A few years ago, Mark Frankena told Regulation readers the encouraging story of how ride-for-hire communications companies Uber and Lyft pushed Nashville to liberalize its livery market (“More Economic Freedom in the Music City,” Summer 2014). Thanks to political pressure from the companies and their users, the Nashville Metropolitan Council decided to do away with fare minimums (which were harming Uber’s and Lyft’s business models) and expand the number of permitted taxicabs in the city (liberalizing the taxi market).

We can now add an even more remarkable story of such liberalization, this time from Sarasota, Fla.

Uber began serving the Sarasota area in late 2014 and quickly became very successful. Predictably, cab companies saw their revenues decrease as a result of the new competitor. They responded by lobbying the local government to apply the same regulatory restrictions on Uber-using drivers that are applied to taxicabs, in order to “level the playing field.”

The city responded by drafting an ordinance that would impose regulations on Uber; Uber said if it passed, the firm would be forced to stop providing services to Sarasota. So far, a common story.

But after public outcry, the Sarasota City Council decided last Sept. 8th to remove all regulations on ride-for-hire services, whether taxi or Uber-using drivers. The playing field is now indeed level, and Sarasota should see a substantial increase in the ability of its residents to get around.