Transportation network company

A transportation network company (TNC) connects (Sometimes known as Mobility Service Providers or MSPs), via websites and mobile apps, paying passengers with drivers who provide such passengers with transportation on the driver's non-commercial vehicle. TNCs include Gett, Lyft, Cabify, Uber, goCatch, Via, Ola Cabs, GoCar, GO-JEK, Careem, Wingz, Taxify, GrabTaxi, Didi Kuaidi, Easy Taxi, and Fasten. TNCs are examples of the sharing economy.

In 2013, the California Public Utilities Commission defined, for regulation purposes, transportation network company as a company that uses an online-enabled platform to connect passengers with drivers using their personal, non-commercial, vehicles.

Virginia defines a TNC as a company that "provides prearranged rides for compensation using a digital platform that connects passengers with drivers using a personal vehicle."

TNC platforms have sometimes been called "ridesharing", but transportation experts prefer the term "ridesourcing" to clarify that drivers do not share a destination with their passengers. The term "ridesourcing" means the outsourcing of rides.

Taxi industry groups have argued that TNCs are illegal taxicab operations which take away their business. Several communities, governments, and organizations have established rules and regulations that specifically govern TNCs and, in some jurisdictions, TNCs are completely illegal to operate. For information, see Uber protests and legal actions.

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