Taxis vs. Massachusetts: Drivers Hit Back at Uber, Lyft Law

BOSTON, MA – A Boston taxi group thinks a new state law regulating mobile ride-hailing services like Lyft and Uber is unconstitutional, and it's taking state officials to court to prove it.

Among those named in the suit–filed Friday federal court, according to The Boston Globe–is Gov. Charlie Baker, who signed the new statewide regulations into law this July.

The Boston Taxi Owners Association is behind the latest bid to impede the popular app-based services. The industry group in 2015 unsuccessfully pursued a different legal tactic against the City of Boston, suing it for letting Uber and Lyft operate on the grounds that the unregulated "ride-share" groups had crushed the value of their taxi medallions.

Now that same taxi group is hitting back at state regulations it argues unfairly expose taxis to a patchwork of variably harsh local municipal regulations, while the Ubers of the world coast by on a single, statewide regulatory framework.

Reports the Globe:

"... the so-called 'Uber law' violates its members’ equal protection rights, because it prevents municipalities from regulating the ride-hailing companies such as Uber the same as they do cabs. The law leaves regulation of those digital companies solely to the state."

Ironically, lawmakers have also gotten push-back from those who believe the law unfairly advantages taxi companies, by putting a small percentage of the fees collected from Uber and Lyft toward the study of innovation in the taxi industry.

Read more from The Boston Globe here.

Photo by Richard Kelland via Flickr/Creative Commons