Smartphone-based car services like Uber and Lyft are allowed
to operate in Boston without the same oversight traditional taxi companies and
drivers face, according to federal lawsuit brought by taxi drivers and owners.
The Boston Taxi Owners Association filed the Jan. 16 complaint along with Raphael Ophir and Joseph Pierre, two Massachusetts-based owners of taxicab medallions, taking aim at the city, Massachusetts and various public officials, according to Courthouse News and various reports:
The Boston Taxi Owners Association filed the Jan. 16 complaint along with Raphael Ophir and Joseph Pierre, two Massachusetts-based owners of taxicab medallions, taking aim at the city, Massachusetts and various public officials, according to Courthouse News and various reports:
Taxi medallions can cost in the neighborhood of $700,000,
and are mandatory for traditional taxi companies to operate in the city, but
the Internet-based ride services, described in the complaint as
"Transportation Network Companies," are not required to pay or apply
for such documents. Shift drivers pay medallion owners rent, upwards of $500
per week, to drive their cabs.
“The City has . . . permitted the de facto taxi
companies to flout the law with open impunity by deploying an invasion of
unlicensed cars and drivers with no requirement of any medallion” or other city
taxi regulations, the lawsuit said, as quoted by the Boston Globe.
The taxi owners say the city is violating the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because ride-hailing operations provide the same services as their companies, but are treated differently.
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