Lyft launches in Philly, joins uberX in ridesharing services
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
The Phildalphia Parking Authority calls both of them "illegal hack taxi" services.
Photo courtesy of Lyft dashboard mustache on Instagram
As early as two months ago, Gregory Duncan knew this past weekend would be his time to hit the road.
The 29-year-old from Northeast Philadelphia took his first shift Sunday night as a driver for Lyft, the San Francisco-based ridesharing company in which Average Joes pick up and drop off passengers, just as cabs do. Lyft takes 20 percent of the final fare. When Lyft officially launched on Friday night, Philadelphia became the 66th city with mustachioed cars on its streets, according to spokeswoman Chelsea Wilson. (The telltale sign of a Lyft vehicle is a pink, fuzzy mustache affixed to the grille, although these are being phased out in favor of smaller, magnetic dash-mounted mustaches that are about six inches long and two inches tall.) Late last year, Duncan started inspecting the cars of potential Lyft drivers, and while Wilson declined to provide a specific number of how many Lyft drivers began working Friday, they are out there, Philadelphia.
Duncan, whose day job is driving a truck for an event-planning company to venues and setting up equipment for concerts, weddings, and the like, says he plans to drive at least 30 hours a week for Lyft. "I'm excited," he says, adding he's most looking forward to inviting riders to sit in the passenger seat, greeting them with Lyft's traditional fist-bump hello, and striking up interesting conversations. "I like what the company stands for, and everything about it."
The Philadelphia Parking Authority, on the other hand, not only does not like Lyft, but also considers the service illegal.
To understand the PPA's hard-line stance, pause here for a moment to survey the scene of Silicon Valley-enabled ridesharing options in Philadelphia: uberX and Lyft. (UberX is the cheaper companion to Uber, which also legally runs its traditional service in Philly whereby black town cars ferry passengers.) Both operate similarly: Via smartphone app, passengers request rides and pay drivers. Drivers for uberX and Lyft use their personal vehicles to pick up and drop off passengers, and while each company has respective background checks, safety measures, and insurance requirements for these rides, the drivers are everyday folks like Duncan. This is considered a party foul by the PPA, which regulates all taxis in Philadelphia County. For uberX and Lyft to operate in Philadelphia, the PPA says, each company must conform to the same rules as the city's 1,600 licensed, medallion-equipped cabs. No medallion? No driving. In a statement provided to City Paper, PPA executive director Vince Fenerty calls Lyft and uberX "illegal hack taxi" services.
And if you do drive? The PPA will impound your vehicle, as it has been doing since uberX started operating in Philadelphia in October, and as it has said it will do should it catch any Lyft cars on the road. Since uberX's launch last October, the PPA has impounded 29 uberX vehicles at $1,000 apiece and fined each driver $1,000, a $58,000 tab that has been picked up by the company. (There are about 450 traditional Uber vehicles driving in Philadelphia. Based on numbers released by Uber last month, this means there are about 2,050 uberX drivers in Philly. Hat-tip to Billy Penn for getting that math started.) Lyft drivers stand to suffer from the same penalties.
Curiously, Wilson says that Lyft representatives have had multiple conversations with city officials, including those from the PPA. "Those conversations have been happening for some time now," she told City Paper.
What that means, right now, is anyone's guess. But Duncan feels safe taking to the roads, even knowing what he knows about nabbed uberX drivers: He was told that Lyft will pay any and all fines he might receive.
"Lyft will back me up 100 percent," he says. "If my car were to get impounded, they would take care of any of the expenses. I'm OK with it. It hasn't been on my mind."
