Technology, disruption, innovation and transformation are all incredibly good, unless you happen to be one of those who prefer the status-quo, same old way and like to keep limits, restrictions and control.
It's no secret that the signs of innovation are all around us and one of those involves urban transportation and the shift to a sharing economy, as illustrated by startups like Uber, Lyft, Sidecar and others that are shaking things up.
Like we have seen in many other areas, from music to media, the old-guard, status-quo crowd doesn't like change. Instead of pursuing innovation, these old entities and models prefer to use old rules of control through law and legislation.
The wave of disruption is underway, but a big challenge was answered today.
As reported in TechCrunch:
The California Public Utilities Commission has unanimously approved new regulations around ridesharing services such as Lyft, SideCar and UberX (as initially noted in a number of reportson Twitter).
The CPUC proposed the rules back in July, offering a legal framework for ridesharing services to operate throughout the state. As we reported then, most of the regulations revolved around public safety, as well as ensuring that drivers have had background checks and are covered by insurance in the case of an accident.
According to a press release from the CPUC, the new regulations establish a new category of business called a Transportation Network Company, and it requires those companies to obtain a license from CPUC, conduct criminal background checks, establish a driver training program, and hold a commercial insurance policy with a minimum of $1 million per-incident coverage.
That's big news for ridesharing services and bad news for the status-quo crowd, but even more importantly, many other regulatory agencies across the United States are watching what happens in California, so this should make it easier for the wave to spread.
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