Philadelphia

Defiant Lyft Launching in Philadelphia Friday Night

Ride-sharing service Lyft is launching service in Philadelphia on Friday night, despite warnings from parking authority officials that they should not be operating in the city.

The service uses a smartphone app to request rides from drivers participating in the service. The drivers are everyday people who offer rides in their personal car. They are identified with a colorful pink mustache attached to the car's grill.

Lyft will begin offering rides in Philadelphia starting at 6 p.m., a spokeswoman for the service tells NBC10. They announced the service was coming earlier this week.

The Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) said it would be on the lookout for Lyft drivers and citing or even having them arrested for illegally operating. Fines could reach into the thousands of dollars, their car could be impounded and would face up to a year in prison if convicted of operating an illegal taxi service, officials said.

Lyft follows in the footsteps of UberX, which began offering peer-to-peer taxi service in Philly last year. The PPA stopped some of its drivers and fined them, but the service pressed on and is actively advertising for drivers.

Both services have been granted the right to operate in other parts of Pennsylvania through the Public Utility Commission.

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