Ridesharing company
Online vehicle for hire service / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Ridesharing companies?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
A ridesharing company, ride-hailing service, (the vehicles are called app-taxis or e-taxis) is a company that, via websites and mobile apps, matches passengers with drivers of vehicles for hire that, unlike taxis, cannot legally be hailed from the street.
Ridesharing companies were founded after the proliferation of the Internet and mobile apps:[1] Uber was founded in 2009,[2][3] Ola Cabs was founded in 2010, Yandex Taxi was launched in 2011,[4] Sidecar was launched in 2011,[5] Lyft was launched in 2012,[6] DiDi was launched in 2012,[7] Careem began operations in 2012,[8] Bolt was founded in 2013,[9] and Free Now was founded in 2019.[10] In the 2020s, a few companies began offering rides in self-driving taxis.
The legality of ridesharing companies by jurisdiction varies; in some areas they are considered to be illegal taxi operations, while in other areas, they are subject to regulations that can include requirements for driver background checks, fares, caps on the number of drivers in an area, insurance, licensing, and minimum wage.
Studies have shown that ridesharing companies have created net jobs[11] and improved the efficiency of drivers of vehicles for hire due to advanced algorithms that pair riders with drivers.[12] They have been subject to perennial criticism for seeking to classify drivers as independent contractors, enabling them to withhold worker protections that they would have been required to provide to employees.[13][14] Studies have shown that especially in cities where it competes with public transport, ridesharing contributes to traffic congestion, reduces public transport use, has no substantial impact on vehicle ownership, and increases automobile dependency.[15][16][17]