That’s a long title.  And to be grammatically correct, it should really say “Should we regulate the Internet like we do the real world or the real world like we do the Internet?” but that felt really long.  Anyway, I digress.

Tomorrow, the taxi committee of Seattle’s City Council is voting on proposed new regulations for ridesharing services.  You can read the full proposal here, and Todd Bishop from GeekWire has a good summary here (updated here).

The gist of the proposed regulations is to treat rideshare vehicles (such as those dispatched by Sidecar, Lyft in the US, and Carpooling.com and BlaBlaCar in Europe) like taxis — imposing a traditional regime of licensing, inspection, limitations and disclosure.  Here are some highlights:

Classify  ”Transportation Network Company” (TNC) vehicles as “for-hire” vehicles (i.e., taxis or liveries)

Limit total number of TNC cars to 300 citywide (across all platforms)

Limit driving hours per-car to 16hrs per week

Drivers must apply for a special permit and pass a special test (in person)

Drivers must take a defensive driving course and pass a test

Vehicle inspections at state-approved facilities

Criminal background checks for drivers

Drivers can only affiliate with a single TNC (e.g., I can only drive for Lyft or Sidecar, not both)

Require the TNC company (platform) to physically locate in Seattle

Insurance requirements

As for the stated goals of the regulations, there are several, but really the main ones are: