The first in a series of three public discussions being held by a Burlington City Council committee to revise the city’s vehicle-for-hire ordinance will be held Wednesday.
The council’s ordinance committee will consider ways to allow the ride-share service Uber to permanently operate in the city. Since July 13, Uber has been allowed to operate under an interim operating agreement. The operating agreement will become permanent once the city’s vehicle-for-hire ordinance is updated to include provisions for Uber and similar companies, like Lyft.
The first public work session to discuss how such changes to the ordinance should be made is Aug. 5 at the Contois Auditorium in City Hall. The session will include opening remarks from Mayor Miro Weinberger, a public comment section and a discussion of what steps should be taken next.
Lori Olberg, administrative assistant in the Burlington Clerk and Treasurer’s Office, said that the revisions are needed to adapt public transportation rules to new technology and services.
In October, Uber was issued a letter from Eileen Blackwood, Burlington city attorney, that it was illegal for it to operate in Burlington as the city’s ordinance currently stands. The interim agreement was reached nine months later and approved by the City Council at its June 29 meeting.
Laura Shen, operations manager of Uber New England, said in a July 10 statement that the interim agreement recognized Uber’s “innovative business model.”
At the June 29 meeting, the city council gave the ordinance committee a November deadline to report back to the council on the changes they recommend to the ordinance.
