Uber gets PUC OK for older cars
Drivers for Uber, the electronic ride-hailing service, will be permitted to use older vehicles, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission ruled Thursday.
Drivers for Uber, the electronic ride-hailing service, will be permitted to use older vehicles, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission ruled Thursday.
Uber drivers will be able to use vehicles that are up to 10 years old, with fewer than 350,000 miles. But they must wait until new PUC regulations are approved by the state Independent Regulatory Review Commission and published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, which could be June.
Lyft, a competing service that also offers rides in private cars, won a similar ruling from the PUC in March.
The new vehicle rules will replace the current standard, which requires that taxis and other for-hire vehicles be no older than eight years.
Uber and Lyft were given authority last year to operate in all of Pennsylvania, except Philadelphia, where the Philadelphia Parking Authority - not the PUC - regulates taxi services. The parking authority has prohibited such ride-share services, but they have continued to operate in Philadelphia in defiance of the ban.
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