The bipartisan coalition of lawmakers who pushed and tugged and massaged a proposal to allow ride-sharing companies such as uberX and Lyft to remain in Colorado deserve a lot of credit.
Though beset by lobbyists from the taxi and insurance industries, that will provide this state’s residents with a low-cost and popular transportation option. And when Gov. John Hickenlooper signs the bill, Colorado will become the first state to approve this ride-for-hire model in its legislature.
Ride-sharing exists in other cities, either informally or with local or bureaucratic approval. But breaking established habits in the hyper-political environment of a legislative body can be especially difficult.
To be sure, as Denver Post reporter Andy Vuong noted, Uber “still has some concerns about certain regulatory controls the state will have” — meaning it fears how the Public Utilities Commission will interpret the act. And we can’t say we blame Uber, given the skepticism toward ride-sharing the PUC displayed throughout the process.
Still, if the companies could survive the legislative gantlet, surely they can survive an overreaching bureaucracy, too.
