Controversial Rideshare Bill Headed Back to Vote
By Stephen Gossett in News on Jun 15, 2016 7:13PM
Update, June 17: The City Council's Transportation Committee passed this bill in a meeting Friday. It goes up for a vote in City Council proper on Wednesday.
A controversial ridesharing ordinance that has Uber and Lyft threatening to leave Chicago is expected to go up for a vote in the City Council's Transportation Committee meeting on Friday.
A spokesperson for the alderman who proposed the ordinance—Ald. Anthony Beale (9th)—told Chicagoist the alderman is confident it will pass not just committee, but the full City Council. "We have strong commitments from 34 aldermen in support of the ordinance," said Bryant Payne, a member of Beale's communication team.
Beale's measure would require Uber and Lyft drivers to obtain restricted chauffeur's licenses. The process would involve a $115 fee, a one-day training course, fingerprinting, a background check and vehicle inspection. The ordinance would require at least five percent of rideshare cars to be accessible to passengers with disabilities, and prohibit drivers from driving vehicles more than six years old. Lyft and Uber drivers would also have to immediately pony up the $15 million they collectively owe the city in unpaid parking tickets and other fees.
Uber and Lyft continue to vigorously oppose the Beale's ordinance, which they call excessively regulatory, especially for a gig-economy workforce that relies on flexibility. Lyft vice president Joseph Okpaku told the City Council in May, "We cannot operate under a regulatory framework like this. If you can’t get part-time, casual drivers on board, the model fails... If you shut off the critical mass of drivers, the whole system starts to crumble." Uber over the past several months has been collecting petition signatures against the plan it labels "anti-consumerist."
The companies also claim to aid underserved minority communities in ways that traditional cab operations have failed, a claim with which Beale vigorously disagrees. "They’re saying nobody’s serving the South and West Sides, which is not true,” Beale told the Sun-Times. “An African-American cab owner on the King Drive has given data that she provides 6,800 rides-a-month to the South and West Sides. So, they're saying these things, but they’re not giving us the data to back it up.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been petitioning against the bill, perhaps unsurprisingly, as his brother Ari is an investor in Uber. The Illinois Transportation Trade Association, which represents the taxi industry, also remains a staunch opponent, having contributed in excess of $35,000 to Beale and other sympathetic aldermen, according to the Sun-Times.
Update, 4:30p.m.: Uber shared a statement with Chicagoist elaborating the company's position:
"We hope aldermen reject this proposal, which would harm Chicagoans and underserved neighborhoods. It would eliminate ridesharing as we know it and take away transportation choices and work opportunities from people.""The trip numbers released by the City show that ridesharing companies provided 10 times the rides to and from underserved neighborhoods over the last six months alone. Our own records validate those facts, showing 42% of Uber's rides in the city start or end on the south and west sides."