They may be local, but they aren't bound to a single township. I live in a suburb, and there's no way a rideshare operator in my ares could function without consistently operating in at least 30 different local municipalities. Each small town deciding what is in their own best interest may conflict with what is in broader interest of people outside that town. If municipalities start passing their own rules that in some way limit rideshare & cab rides, all of a sudden you have drivers saying "sorry, I don't go to towns x, y and z". Or "I have to drive through town x & y to get you to z, and they have $5 surcharges on each ride, so that will be $10 extra for the ride." Then every town catches on to this revenue source and all pass similar rules, and a 20 minute trip costs an extra $20. I live 10 minutes away from where I work and still touch 3 towns on my way.
The narrow self interest of a small group isn't always compatible with the larger group, or even the small group's own longer term interest.
> Or "I have to drive through town x & y to get you to z, and they have $5 surcharges on each ride, so that will be $10 extra for the ride."
If the ride does not terminate in x or y, and is using an ordinary passenger car, I doubt that such a regulation would be enforceable specifically against ride services unless the town could show a specific danger from them. I think they would have to charge $5 for every non-resident vehicle passing through, not just ride service vehicles, to get away with it.
They can do it by making operators register with the town and provide accounting of their ride fares quarterly regardless of whether or not they had any fares within the town (Just like businesses in my state must file quarterly sales tax returns regardless of whether they had taxable sales in that quarter).
It could be enforced the same way any other traffic-related law gets enforced: police can pull you over, and impound your car if you aren't registered. Sure, not everyone would get caught, but it would be a stiff enough penalty that drivers would either comply or avoid the town. I'm not saying it would be practical, but this is the sort of law you'd get if every town is allowed to make their own rules about such things.
> Sure, not everyone would get caught, but it would be a stiff enough penalty that drivers would either comply or avoid the town.
Hi, part time taxi driver here. We still do prearranged pickups at airports where it might not be legal. Even with the potential risk of $1000+ tickets hanging over our heads.
This logic is the same reason the drug war failed. If there's demand for a better/more effective service and we can still profit off it, we will provide it despite legal challenges.
Sure, some do, but I'm sure some don't. I'm not saying such a law would make sense, or be even close to 100% enforceable, only that such a law a net negative effect for drivers and consumers.
The narrow self interest of a small group isn't always compatible with the larger group, or even the small group's own longer term interest.