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Comment by tswartz | Hacker News Reader

So if it is illegal to charge people individually to carpool, how do the airport shuttle vans operate? [serious question]. They charge everyone separately and everyone rides together.

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Airport shuttle vans typically operate under a passenger stage corporation permit and charge a flat-rate fee per-person for transport. Charter-party carriers (which is what Uber/Lyft/etc currently operate as in CA) charge based on mileage or time and are prohibited from individual charges for multi-person rides (with a bunch of exceptions, like if they're in Lake Tahoe or if they're going to or from a hot air balloon).

Why the exception for Lake Tahoe?

My assumption would be local ski bus operation? No idea if that's the actual justification though. Also, looks like I was wrong about the hot air balloons -- it's only back from the balloon landing, not to the balloon: http://leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=puc&group=...

>if they're going to or from a hot air balloon

Seems legit...

> flat-rate fee per-person for transport

That was not the case. I remember paying a different amount than the person I was sitting next to, because we were travelling different distances.

True. It's a flat rate for a given town or neighborhood. You won't be charged for traffic delays as you would in a cab however nor can the driver charge you more if he needs to detour around road construction or some other issue.

The rate is the same for everyone in a given "zone" regardless of the specific route the driver must take.

Presumably, the shuttle services have different permits, the statement "If the companies would like to add a carpool feature, they first have to request an adjustment to their existing permits with the CPUC" would seem to hint that its possible to have that permit, uber and lyft just haven't successfully applied for one yet.

Not sure, but from the article: "If the companies would like to add a carpool feature, they first have to request an adjustment to their existing permits with the CPUC or petition the state legislature to modify the law."

Presumably, the airport shuttle vans have a different type of permit than the ones Uber et al have. Seems more like a temporary paperwork issue than a genuine showstopper.

Presumably they are classified as buses, and not taxis.

Flat rate charge.

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