauffeur’s license
  • No drug testing for drivers

AP | Chicago Aldermen OK Less Restrictive Ride-Hailing Rules

Chicago Tribune | Aldermen OK weaker Uber rules after Emanuel…

The Compromise Idea. A TX House Chairman is Open to Statewide Ride Share Rules

Chairman Pickett suggests this compromise to address finger print requirements for ride share companies:

“riders could specifically request drivers who had undergone fingerprint-based FBI background checks”

It’s extreme local control. Let the rider control. 

El Paso Times | Pickett open to compromise on ridesharing rules

INTERIM. TREND. Ride Share Leaves a City. What happens?

Small Ride Share companies step in to fill the void. Here’s what happened in Austin:

  • 6 small ride share companies started operating
  • 1 nonprofit ride share is emerging
  • Business trends emerge to distinguish small ride share from large ride share by:
    • allowing preferred drivers to be selected
    • allowing for pre scheduled rides
    • company pledges to not surge price rides

 

Governing | When Uber Leaves, What Happens?

INTERIM. Ride Share Bill Debate Gets Mean Fast in the West. 3 Pieces of Informed Intel.

California Assembly debate over a ride share bill that would allow companies to check criminal backgrounds of drivers in state criminal background check systems turned nasty.

The 5 reasons why debate took a mean turn:

  • Legislators say the author promised to provide liability immunity for companies that did not use the state criminal background check
  • The author said he never made a promise to limit liability for companies
  • The nasty debate, resulting in admonishments from leadership, caused…

INTERIM. How Ride Share Wins at a Western State Capitol.

4 ways Uber and Lyft are winning at the California Capitol:

  • Power in Numbers. They can rally drivers, riders, and have lots of hired consultants and lobbyists
  • Both parties like Ride Share.
    • ​California Democrats like the innovation
    • Texas Conservatives like the free market business aspect
  • Neither State nor Cities want to regulate ride share. Power struggle is to the state’s advantage
  • Delay is good for Ride Share. Ride share market share grows during times of delay and the taxi…

INTERIM. Sharing Economy. Austin Ride Share Prop. The Numbers Only.

The Winning Side (No on the Austin Proposition):

  • 56% of the vote
  • 17% voter turnout
  • $125,000 Spent
  • $40 cost of finger print background check

 

The Losing Side (Yes on the Austin Ride Share Proposition):

  • 44% of the vote
  • 17% voter turnout
  • $8 Million Spent
  • $223.15 per vote
  • 05/09/2016 the date Uber and Lyft may stop service in Austin

KUT | Proposition 1 Ride-hailing Measure is Soundly Defeated

Statesman | Prop 1 goes down as activist proclaims: ‘Austin made Uber an example’

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