Florida City Approves Ridesharing, Taxi Rules

Gainesville, Fla., has passed new rules for private car-sharing companies like Uber to operate in the city.

The City Commission passed regulations that apply to both taxis and companies like Uber.

Mayor Ed Braddy told The Gainesville Sun that the move was not meant to accommodate Uber but to create a standard code that applies to taxis and Uber equally.

Uber employs drivers who use their own cars to transport customers and is already in more than 300 cities worldwide. The new rules allow Uber to authorize its own drivers, rather than requiring the city to do so.

Gainesville has launched a pilot program to bring Uber to a limited number of senior residents for six months. The goal is to expand it to the entire senior community.