Within days of the departure of Uber and Lyft there were competing services that operated just fine under the new regulations.
Good point, I always forget to mention those. While not without their own technical issues, I think RideATX (I forget what the other competing service that sprung up during that legislative frackas was named-was it Fasten that you mentioned?) had a lot going for it with real promise as a model cities could follow during the months Austin went without the two big names in ridesharing.
They had great customer service, too. I loved that app and was pretty sad when it closed down. They apparently paid better than Uber/Lyft, too, but I've never been able to confirm this; it's just what I heard from drivers whenever I asked.
Good point, I always forget to mention those. While not without their own technical issues, I think RideATX (I forget what the other competing service that sprung up during that legislative frackas was named-was it Fasten that you mentioned?) had a lot going for it with real promise as a model cities could follow during the months Austin went without the two big names in ridesharing.
The story is even more baffling when you consider the story of HeyRide, who launched in Austin before Uber and Lyft even showed up (http://austin.culturemap.com/news/innovation/11-01-12-15-51-...)