The app-based ridesharing service Lyft is again operating in Columbus. Jim Letizia reports.
The company stopped operating last year after Columbus enacted a series of regulations in September of 2014. But new state laws have in effect nullified the municipal codes. The city codes required Lyft and Uber drivers to apply for a license, pay a 35 dollar fee, undergo a background check and have their vehicles inspected. The city also enacted requirments for drivers to carry insurance. When Lyft pulled out in January of last year, it cited those codes as the reason. The city sought temporary restraining orders against Lyft and Uber in 2014, saying they violated previous vehicle-for-hire rules. The city dropped its requests for those orders before City Council enacted the regulations. The services link people who need a ride with drivers working for the companies and using their own vehicles. State laws require the companies to pay a 5 thousand permit fee, make sure that drivers have insurance, and conduct driver background checks. Meanwhile, Lyft is now the first app-based service at Port Columbus and Rickenbacker Airports.
