The new ordinance is being met with stiff opposition from traditional taxi companies who say that proposed “self-monitoring” provisions would threaten public safety by allowing businesses to do their own driver background checks.
Other points of contention in the new ordinance include vehicle inspections, so-called “surge pricing” during periods of high demand, whether drivers for hire should be required to have a Vermont license and how the city will enforce the ordinance.
Uber, which uses an online app to connect drivers and riders, operated in violation of the city’s ordinance for months, despite a letter from City Attorney Eileen Blackwood saying the company could be subject to enforcement action.
From the outset, Mayor Miro Weinberger said he wanted to find a way to allow Uber to operate in Burlington in order to increase residents’ transportation options and reduce congestion. Over the summer, the City Council approved an interim operating agreement that allowed Uber drivers to stay on the road.
Under the proposed ordinance, drivers who accept street hails, or people flagging them down, will have to adhere to the existing metered fare schedule, but those who don’t, like Uber, will be able to use their own pricing mechanism.
Concerns about safety were echoed Thursday night by City Council President Jane Knodell, P-Central District, at a third and final public forum on the ordinance.
“I still think that the city should conduct all the background checks. That’s the only way you know it’s being done right for every driver,” she told Blackwood, whose office is crafting the ordinance.
Reporting by Seven Days suggests that Uber may have more stringent background check policies than the city, because an appeals process allows city drivers with a criminal history to go before a taxi licensing board to make their case for a license.
Passenger safety concerns were ignited in May when police arrested an Uber driver, who held a city taxi license, on sexual assault charges. Police allege that Omar Nassir, 23, exposed himself to a female passenger and requested sexual acts. Nassir pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and lewd and lascivious conduct.
Jeff Munger, who sits on the taxi license board, was perturbed by the language of a provision allowing the city to randomly audit background checks, because it said those checks will be conducted “in a manner agreeable to both parties.” Munger said that would leave the city in a weakened position if Uber or another business didn’t find the check agreeable.
City Councilor Adam Roof, I-Ward 8, questioned a provision requiring that drivers for hire have a Vermont license, saying that could limit temporary residents, such as students or contract workers, from making money on the side by driving for a car service.
His colleague, Max Tracy, P-Ward 2, raised concerns over dynamic or “surge” pricing, questioning how Uber or the city would enforce proposed rules that prevent the practice during inclement weather, power outages, strikes, military action, war or other emergencies.
Lobbyist Chris Rice, with the firm MMR which is representing Uber, said he would follow up with information about how Uber’s surge pricing is controlled at the local level. He said during peak hours when surge pricing is in effect, Uber puts more drivers on the road to meet demand.
Munger, Roof, Tracy and others are worried about how the city would enforce the new law. Currently, violations are uncovered mostly though customer complaints. Munger urged city officials to consider deploying “ghost riders” to take vehicles for hire and to see if the new law is being followed.
Roof said that with the decreased workload for city employees who will no longer have to conduct background checks for every driver, there should be capacity to look at new enforcement tools.
Blackwood said she will discuss the options with Weinberger, who has shown tepid support for putting more resources into enforcement.
Green Cab owner Charles Herrick told reporters he is frustrated with the ordinance and he’s not just concerned about his own business but the industry as a whole. The city is on a path to “deregulation” of the driver-for-hire business that will undermine safety and service, he said.
The city will revise the draft ordinance based on feedback from the public forums, and present a new version to the Ordinance Committee at its next meeting Oct. 21. The committee could vote then to bring it before the full council, or request further changes.
