Victor Crist fires back at Uber

After delivering what the Tampa Bay Times‘ Caitlin Johnston described as a “rant” at Wednesday’s Hillsborough Board of County Commission, Victor Crist isn’t finished getting the last word in when it comes to the county’s battle with Uber. That’s the more recalcitrant of the two ridesharing companies that have been operating out of compliance with the county’s Public Transportation Commission (PTC) for the past 18 months.

“To date, the problem has been that Uber has refused to meet with the PTC to work out solutions,” Crist said in a prepared statement issued late Thursday. “Their claims of the PTC’s unwillingness to work with them are false. There has been no effort on their part what so ever to address our concerns or work out a solution. It has only been their way or no way.”

Crist, chairman of the PTC, said he’s working on a plan that he thinks can allow Uber and Lyft to operate within the laws of the agency, whose future could be imperiled next year if state Sen. Jeff Brandes gets his way.

Brandes is a known critic of the PTC, and says he will introduce legislation next year that could take the power to regulate the ridesharing companies out of the hands of the PTC.

Crist asked for an economic study on what it would cost for the county government to absorb the costs of regulating all for-hire vehicles in the county if the PTC were to go away, and also continued to criticize Uber for not playing ball when it came to working with the county.

That led Uber spokesman Bill Gibbons to blast the PTC for waging “an aggressive, publicly funded intimidation and harassment campaign against the hard-working driver-partners that are providing a valuable service to their community.”

He went on to say, “Time and again, our attempts to work in good faith with the PTC on sensible, modern regulations have been met with renewed hostility and redoubled efforts by the PTC to eliminate ridesharing in the area.”

But in his statement, Crist fired back, saying that the PTC is not asking ridesharing companies to do anything more than what they have already agreed to do in other markets where they now operate legally. “These requirements are no different than the safety requirements that publicly utilized planes, trains and buses already follow under what is considered best practices,” he writes.

This is what Crist said he wants to see happen:

1. That each vehicle be inspected annually by a licensed mechanic of their choice to ensure all safety and pollution devices are functioning properly.
2. That the driver successfully pass a standard level 2 background check that’s more thorough and less vulnerable to fraud. Such a background check is similar to that already required of operators of commercial transportation vehicles.
3. That each driver must possess automobile liability and personal injury insurance that covers the passenger, pedestrians and vehicle during its business use. The current general umbrella liability policies these companies utilize are not licensed to do business in Florida.
4. That accommodations be provided for ADA accessibility when called upon to do so. That can be easily be provided by subcontracting such services to a second-party vendor.