Miami-Dade commissioners approve UberX, Lyft services

Drivers initially faced $2,000 fine

MIAMI-DADE, Fla. – High-tech car services are one step closer to driving smoother after the Miami-Dade County commission approved services from apps like Uber and Lyft.

Commissioners overwhelming voted Tuesday to move forward to make the services permanently legal, despite the ongoing fight with taxi services.

For weeks now, non-taxi drivers have been using the apps to pick up rides.  Passengers summon them and pay for them with the touch of a finger on their smartphones.

Drivers were previously facing a $2,000 fine for operating illegally. But drivers for Lyft said the company promised to pay their fines if they were ticketed.

With Tuesday's vote, commissioners gave their initial approval to change the law, making it legal for anyone to drive.

But licensed taxi drivers, who can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for the right to drive passengers around, are outraged.

"They're just stealing the fare from the taxi cab," one taxi driver told Local 10's Terrell Forney.