Since the Uber and Lyft ride-sharing apps stopped service in Austin, drunk driving has increased, riders are hunting for alternatives, and the police are conducting undercover sting operations against unauthorized ride-sharing drivers. With Chicago also considering new restrictions on ride-sharing apps, Slashdot reader MarkWhittington shares this report from Austin: With thousands of drivers and tens of thousands of riders who once depended on ride-sharing services in a lurch, a group called Arcade City has tried to fill the void with a person-to-person site to link up drivers and riders who then negotiate a fare. Of course, according to a story on KVUE, the Austin city government, and the police are on the case. The Austin Police Department has diverted detectives and resources to conduct sting operations on ride-sharing drivers who attempt to operate without official sanction. Undercover operatives will arrange for a ride with an Arcade City driver and then bust them, impounding their vehicle and imposing a fine. “The first Friday and Saturday after Uber was gone, we were joking that it was like the zombie apocalypse of drunk people, ” one former ride-sharing driver told Vocative.com. Earlier this month the site compared this year’s drunk driving arrests to last years — and discovered that in the three weeks since Uber and Lyft left Austin, 7.5% more people have been arrested for drunk driving. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Austin Is Conducting Sting Operations Against Ride-Sharing Drivers
