Mitch Perry
Aiming for a different course after battling two rideshare companies for nearly a year and a half, the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission voted Wednesday to propose new regulations it hopes a local legislator can push through Tallahassee next year.
As a “good faith effort” showing it’s trying to work with the industry, the board also voted to stop citing Uber and Lyft drivers for operating illicitly until a court hearing at the end of October.
The vote to stop citing the drivers was proposed by County Commissioner Al Higginbotham. It passed on a 3-1 vote, with board member and Tampa City Council member Frank Reddick dissenting. Reddick questioned whether the agency can find a suitable lawmaker to sponsor the bill.
After the meeting, PTC Chairman Victor Crist said he’s already identified a someone, though he wouldn’t identify the lawmaker. The Tampa Tribune reports that Crist thinks Plant City House Republican Dan Raulerson would carry the legislation.
The vote came as dozens of Uber drivers packed County Center’s chambers, alarmed by an email from Uber issued the day before. The email urged them to “tell the PTC to stop their campaign against modern ridesharing technology and support sensible regulations.”
In August, the PTC voted to continue having its officers issue cite Uber and Lyft drivers despite a court ruling that rejected its request to stop Uber from operating in Hillsborough County. The board has been citing the companies for refusing to agree to perform background checks and insurance policies of a level it requires of taxicab and limousine drivers.
That decision alienated several officials, including Senate Transportation Chairman Jeff Brandes, a St. Petersburg Republican. He has said he intends to push for dissolution of the agency, created by the Legislature in the 1970s.
The bill proposal PTC OK’d Wednesday would pose these requirements:
- Each driver must undergo Level 2 background checks already required of most public transportation vehicles.
- Each driver must have personal and liability insurance that covers the passenger, pedestrian and vehicle during its business use.
- The legislation requires accommodations be provided for Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Each vehicle must have annual safety inspections.
However, Seth Mills, a local lawyer representing taxicab companies, said that he wants cab companies to be listed as transportation network companies (TNC) if they choose to do so.
Speaker after speaker asked the PTC to not penalize Uber (Lyft drivers didn’t appear to be present). Greg Morgan, a commercial real estate agent, said he has been driving for Uber for the past four weeks, and called it “an incredible experience.” Looking out at the audience of Uber drivers, he rhapsodized that, “I love seeing your faces. I’ve never see you before.”
Bayshore Boulevard resident George Hamilton blasted taxicabs, and said Tampa would embarrass itself if it bans the rideshare company from Hillsborough County. “I’m old enough to remember when we called this ‘America’s next Great City,'” Hamilton said. “Try to remember that. You don’t want Tampa to have a reputation that is an area that killed Uber.”
Uber and Lyft work in cities such as New York, Houston and Austin, but have fought regulators in other parts of the country. PTC Executive Director Kyle Cockream pushed back on Lyft and Uber assertions they have fully complied with the agency. As an example, he said the PTC has records on every driver licensed to operate a vehicle for hire in the county, but cannot get that information from the rideshare companies.
“Fox-13 came to me and asked me for a copy of all the taxicab drivers names and a summary of their background,” he said. “I had to provide that to them by law. She made the same request of Uber and of Lyft. She got nothing.”
The PTC’s actions come less than 24 hours after the Sarasota City Commission voted to deregulate rideshare companies and taxicab companies, something that Crist said during the meeting wouldn’t be happening in Hillsborough.
“This is not Sarasota,” he declared early on. “We have a different structure here” in which some cab companies have paid $50,000 for medallions to operate taxis in the county.
One comment
LAURIE HICKS
September 9, 2015 at 3:59 pm
What is the sudden babble of a resident that lives on a street in tampa? how is blasting cabs(?) (how) have to do with Tampa being a great City (it is, regardless of babble) and for pushing Uber out ? (what) (?) What was the point (blast) of taxi, and the (push) of Uber have to do with anything great about Tampa? terrible para.
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