Austin, TX- Austin’s mobility committee decided Wednesday to
renew existing taxicab regulations rather than negotiate new rules that would
include ride sharing services.
Austin’s taxicab regulations were set to expire this year.
Taxicab owners argue that ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft should be
held to the same standards they are. Ride-sharing services disagree, saying
their internal regulations provide enough security. The council decided it
needed more time in order to bring both parties under a standard set of rules
and to see what state lawmakers decide, and so renewed existing laws for just
one year.
“I don’t think it is fair that the ridesharing services don’t
have to go through the same requirements that my drivers do,” said taxicab
owner Brad Ricker, who owns 42 taxicabs argued during Wednesday’s meeting.
“What I am asking for today is parity. Make ridesharing services do the same
thing we do, same vehicle, background check, oversight for the insurance, whole
nine yards.”
Austin resident Joseph Eily argued at Wednesday’s meeting
that Uber’s background checks allowed a Houston man who served 14 years in
prison on drug charges to work for the company.
“Uber’s background checks include county and federal checks,
they regularly check their drivers to make sure that we aren’t putting our
passengers in an unsafe situation,” said Uber driver Phil Van Hoek. Uber’s
website states that their checks are, “often more rigorous than what is
required to become a taxi driver.”
The difference in regulations has caused a need for the city
to reevaluate their taxicab ordinance. The council was able to agree on
renewing existing amendments of the taxicab ordinance for a year as it gives
them time to deliberate before having to commit to a ten-year renewal without
missing any expirations.
The Council will further be deciding on amendments such as
hours on duty, dispatch acceptance, accessible service performance measures, and
deciding the need for additional or specialized taxicab permits in the upcoming
months.
The Council is planning these readings with the knowledge
that the power to control ride sharing services may be taken out of their hands
by the state with the House Bill 2440.
The House Bill 2440 would have ride sharing services become
a state of Texas job opposed to a city one. The bill is being carried by state
Rep. Chris Paddie and was left pending at the House Transportation Committee on
Thursday due to concerns of ride sharing background checks.
“The irony is that the city of Austin does not want the
state to have the power, but the locals of Austin do not want the city to have
the power either,” said Council Member Don Zimmerman. “We want local control, leaving
it up to the people to choose how or if they want to use ride sharing services
opposed to taxi’s.”
“I don’t support additional regulations on ride sharing
services,” said Zimmerman. “Looking at Blockbuster as an example, their
business model was eclipsed by advancement in technology. My concern is that
taxi companies will go in a very similar way if they do not change their
business model.”
“If there has to be a decision, I think that taxi’s should
go in the direction of ride sharing services instead of ride sharing services having
to comply with the regulations that taxi’s have to,” said Zimmerman.
The Mobility Council will take action on proposed ordinance
and amendments on their April 23, 2015 meeting.
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