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The popular ridesharing service Uber X could soon be available in Lancaster County.

The service won an experimental license Thursday to arrange private rides in Lancaster County and throughout much of Pennsylvania, a victory that came with a warning “to abandon its anarchist ways” and comply with state regulators.

Innovation and safety concerns

The state’s Public Utility Commission said the taxi industry needed innovation, but it called Uber X’s two-year license a “last chance” for the company — which once defied an agency cease-and-desist order — to cooperate.

“Innovation alone is no excuse for ignoring the law, any more than a new and innovative way to rob banks should be encouraged and condoned,” said PUC board member John H. Cawley, who reluctantly voted yes.

John F. Coleman Jr., the commission’s vice chairman, dissented.

“Specifically, I am gravely concerned that the safety of the drivers, passengers and other members of the public will be unnecessarily compromised under the applicant’s current business model,” he said.

How Uber works

Riders use Uber’s smartphone app to seek out independent drivers using their own cars. Uber does not own the vehicles or employ the drivers but instead “partners” with them and takes 20 percent of their earnings.

The commission’s 4-1 vote will allow the service to provide cars across much of the state, but not in Philadelphia, where the city’s oft-feared parking authority regulates taxis.

The experimental license would allow Uber to operate in Lancaster County, said utility commission spokeswoman Jennifer Kocher.

“They would be licensed to operate in Lancaster once they have their business model ready there,” she told LNP.

Business model

Just because they are able to open for business here, however, doesn’t mean they will. The area is served by at least three taxi companies: Lancaster City Cabs, Lancaster County Taxi Service and Yellow Cab, the largest.

“That would be a business decision Uber would make,” Kocher said.

Local impact

Jack Schwartz, the co-owner of Lancaster-based Yellow Cab, said he was disappointed in the commission’s vote. He said the move allows into the marketplace a network of drivers who may not have commercial insurance and may not be as interested in the upkeep of their vehicles.

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“I wouldn’t let my daughter ride in an Uber car,” Schwartz said.

“We are regulated by the PUC — our fares, our insurance requirements, background checks on drivers ... They’re very strict. They come check our vehicles twice a year. The tires. The brakes. The shocks. The cleanliness of the vehicle.”

Schwartz said he was surprised by the commission’s approval of Uber given the service’s wide range of fares.

“They don’t have any set rate. On holidays we can’t raise our rates,” he said. “They do.”

What critics say

Critics like Schwartz across the country have complained that Uber is skirting safety, insurance, pricing and other regulations. Uber defends itself, however, by saying the regulations are outdated.

“The rules and regulations out there, they were built decades ago,” Uber X spokesman Taylor Bennett told The Associated Press. “We’ve been trying to craft new regulations that actually apply to this business model, that welcome more choice into the city, and give people opportunities to start their own companies.”

Fight in Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Parking Authority has been sparring with Uber X drivers, impounding cars and issuing $1,000 fines. The agency considers them unlicensed cabbies because they do not have taxi medallions, which can run as much as a half-million dollars.

Uber has muscled its way onto taxicabs’ turf across the country, sparking similar controversies in Las Vegas, Chicago and Miami as regulators try to decide how, or if, the company should operate. The taxi industry, meanwhile, has fought back to try to protect its drivers’ livelihoods.

About Uber

The company started about four years ago in San Francisco and now operates in 230 cities worldwide. In Nevada, Uber X has faced fierce opposition from the state’s huge taxi industry, and some cars were impounded in state stings. A judge last month, though, refused the state attorney general’s attempt to shut down the service.

What the PUC vote means

The Pennsylvania license covers everywhere but Philadelphia and a few counties excluded from Uber’s application: Beaver, Clinton, Columbia, Crawford, Lawrence, Lycoming, Mercer, Northumberland and Union.

Bennett said the company hopes to work with Pennsylvania lawmakers and regulators “to get the details right” and continue to offer ridesharing.

The Uber X service started in Philadelphia in recent weeks despite failed talks to win approval from Fenerty’s agency. Uber has been paying the drivers’ fines, Bennett said.

“Uber has no license to be here. They’re operating as hack cabs,” parking authority director Vincent Fenerty said Wednesday. “If the Legislature changed the law, where people could rideshare, and set the proper guidelines ... the PPA would abide by (that).”

The cheaper Uber X service is a recent addition to the company’s array of services. “Uber Black” and “Uber SUV” drivers have been operating legally with limousine licenses for about two years in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and elsewhere.

“Let me put it in plain English, Uber,” Cawley said. “This is your last chance with this commission ... to abandon its anarchist ways and to finally become a responsible, lawful corporate citizen.”