A.G. Gancarski
In welcome news for media tasked with covering the Jacksonville City Council’s Vehicles for Hire committee, it appears that special panel may be nearing its end.
Rules Committee chair Matt Schellenberg, who also chairs Vehicles for Hire, noted in the Rules agenda meeting Tuesday afternoon that Vehicles for Hire hadn’t been making the progress he’d hoped for, and he was inclined to move the long-standing bills related to Uber and Lyft into standing committees.
Two bills going back to 2014 regarding vehicles for hire are still listed as “in committee.” On the Rules agenda is 2015-127, a bill introduced by Schellenberg, which is in a perpetual state of deferral.
One committee member, John Crescimbeni, delighted local public radio listeners with his call for an Austin-style voter referendum on ridesharing companies recently.
In Austin, the referendum failed, and Transportation Network Companies (TNC) like Uber and Lyft don’t operate in the Texas capital.
Crescimbeni, who has gotten electoral support from the city’s powerful and vocal taxicab industry, has frequently locked horns with Schellenberg regarding cabs and ridesharing vehicles operating on a “level playing field.”
If and when TNC legislation returns to standing council committees, expect the arguments and the lobbyists that have enlivened the special committee to follow closely.
Sticking points have included background checks, insurance requirements, medallions, and inspections for the vehicles, with ridesharing vehicles not satisfying the more stringent and codified requirements followed by the established taxicab industry.
