Ridesharing and other services compliment transit services. For example MARC Potomac (Martinsburg WV-Washington DC) Commuter Rail for a good portion of its line does not go thru any densly populated areas and runs thru a National Park. Parking lots are full up and Uber Ride could work on the first and last mile portion of these trips. Metro North Hudson Line also has the same problem of the poplation center is 4-14 miles away from ther main line. Most Commuter Train Trips are Car-Train-Walk or local subway if there is one. Then You have growth in places up from the line like Germantown which has poor transit connections and jobs are in office parks miles away from transit. Taking the train would make sence if you can somehow bridge the last mile and Uber may be the way to go without being raked over the coals by Taxi Cab fares.
What does this have to do with railroading?
We have eSurance (now part of Allstate). This company has, as far as I know since it was started, had an ironclad policy about 'no business use of vehicles it insures." Using such a vehicle for a car service, and being paid for that service, will qualify as a 'business use', and I would not expect any accidents or damages occurring during that use would be covered. I suspect most other companies have similar provisions for auto insurance -- and a different set of terms and conditions for business users.
That is not to say (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) that your insurance policy will be cancelled if you are detected as registering for one of the Uber/Lift companies. But yes, I'd expect the insurance company to check that if you have a declared accident, and cross-reference log information with the reported accident time and location.
(Now can we go back to plain old railroading, devoid of social commentary, unarmed black youths, and all the other extraneous stuff that has floated under the bridge recently? It's not good form to keep up the April Fool's action more than a day into the month...)
https://www.thezebra.com/insurance-news/720/ridesharing-and-car-insurance/
Car Pooling untill the advent of Uber was run by the NFTA/CDTA and NYDOT around here and they assumed liability now with for profit services getting online what does happen to your insurance if you rideshare or pick up a E-Hitchiker via Lft or Uber?
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