Buses, Vans, and Cabs Oh My!

Okay, so I know I take my artistic license a little far sometimes. So to make up for it, today my topic is going to be the law, which is about as far from art as you can get.


Your service sounds like it could be a winner, but is what you do…..you know…..legal? Do you have a license?

That was actually my dad talking, not a potential Rideshare customer as he lives out of state. And no, we don’t exactly have a license. But we don’t exactly need one.


Most industries today are regulated in one form or another, and ours is no different. Indeed, since Rideshare is trying to bring together several previously separate industries(public transportation, carpooling), we have to be familiar with the regulations for each of them. Today we want to talk a little bit about how those regulations impact our business plan, and what we plan to do to stay on the right side of them.

The regulatory world we find ourselves in does limit our options somewhat. Specifically, the taxi licensing regulations. Although taxi regulation is a state and local matter, thus making it hard to make general statements that are true throughout the United States, a few general principles hold true throughout.

1. It is illegal to operate a taxi service, or the functional equivalent, without a state license.
2. These licenses are far fewer in number than the market equilibrium would dictate, producing an acute shortage of point-to-point transportation services
3. The difference between a carpool/vanpool service and a taxi service is generally defined as the difference between paying a driver to travel to a destination he otherwise would not visit, and one he was already planning to go to before he picked up his passenger.

Point 2 is what makes our business viable. Point 1 is what might make our business harder to operate, and Point 3 is how we plan to avoid any regulatory troubles.


Because of the regulations governing taxi services, Rideshare does not and will never employ professional drivers who are paid to convey people from place to place. We are a peer-to-peer network that coordinate the activities of members who already intend to travel to a specified location. As such, we are NOT a taxi service, and do not require a license to operate our app. What we do is no different than what thousands of friends, family members, and coworkers do every day. Except that we bring all those small carpools together into one larger service, affording everyone more flexibility and reliability in their carpool.


Public transportation is not so much regulated as it is exclusive. By definition, only the government can provide “public” transportation. But, there is no law saying that other companies cannot provide alternative means of achieving the same ends as public transportation, as long as they don’t fraudulently claim to be a government agency, which of course we don’t. But just in case you somehow thought otherwise, here is an official disclaimer:


“Rideshare is not an official government agency. We are a private company providing a for-profit service in a socially responsible way."


Please remember that we are all stuck in traffic together. We all breathe the same polluted air from millions of vehicle emissions. If we use the fuel that drives us to be good, we can live socially and responsibly through collaborative consumption.