Transportation
Ride-Hailing Apps Are Calling Cities on Their Bluffs
Transportation network companies have nothing to lose by challenging official threats against their drivers.
On Thursday, in what at first glance appears to be an escalation in the ongoing national fuss over hailing apps, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles issued cease-and-desist letters to Uber and Lyft. Both services promptly pledged to continue providing services in Old Dominion despite the order.
Just as they promised, I had no trouble hailing a car from outside the Rosslyn Metro Station, right in the heart of Northern Virginia—just across the Key Bridge from Washington, D.C., where ride-sharing is under no such penalty. There were plenty of familiar black cars on Uber available for service. The only real difference between today and any other day was the #VAneedsUber campaign on Twitter.