Uber has been cleared to continue its operations in Boston, Massachusetts after a cease and desist from the city put a stop to their operations recently.
The order was made after the Division of Standards decided Uber’s operations weren’t legal due to the GPS technologies in its employ until the National Institute of Standards and Technology ruled on guidelines for GPS location technology.
Uber uses GPS instead of more traditional technologies to calculate fares, which is what put its use of the technology under the magnifying glass.
According to Boston Globe columnist Scott Kirsner on Twitter, Boston has decided that as the National Institute of Standards and Technology is already evaluating standards for GPS, it won’t make Uber wait for the standard.
In a published order, the Division of Standards stated that the company could resume operations immediately pending its filing of an application for provisional approval that would last until the NIST makes its final ruling.
Uber has faced other regional problems in recent times, including a fight with the Washington DC City Council which resulted in the council dropping a Minimum Fare plan that would put Uber’s cheaper UberX service out of business.
It is unclear how much lobbying Uber did it to have the cease and desist repealed, but the public was gearing up for a fight with a petition on Change.org. After its pressure on the Washington DC City Council was effective in allowing it to resume operations, it seems Uber is getting pretty effective at breaking through bureaucratic roadblocks set up by taxi unions and the politicians trying to appease them.
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