A second ride-sharing company is hoping to set up shop in Montana. Officials with Lyft Inc. will testify before state regulators Monday, trying to prove they’re ready to join Uber in a Montana’s mobile app ride-hailing industry.
Lyft’s application comes a year and a half after the state’s Public Service Commission regulators approved Uber to operate in Montana.
The 2015 legislature approved a bill paving the way for ride-sharing companies in the state.
Chris Puyear with the PSC says that legislation stripped away authorities of how regulators could look at ride-sharing companies’ applications to enter the state.
“Before that bill, it was the purview of the Public Service Commission, it was up to us, it was up to the commission to decide whether or not a new motor carrier was needed in an area. The commission’s role in this instance is simply limited to determine whether or not an operator is fit to conduct business.”
In order to be fit to conduct business, Lyft must show it meets minimum requirements of insurance, bonding, and general security.
An owner of a taxi business in Livingston is expected to protest Lyft’s application, according the PSC’s Chris Puyear.
When Uber applied to operate in Montana, it was originally opposed by members of the state’s existing taxicab industry, but that opposition was eventually withdrawn.
Lyft will testify to the PSC on Monday at 9:00 a.m.