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Lyft Ridesharing Isn't Coming to NYC Because the Taxi Commission Scared It Off

Rideshare isn't coming to NYC, after all.
Image: Flickr/Sara Hermoso

New York City's Taxi and Limousine Commission has won this round: Lyft announced today that it won't be bringing its rideshare platform to the city, after all.

Instead, Lyft will do what Uber has done in the city and will operate, more or less, as a traditional car-for-hire service (with its drivers licensed as taxi operators), albeit one that is hailed through a smartphone app. Earlier this week, Lyft announced that it would launch tonight despite not complying with NYC taxi commission requirements that all car-for-hire drivers need to meet. Most importantly, Lyft's two hour driver training didn't match up with NYC's 24-hour driver certification course.

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Yesterday, the TLC threatened to impound the cars of Lyft drivers, and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman tried to get an injunction today to prevent the company from launching. Instead of being granted the injunction, Lyft agreed to comply with TLC regulations and push back its launch.

Here's what the company had to say about the whole mess:

"We agreed in New York State Supreme Court to put off the launch of Lyft's peer-to-peer model in New York City and we will not proceed with this model unless it complies with New York City Taxi and Limousine regulations. We will meet with the TLC beginning Monday to work on a new version of Lyft that is fully-licensed by the TLC, and we will launch immediately upon the TLC's approval. This is a positive step forward and a good demonstration of compromise in balancing innovation with government regulation, and we appreciate the continued efforts of New York City government to find common ground for the betterment of New York.

We will celebrate our upcoming launch at an event tonight as scheduled with members of New York's Lyft community."

Sounds like there won't be too much to celebrate.