DEVELOPING RIDESHARING LAW: A FIRST STEP TO PRIVATIZING TRANSPORTATION

During the last five years, interest in ridesharing, especially vanpooling, has been rapidly growing. Before an organization decides to become involved in a ridesharing program, they usually ask their legal staff for an opinion on the liability, tax, insurance, wage and hour standards, and other consequences. It is then that they realize that ridesharing is a legal nonentity, so the law that applies to the pool is the law that developed for other purposes. The crucial legal test is whose name is on the vehicle title. This article examines a hypothetical vanpool with 12 passengers that is ready to start operation. The vehicle has been selected, the routes and fares have been determined, passengers and driver identified, and vanpool rules established. The only thing necessary is to decide whose name should be placed on the title of the new van. The vanpool group approaches the employer, the local transit authority, and two lease firms, considers incorporation, and asks the driver to accept title to the vehicle. In each case a totally different body of law applies, which ranges from lease law to common carrier law to labor law. Five legislative areas are suggested that need to be addressed before a body of ridesharing law is established. The development of ridesharing law would not only benefit ridesharing but would also be the beginning of privatizing public transportation for human service agencies.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1982/876/876-002.pdf
• Summary URL:
  • https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=DEVELOPING+RIDESHARING+LAW%3A+A+FIRST+STEP+TO+PRIVATIZING+TRANSPORTATION&author=F.+Davis&author=D.+Burkhalter&author=S.+Lemay&publication_year=1982
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• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Paratransit. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

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  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Davis Jr, Frank W
  • Burkhalter II, David A
  • LeMay, Stephen A
• Conference:
  • 61st Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1982-1-18 to 1982-1-22
• Publication Date: 1982

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Pagination: pp 9-17
• Monograph Title: RIDESHARING 1981
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 876
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Employers; Legal factors; Legislation; Ownership; Ridesharing; Vanpools
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00371950
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309034639
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-035 127
• Files: HSL, TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Apr 29 1983 12:00AM