St. Paul has entered the new frontier of car sharing via a smartphone app called Lyft, connecting riders with private citizens who have cars and are willing to drive them — and all for a fee that's not required but appreciated nonetheless.
It's not a taxi service, which has sparked protests from cab operators in other cities where Lyft has set up shop and is prompting St. Paul's licensing division to study whether a ride-sharing business should be subject to regulation.
The San Francisco-based company had representatives in town this week to inspect vehicles and train drivers. They also met with St. Paul officials to address concerns about safety and proper insurance.
"For St. Paul, is there anything prohibiting them from doing this? No, there isn't," said Ricardo Cervantes, the city's safety and inspections director.
"We need to find out more about this. We'll do research and analysis and come up with a proposal on whether to regulate or not," he said.
The situation is more complicated in Minneapolis, where regulators say Lyft drivers and vehicles are required to be properly licensed and inspected under the city's taxicab ordinances.
That clashes with Lyft's business model, which relies on an easy sign-up process.
"They were saying, 'We don't believe we are taxicabs. We believe we are a ride-share, which is people in the community hooking up with people in the community,' " said Grant Wilson, Minneapolis' business licensing chief.
