Uber expected to expand to five more Wisconsin cities today.
Racine, Kenosha, Waukesha, Lake Geneva, and Wisconsin Dells will get the online ride-sharing service — just weeks after statewide standards were approved for Uber and similar companies. Uber’s Wisconsin manager, Adam Dries, says his company wants to be in as many places as possible, and the new state law will make it easy to achieve that.
Traditional taxi services say their new competition does not face as many regulations as they do. Madison Mayor Paul Soglin wanted to regulate the ride-sharing companies in a similar manner as taxis, but the new state law prohibits such local ordinances.
The new law requires ride-sharing firms to buy state licenses, do background checks on their drivers, refuse to discriminate against passengers, and buy liability insurance.
Uber continues to operate in Madison, as well as Milwaukee and Green Bay.
