Bureaucrats in the 10-campus University of California system have outlawed peer-to-peer services such as Uber, Lyft and Airbnb for all employees when they travel on official business.
The ban came down from the public university system’s Office of Risk Services.
A spokeswoman for the education behemoth blamed “insurance concerns” for the ban, reports Inside Higher Ed.
A “Dear Colleagues” letter instructed employees that “third party lodging and transportation services” “should not be used because of concerns that these services are not fully regulated and do not protect users to the same extent as a commercially regulated business,” according to The Washington Post.
“As the market matures and these businesses evolve, the University may reconsider whether reimbursement of travel costs provided by peer-to-peer or sharing businesses will be allowed,” the missive added.
The University of California system employs some 19,000 professors and 189,000 staff members — a ratio close to 10:1.
It’s probably just as well that employees in the University of California system don’t have new and exciting travel options. If history is any guide, they’d figure out a way to run up outrageous tabs on the taxpayer dime.
Last summer, the Center for Investigative Reporting demonstrated that UCLA Chancellor Gene Block and 17 various deans who oversee the state-funded school wasted approximately $2 million on travel and entertainment from 2008 to 2012. (RELATED: UCLA Deans Travel Like Rock Stars As Tuition Soars Out Of Middle-Class Reach)
The most flagrant abuses came in profligate spending on first- and business-class airfare.
Astonishingly, six of 17 academic deans at UCLA managed to produce doctor’s notes swearing that they were stricken with medical conditions that somehow prevent them from sitting with the hoi polloi in economy class.
Follow Eric on Twitter and on Facebook, and send education-related story tips to erico@dailycaller.com.
