Are Philadelphia’s Tactics on Ride-sharing Against the Public Good?

Residents of Philadelphia who patronize ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft are having their own dollars used against them, says a report by Reason.com. The report alleges that the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) is using money gleaned from parking tickets and other violation fines to fund a big-budget legal campaign against ride-sharing services. Reason.com cites The Philadelphia Inquirer in stating that the city has hired expensive legal counsel to lobby against the ride-sharing industry.

Lyft is just one ride-sharing service that the city is suppressing, say certain media outlets.

Lyft, Uber, and the rest of their ilk operate in open violation of the law in Philadelphia, which has banned them. Interestingly, the rest of Pennsylvania allows ride-sharing services to operate within certain reasonable limits. According to William Bender from the Inquirer, there were “various colluding e-mails” sent between the PPA and taxi lobbying agencies, all meant to shut out ride-sharing and promote the interests of the taxi business.

According to an Uber spokesperson, the city’s concerns about passenger safety (involving driver background checks and proof of auto insurance) are already being dealt with in the agreements between Uber and its drivers. Matt Wing, the spokesperson, said that the only difference between Uber and the taxi business in Philadelphia is that the city doesn’t get to glean fees off of Uber that they can then use for lobbying.

An editorial in The Philadelphia Inquirer accused the city of Philadelphia of “effectively using parking fines and other revenue collected from those who live, work, and travel in the city to limit the same public’s transportation options.” It went on to say that “The report proved what had appeared to be true for some time: that the Parking Authority has formed an unholy alliance with the taxi industry it supposedly regulates to work in their mutual interest – and against the public’s – to stifle competition.”

For its part, the PPA states that it is only interested in public safety. Vince Fenerty, executive director of the PPA, says that the city often regulates taxi service in a way that the taxi industry fights against.