Photo from Geekwire.com
Photo from Geekwire.com

Seattle’s liberatti are getting schooled in how government regulation stifles innovation.

Seattle officials today are expected to heavily curtail or even crush three upstart car sharing services, UberX, Lyft and Sidecar, in favor of taxi companies which are protected by the government. 

The three car sharing services fulfill government’s admonition to share rides. As an added bonus to younger riders, they do so generally more cheaply than taxis (see a Wall Street Journal cost comparison here). The companies, all of which started in San Francisco, match drivers and riders through a smart phone app.

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Don’t waste precious favors OR dollars – UberX is CHEAPER than ever before! https://t.co/J0uOpq7mo1

But the heavily regulated tax industry is having fits. Government regulations protect taxi companies’ profits by limiting the number of drivers, protect consumers from getting ripped off, and assures each driver has proper insurance among other things. The upstart car sharing companies are only now addressing these concerns. 

 

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Safety is our top priority, and we now have a policy in place to expand insurance for ridesharing driver partners: http://t.co/8zVlg6JXSP

Meantime, dollar conscious Seattleites are coming unglued.

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Tell @SeattleCouncil to #SAVEuberXsea http://t.co/jR6w3DRjWZ Protect consumer choices, reduce drunk driving, save jobs, do the right thing!

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@SeattleCouncil Seattlites, do not let Town Council pass the ridesharing ordinance! #SAVEuberXsea https://t.co/TvwyhMR7rO #lyft #Seattle

We’ll see what the Seattle officials do today at 2pm. Stay tuned.