Just when you thought it was all over…
With Transportation Network Company (TNC) tension looming from Austin and Houston, the City of San Antonio is preparing its push to renegotiate with ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft. And one of the officials taking the lead on the talks believes they’ll be a model for other municipalities to follow.
“It’s important that we move forward and set the example. And I think we’re about to for the entire state and possibly the entire country,” said City Councilman Roberto Treviño at a meeting of the City Council Governance Committee. Treviño has spearheaded much of the City’s negotiations with TNCs.
Lyft and Uber left San Antonio in March 2015, after City Council mandated that drivers undergo fingerprint background checks. After a spring and summer without the services, a 9-month pilot compromise was struck to bring them back: The checks were made voluntary, with the City footing the bill for those who wished to undergo them. If a driver submitted to a fingerprint background check, they’d receive a special designation on the app’s screen.
The deal was portrayed as a win for consumer choice and TNCs alike. But few drivers have undergone the voluntary checks. There’s also no way to specifically hail a driver with a fingerprint background check, so passengers who want one must repeatedly hail a ride, then cancel it until they’re picked up by a fingerprinted driver.
Councilman Joe Krier said he hadn’t heard of “a single … bad experience with Uber or Lyft” from constituents. But Councilman Mike Gallagher expressed concerns over if citizens understood how to identify whether a driver has passed the fingerprint check.
“I almost wonder if we need to strengthen the ordinance with something that says ‘Caution: Driver has not passed fingerprint background check,'” Gallagher said.
See here for the background. If you live in San Antonio, there are a couple of public meetings scheduled to discuss this; see the link at the top for more details. One such meeting has already happened, and there’s also an online survey you can participate in. The operating agreements with Uber, Lyft, and GetMe expire in the next few months, with the GetMe one the lasting until October, but it looks like they will all be allowed to go through then. For all the sturm und drang in Austin, I’d say this is the situation to watch. if SA and the TNCs can come up with an agreement that is broadly acceptable to all, including the cab companies, then that could serve as a starting point for Austin and Houston, if they are inclined to redo their own ordinances. If not, well, that will add to the impetus for the Lege to butt in. We’ll see how it goes. Texas Public Radio, San Antonio Magazine, and the San Antonio Business Journal have more.