| This is just from memory. Correct me if I’m wrong. 2005: mobileride.com in Boston, phone-based ridesharing with voluntary cash exchange, shut down in 2006 with regulatory warnings 2006: zipcar hires some of mobileride team and enters rideshare business with shared zipcar rentals among BU students 2007: zimride starts with pre-arranged rideshare at Cornell, works with campus transportation directly to keep it legal. 2007: google rides opens as a platform for several tiers of ride hailing services, dominates the market and then shuts down in 2010 2010: Uber starts in NYC as high-end livery, not sure if they got the license or not, but tweaks business model to have many on-demand part-time drivers instead of full-time, but pays much better portion of fare. 2012: Sidecar in San Francisco allows anybody to accept rides and mobile payments but calls them gratuities instead of fare. Regulators show their will to inaction. Uber responds with massive push into taxi services, completely flouts regulation, and Zimride births Lyft to do the same. CALPERS is rescued from bankruptcy by investment in AirBnB and Uber. |
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