Jefferson City, MO – Ryan Johnson, President of the Missouri Alliance for Freedom today issued a statement on the issue of ride sharing.
“In a free market economy we do not extinguish free-market innovation, we encourage it. The slowed advance of innovative ride sharing concepts like Uber and Lyft are being hindered by excessive regulation, bureaucrats and their big city political allies. It is time to end that obstruction and let the free-market reign” said Ryan Johnson.
In Missouri the Regional Taxicab District with boundaries that encompass any city not within a county and any county with a charter form of government with more than one million inhabitants is tightly controlled and regulated by the Taxicab Commission. Their governance of the industry is virtually absolute and they do not like competition.
Ride sharing businesses like Uber and Lyft have been revolutionizing the industry of transporting passengers in recent years. The new concept allows men and women to go into business, use their own vehicles, and set their own hours to share a ride with a paying customer. The passenger gets where they need to go in an efficient, safe, and comfortable manner. Everyone is happy except for the old guard taxicab companies and their political muscle who are being out hustled.
“It is time to get government out of the way and let the ride sharing companies move into the fast lane. If the taxicab businesses want to compete let them do so without using the force of government to stifle entrepreneurship. Missouri must allow the free-market to work by passing Rep. Matthews’ House Bill 2330.
Missouri Alliance for Freedom is a statewide conservative policy advocacy and legislative accountability group focused on changing the capitol culture of the General Assembly through education and advocacy. The Missouri Scorecard is issued annually to evaluate legislators’ performance from a traditionally conservative perspective with a libertarian streak spanning the issue spectrum.
