My baseless assumption always has been that it is for two reasons: * It's one of those situations where the free market fails. Because anyone with a car can gi

My baseless assumption always has been that it is for two reasons: * It's one of those situations where the free market fails. Because anyone with a car can give someone a ride, it creates a race to the bottom and nobody can make money. You'll note that one criticism of Uber is that they create exactly that situation. * Safety and fraud prevention for customers Note that the community has an interest in quality transportation, including for tourists.