The Rideshare Guy has a really interesting story on how weakening public support for Uber and Lyft is causing them to lose legal battles:

In the past, these companies were able to argue for more self-regulation and cite inefficiencies in the cab system as an example of why it should happen. The result being that they could effectively ram any legislation to support their cause that they wanted to.

However, the last year has been blanketed with news of incidents occurring within rideshare vehicles. Lots of reports have fluttered in showing passengers and drivers as victims of assault and other crimes. There has typically been a slow or lackluster response from Uber support, so there is more support for safety now.

As prices have fallen, quality has suffered and many would argue that safety has as well. I think that Uber and Lyft were counting on an easy win from voters who wanted to use their service but found out that rideshare companies simply do not have the same goodwill and public support that they had in the past, especially when it comes to the idea of “Self Regulation”. Typically, start-ups are given a lot more leeway to break things and go against regulations, but Uber is a billion dollar brand and now it just makes them look like a bully.

To read the whole story, visit the Rideshare Guy’s blog here.