Where you once saw taxis circling luxury hotels in major cities, you are now just as likely to see Uber black cars or mustachioed SUVs. It is still too soon to tell how the addition of app-based transportation services will affect the for-hire transportation industry and goals to reduce transportation emissions. It could result in an oversupply of vehicles, as thousands of app-based vehicles hit the road, in addition to the traditional taxis, limos and town cars. Or it could result in app-based vehicles replacing taxis, since the barriers to entry are so much lower for the new services. Either way, there are likely to be environmental implications from the growing number of vehicles on the road. As other jurisdictions may consider the California model, and as these services grow, it is important to study and evaluate the nationwide environmental impact of this “disruption” in the transportation industry.
Lori Anne Dolqueist is a partner with law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP in San Francisco and focuses her practice on regulatory matters before the California Public Utilities Commission. Tara S. Kaushik is a senior associate with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips in the San Francisco office, where she focuses her legal practice on energy regulatory matters. The authors represent members of the taxicab industry in matters related to the issues discussed in this article.
Ms. Dolqueist can be reached at (415) 291-7452 or ldolqueist@manatt.com, and Ms. Kaushik can be reached at (415) 291-7409 or tkaushik@manatt.com.
This column is part of a series of articles by law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP’s Energy, Environment & Natural Resources practice. Earlier columns in the third edition of this series discussed California’s Green Chemistry Regulations, Retail Hazardous Waste Reform, Environmental Screening Tools, Nanotechnology Regulation, Federal Chemical Regulation Reform, Efforts to Address Climate Change and What the Sequester Means for Environmental Regulation.
