Steph Solis

Depending on whom you ask, UberX and Lyft are either innovative transportation alternatives or something akin to an unfair business practice.

But what is undeniable is that the city's two ridesharing services are shaking things up and have become a go-to option for many Indianapolis residents looking for a ride, especially to Downtown on weekend nights and during major sporting events.

For its part, the city has welcomed the ridesharing concept, which works like this: Ridesharing companies pair up vehicle owners looking to make a few bucks with people looking for a lift.

Because of the ridesharing companies' distinct business model and the way the city's code is written, UberX and Lyft are exempt from the commercial licensing and other requirements faced by other public vehicles for hire — most prominently taxis. They are, under the code at least, not specifically public vehicles for hire.

"That's where Uber and Lyft fall in," said Adam Baker, spokesman for the city's code enforcement department. "There's certain operational aspects of their program that's outside what the ordinance is."

Not that the city is complaining. While some argue it leaves the ridesharing companies largely unregulated, Baker believes the way the code is written "pushes innovation" and has created healthy competition.

Still, the situation has rankled some taxi drivers, who cry foul.

"They're killing cab companies," said Hussein Olad, a Somali immigrant who has driven taxis in Indianapolis for more than four years.

In Indianapolis, UberX and Lyft drivers, for example, are exempt from the more than $200 in licensing and inspection fees that taxi drivers pay. They also do not need a commercial license or public passenger chauffeur license. The city does not know the identities of UberX and Lyft drivers because they do not have to register. City officials said they do not know how many UberX and Lyft drivers even operate in the city.

Sergio Gonzalez-Piriz, executive vice president of Indianapolis Yellow Cab, said he would like to see how the situation plays out before he draws too many conclusions. That said, he is fairly certain the city's stance on not requiring ridesharing drivers to pay fees or fulfill licensing requirement will have an impact, especially in terms of recruiting drivers.

UberX and Lyft drivers also do not share their criminal history with the city, nor do they submit fingerprints for employment screenings. By contrast, taxi drivers face government-authorized criminal background checks, which include running fingerprints through the FBI's National Justice Informational Service database.

But while the city does not require such extensive checks of rideshare drivers, Lyft and UberX both say their application process is as extensive, if not more so, than what taxi drivers face.

Lyft works with a professional background screening company, SterlingBackCheck. The screening includes a Social Security number trace, county criminal record check, nationwide sex offender search and "an enhanced nationwide criminal search," Lyft spokeswoman Katie Dally said.

UberX applicants undergo a county, federal and multistate criminal screening, a nationwide sex offender search and Social Security number trace. Uber spokeswoman Lauren Altmin said the company's standards follow the Multistate Criminal Database standards.

Some professional screenings can match or exceed background checks with fingerprinting, but a "multistate" or "national" standard is not a guarantee, according to Melissa Sorenson, executive director of the National Association for Professional Background Screenings.

The city has discussed safety with the ridesharing companies, Baker said. So far, no complaints or arrests have surfaced regarding Lyft and UberX drivers in Indianapolis, though there have been reports of incidents involving ridesharing drivers elsewhere.

And at least some other cities are a bit wary.

When Lyft arrived in St. Louis, police began citing drivers for illegally operating as taxi drivers, and the city obtained a restraining order against the company. Columbus, Ohio, officials filed a lawsuit against Uber and Lyft and are drafting legislation for ridesharing.

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission petitioned for a cease-and-desist order against Uber and Lyft after it determined that the companies' services "match those of a taxi and should be regulated as such under state law," commission spokesman Arthur Bishop stated in an email to The Star.

Dally, the spokeswoman for Lyft, said her ridesharing company is different from a taxi company and should be regulated differently as well.

"Overall, we see that most drivers only drive a couple of miles a week, when they have the time," Dally said. "It's a model that's very different and is mobilizing the community and helping others that need a ride."

Uber and Lyft continue to grow in Indianapolis. Uber started as a black car service with limousine drivers who are regulated by the state, but UberX and Lyft drivers only need a personal driver's license and vehicle to work for the companies. The services connect riders with local drivers via mobile app in which customers enter their credit-card information and the company collects the fee.

Baker said the city has tried to strike a balance between promoting innovation and determining how to classify Uber and Lyft. However, Baker said, the pilot program has not caused inequalities in the transportation industry. Ridesharing services are limited to taking requests from the app, while taxis can take requests and street hails.

Local ridesharing customers say that cab companies and their drivers could take a lesson or two from UberX and Lyft. Some customers said ridesharing is more efficient and that the cars are nicer looking. Others, like Vince Wiscons, 31, said the mobile, cashless system the companies use make getting around more convenient.

"I'm still amazed by the app, just how user friendly it is and how detailed it is," said Wiscons, 31, who uses UberX and Uber's black car services frequently. "It's nice if you're sitting in a crowded, loud place ... you don't have to go outside and be on your phone."

Jodi Golden, 34, also said she often uses UberX. She also has started driving with UberX in her spare time.

"I use Uber quite frequently, pretty much since it came to Indianapolis," Golden said. "I love it. It's so much more convenient."

But is it fair? Baker said the city has not received major complaints regarding the competition.

"We've actually seen that there is competition in a healthy sense," Baker said. "It's been a healthy competition in the sense that it's been driving the taxi industry to make some upgrades."

Some taxi companies, including Yellow Cab, have launched their own apps, but Gonzalez-Piriz, the Yellow Cab official, said the app came in response to the times, not the competition.

"We're just worried about taking care of our customers, making it (Yellow Cab) easier to use for our customers," he said. "Whether they want to use the phone, whether they want to use Web booking, whether they want to do an app, we just want to offer them that service."

That said, taxi drivers said they have undoubtedly suffered since UberX and Lyft arrived.

"I think it's a time bomb," said Michael Strommen, who drives for Yellow Cab. "It's getting ready to go off."

What bothers Strommen is not the competition itself, he said, but that drivers do not need to pay the same fees or do the inspections that the city requires of cab drivers. Many cab drivers interviewed by the Star expressed similar sentiments.

"A lot of cab drivers are silent," said Olad, the veteran cabbie, but they also are "mad."

Gary Rogers, a AAA Hoosier Cab driver who has been driving for six years, is among them.

"I think Uber and them should be regulated," he said. "As long as they're regulated as taxi drivers, it could be OK."

Olad acknowledges that some drivers have brought some of the problems on themselves, either by bickering too much or not communicating effectively with passengers.

But even for him, a graduate student at IUPUI who is fluent in English, business has declined. He says he no longer sees some of his most loyal customers, people he has driven for years.

And he knows why. They switched to ridesharing.

Call Star reporter Steph Solis at (317) 444-6494. Follow her on Twitter: @stephmsolis.