The Ridesharing Battle Is About Democracy Vs. Corporate Power

Whatever you think of the regulations currently in development at City Hall to govern the operations of transportation network companies – a generally part-time, second-job taxi service cleverly rebranded as “ridesharing” – you’ve got to hand it to these multi-billion-dollar dot-com giants for having portrayed the process as a moral struggle between heroic entrepreneurs against the tyrannical powers of the city of Austin and its feckless band of overseers, the City Council. For the record, ride-for-hire giant Uber is currently valued at $62.5 billion, while its most notable competitor, Lyft, is in the midst of a frenzied capital campaign…