Phoenix has fallen, leaving Atlanta as the last of the nation’s to not have come to some arrangement with the ride-hailing apps. In Phoenix, a separate area has been created for their pickups, away (but only by a little) from the pickup lane used by licensed taxis and shuttles.
The arrangement, long held up by the city and airport’s requirement for fingerprint checks on drivers, affects UberX and similar Lyft services that don’t use licensed professional drivers; other Uber services that do have already been available at the airport. Under the new arrangement, the city has agreed to accept the companies’ third-party checks, but insisted on separation.
Atlanta’s issues are similar; the city does not believe that the third-party checks, based on Social Security numbers, are enough for safety; the company insists that they are in some cases more up-to-date than the official checks.
In any case, the arrival yesterday of UberX and Lyft has already had one significant impact at Phoenix, where cab companies have begun offering a flat-rate $17 to the city center, and the city has eliminated a $1 tax on taxi fares at the airport. Shuttle companies are also making adjustments.
For more detail, from USA Today, click HERE
