Ridesharing would benefit community

By Nicola DiPalma, Las Vegas

Wednesday, March 25, 2015 | 2 a.m.

Sixteen years ago, my father brought my family and I here from Providence, R.I., with faith that he could find better opportunities for us and the practice of his profession. Since then, we’ve witnessed the city of Las Vegas become a vibrant hub for entertainment, tech, and a variety of social and cultural movements. I love that, and I hope businesses and community leaders continue to incubate these features so our great city can continue moving forward.

As a member of Switch’s InNEVation center and many developer groups, it baffles me that an entire state is willing to deprive itself of an efficient means of doing business when droves of people welcome it elsewhere. As both a student and employee of UNLV, I find myself reliant on the city’s public transit system. Use of taxi services is out of the question as I tire of wait times and the expense associated with commuting between the university and my family’s home on the western edge of the city. There has to be a better way to do this.

I urge our state lawmakers to consider legislation that allows ridesharing technology to operate here in Nevada. It would make more of our community easily accessible to those without vehicles of their own and create another safe, reliable transportation option for our community.