UberX in LA: It’s Illegal. It’s Great. It Needs to Stop.

UberX in LA: It's Illegal. It's Great. It Needs to Stop.

Despite the fact that it’s currently banned in Los Angeles, UberX is defiantly still up and running. I used it for the first time this weekend. This so-called ride-sharing service from San Francisco-based Uber Technologies is supposedly the future of cabs. Much like similar services Lyft and Sidecar, UberX seeks to "disrupt" the taxi industry by using average people with a car (and without a taxi license) to shuttle others around. But it’s pretty clear that they shouldn’t be allowed to.

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Sorry Uber, Los Angeles Has Been Banning Ride-Shares For a Century

Sorry Uber, Los Angeles Has Been Banning Ride-Shares For a Century

This week the city of Los Angeles sent a cease-and-desist letter to ride-sharing app companies Uber, Lyft and Sidecar. The city and Los Angeles Yellow Cab claim that these services are "rogue taxis" that are "bypassing all safety regulations created to protect riders and drivers." But this isn’t the first time that this town has gone after the unregulated four-wheeled menace. This crackdown on unlicensed taxis in the City of Angels is nearly identical to a battle that raged a century ago — without all the iPhones and whatnot, of course.

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