Chicago is trying to regulate rideshare to be more like taxis. Uber and Lyft may be safe for now but Chicago is threatening fingerprinting drivers while they are threatening to pull out of the city if they do. Uber and Lyft have waged regulatory battles in several high profile locales including New York, Broward County, and neither company is currently operating in Austin due to a recent fingerprinting requirement imposed by the city council. Chicago is the third largest city in the US with close to 3 million people and 90,000 rideshare drivers so this will be a huge loss in revenue to both companies if they do pull out. Chicago is three times bigger than Austin.
If Uber and Lyft pulled out of Chicago, it could be a huge opportunity for new startups such as Juno out of NYC or Fasten in Boston and Austin to expand their territory.
Arro and Curb are two taxi-hailing apps that operate in Chicago. DivvyRide is a company that looks like a rideshare app but they actually require livery plates.
Curb is now an official taxi app for the City of Chicago covering Cook, DuPage, and southern Lake counties. Curb can take you wherever you need to go in Chicago. From Navy Pier to Green Mill, your Curb driver will expertly navigate the city to serve you.
Via is an app that started in NYC as an alternative to transit. They have now expanded to Chicago area (read more here).
