On Tuesday night the Cambridge City Council is hosting a public hearing to discuss the feasibility of entering into an agreement with ride-share services such as, but not limited to, Uber, Lyft and Bridj.
Ride-share services have been a contentious point between city governments and residents. In essence, municipalities want more oversight and consistent regulations for ride-shares while a growing amount of mobile device users clamor for more alternative on-demand modes of transportation.
And then, of course, there's the whole industry clash between ride-shares and taxi drivers which sometimes puts the Sox's rivalry with the Yankees to shame.
Cambridge hasn't been as quick to adopt ride-shares as Boston has. Sure both cities have seen witnessed demonstrations by taxi drivers for the presence of the likes of Uber and Lyft, but Boston worked in tandem with Bridj – the pop-up bus service that analyzes big data to determine non-linear routes for picking up the most passengers most efficiently – to establish legitimacy. Bridj doesn't fall under any previously existing Boston law because nobody could foresaw the emergence of a bus service of that kind.
Meanwhile across the river, Cambridge has taken slower steps but, has certainly moved in the right direction. The city awarded a six-month pilot program for Bridj to operate, but it expired earlier this month.
Vice Mayor Dennis Benzan and City Councillor Denise Simmons were not immediately available to comment on the next steps for Bridj, though it seems its future will be dictated by what happens at tonight's hearing starting at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall's Sullivan Chamber.
"We are looking forward to continuing to serve Cambridge commuters," said Ryan Kelly, Bridj's marketing manager. "Unlike [other ride-shares] our partners are independently-owned, already-certified transit companies in order to provide the safest, most reliable service to our riders."
And while Kelly said Bridj has been working with the city to establish agreed-upon standards, its unique service is may require an entirely new policy like in Boston.
"In my opinion a one size fits all regulation won't suffice as the Bridj model is unique to our service and technology companies will continue to innovate in ways that regulators can't foresee or plan for," added Kelly.
Back in January Uber partnered with the City of Boston to provide certain ride-share data in order to better inform any future policy amendments and best practices.
The move proved preemptive. In late-April, while trying to juggle comprehensive MBTA reform legislation, Gov. Charlie Baker submitted a bill that establishes ride-share safety regulations such as background check requirements and insurance requirements. It also vests oversight authority with the state Department of Public Utilities.
Though some cities and entire states may have experienced some friction between disruptive ride-shares and longstanding taxi drivers, it's clear some – especially those with higher rates of millennials and mobile-app users – are pushing forward to allow both industries to function.
Cambridge, a haven of startups and new technologies with corporate denizens such as Microsoft, Google, Hubspot and a bevy of startups and accelerators, could add itself to the growing list of ride-share friendly places.
Uber did not return a request for comment and Lyft said it would wait until after tonight's hearing to share its thoughts.
