This ought to be interesting.
Months of work redrafting the city’s vehicle-for-hire ordinance wrapped up Tuesday night when the Fort Worth Council approved new rules that require transportation companies only to register with the city.
The approach chosen by Fort Worth avoids more onerous regulations — including requirements for fingerprinting drivers — that proved problematic in other cities. And it gives Uber, Lyft and others the hands-off regulatory environment they had pleaded for in the city.
The City Council long ago began exploring how to cover the fledgling industry with an ordinance, only to realize months into the process that it didn’t want to regulate the transportation companies, saying smartphone app-based ride share companies had changed the business landscape.
Council members opted for free-enterprise and competition despite a last-minute plea from the traditional taxicab companies that wanted the city to continue to regulate their industry. Taxicabs have always been regulated, they said, and that’s what the public expects.
Jack Bewley, president of Yellow Cab, said the proposed ordinance did not ensure safety for the passengers. He warned the council the city could see an influx of one-man cab companies with owners who have criminal backgrounds and can’t get insurance.
“This ordinance is being set up where an individual … can come down here and say I want to start a taxicab company,” Bewley said.
The council voted 8-0 to approve the new ordinance. Councilman Jungus Jordan was absent.
Mayor Pro Tem Sal Espino said the ordinance meets market innovation.
“Council, in articulating its vision for the regulatory framework, decided the best way is the free-market approach. At this point in time, in the evolution of the ride-sharing services and the transportation services, this is just another option. After much debate, after much discussion, we’re ready to move forward.”
Mayor Betsy Price said, “We just must embrace all forms of transportation to avoid gridlock in our city and allow our citizens to get around. Part of our job is to not cause undue burden on businesses or citizens. Unlike other cities that have gotten so hung up in the hot potato politics of this, Fort Worth is going to do it the right way.”
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Under the new ordinance, which takes effect Oct. 1, companies, whether motorized or non-motorized, will pay a $500 operating license fee that’s good for two years. The companies will be required to annually certify that they have done national background checks on their drivers, that their drivers hold valid driver’s licenses and that drivers and vehicles are properly insured.
The ordinance does come with a strict penalty if the company is found not to be in compliance — it will lose their operating license for two years. Passengers can file complaints with the city.
Well, that’s one way to do it. I sent an inquiry to Uber about how Fort Worth’s ordinance differs from those in San Antonio and Dallas, and I was informed that while Uber’s screening process is the only mandatory background check for those cities, San Antonio offers drivers an opportunity to voluntarily undergo a fingerprint background check, and drivers in Dallas are required to obtain a City permit. The only additional step drivers are required to complete to obtain that permit is undergoing an additional vehicle inspection.
It will be interesting to see what the response is when the inevitable problems arise. Bad apples will always slip through, as they have done in the pre-Uber days, and some of them will turn out to be the kind of person you’d really want to be the kind of person to be identified by a background check as a bad risk. It’s Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Johnson and the members of their City Council who would face any consequences from this. It could easily be overblown by sensationalist news coverage, but if something bad does happen, it could really blow up. Just something to keep an eye on, and to keep in mind as the legislative session approaches.
Not addressed by this story is the question of access to rides for people with disabilities. One of the reasons why cab companies have been regulated the way they are is because they have a mandate to provide service for residents who can’t get themselves around town. How will that work under this structure? In Houston, Uber agreed to provide a certain number of vehicles that can accommodate people with disabilities, and in their more recent threat to leave they stated that accommodations for the disabled could be achieved under a regulatory scheme that was more to their liking (scroll to the bottom). In some cities, this UberACCESS service has partnered with transit agencies as well. What responsibilities do rideshare and traditional cab companies have in this new environment? There’s already litigation over the issue of disabled Texans being denied service by rideshare companies. I’m sure they’ll be watching what happens in Fort Worth with great interest.
All that said, this could work out fine. It may be that the issue of access for disabled folks will continue to be addressed in a way that is acceptable to all, and it may be that the number of problems with drivers of questionable backgrounds is vanishingly small. This will certainly provide fodder for that debate. It’s not the approach I would take, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. We’ll just have to see how it goes. The Chron has more.