This article was published on May 25, 2017

Uber and Lyft are coming back to Austin


Uber and Lyft are coming back to Austin

Uber and Lyft are returning to Austin after leaving one year ago, thanks to some new state legislation.

Alexandra Samuels of the Texas Tribune said spokespeople from both companies confirmed their apps would be in Austin again by next week. Uber told her, “Our local team is focused on making sure that Uber works for Austinites and helping our driver-partners earn.”

Uber and Lyft left Austin after the city voted against a law which would allow the ridesharing apps to use their own background checks. Recently Texas passed a state-wide bill establishing regulations for ride-hailing companies, overriding local regulations such as Austin’s.

Both apps are returning to a city which seems, as we saw at SXSW, to be getting by without them. Time will show if local startups like RideAustin can compete with the big boys.

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