Transportation services are a hot topic dominating the news today. With the introduction and proliferation of services like Zipcar, Uber, Sidecar, and car2go, the average city dweller has enjoyed the benefits of a more robust urban transportation infrastructure. But not all reactions have been positive. The dispute began in 2010, a year after Uber's founding, when the company received cease-and-desist letters from the San Francisco Metro Transit Authority, stating that Uber was operating as a car dispatch service without a license. At that time, Uber established itself as an innovative company capitalizing on supply and demand. Uber claimed that it was not actually a car service, but rather a mere intermediary between driver and passenger that was not subject to any applicable regulations. Municipalities don't have a standard answer for how to approach the new service, and some are still considering how to respond. Today, there is no single standard for regulation, but why is this surprising? The concept of peer-to-peer carpooling is not new. In fact, much of the backlash against Uber, Lyft, Gett, and Sidecar is actually a familiar tune. Some are hiding behind the same arguments that have been around for over 100 years. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the Original EssayA Brief History of Technology in TransportationHenry Ford had a very good idea when he introduced the first Model T in 1908 : make the automobile sector more active, efficient and personal transport more accessible with a cheaper car. Little did he know that he would pave the way for the shared transportation economy in 2014. In fact, everything changed just six years later with the introduction of the jitney concept. At the time, electric trams were the main source of public transportation in crowded areas. cities. Streetcars ran up and down a busy street on a fixed route, but they became so popular that the lines went down the street and around the block. On July 1, 1914, a guy in a Model T stopped at the streetcar line and offered to drive people to their destination for a nickel, the same price as the streetcar. People got excited and more and more drivers began to do the same, providing a faster, more direct route since automobiles could travel on side streets while streetcars could not. This is how the peer-to-peer jitney service was born. Uber, Lyft, Sidecar and Gett use many of the same principles as the jitney providers of the early 20th century: identify flaws in the system and use modern technology – in today's context. case, smartphone technology – to bring rider and driver closer together more effectively. This is a classic case of supply and demand, which any entrepreneur can understand. When Jitneys were introduced, they spread like wildfire due to demand among the young urban professionals of 1914. Sound familiar? The large private companies operating the tram, however, have seen their ridership begin to decline. They used their networks and deep pockets to claim that jitneys were unsafe and not good for the city. Since jitney drivers did not pay to enter the city, city officials sided with the streetcar owners and crushed the innovative transportation system. By leveling the playing field for anyone who follows all the news..