Uber, Lyft opponents coming together

Ridesharing Works for Austin, the political action committee that gathered the petition signatures to put to citizens the question of rolling back regulations for Uber and Lyft, may soon have an adversary. Austin political consultant Mark Littlefield said Thursday he is part of a group of volunteers who are working “to figure out if there are the resources and will to put together a campaign … to fight the fight that needs to be fought” against the Uber/Lyft sponsored ordinance. He said the group does not yet have a treasurer or a spokesperson, while sounding very much like a spokesperson. He said that a majority of people he has talked to, including some who like to use ride-hailing services, “don’t think (Uber and Lyft) should be able to make their own rules.” Also, on Wednesday night, the Travis County Democratic Party voted unanimously to “support the defeat of Uber and Lyft’s ballot measure,” according to a Facebook post by TCDP Chair Vincent Harding. Harding explained, “In my campaign speech to become Chair, I talked about running because I wanted to help usher in a ‘New Kind Of Politics’. A kind of politics based on principle and people over political favors and corporations. Corporations should not be allowed to write their own rules. Uber and Lyft wanted a fight, now they have one. Let’s organize.” Austin will vote on the ride-hailing regulations on May 7.