Traditional taxi services call the current pay-to-ride landscape an unfair playing field.
Now some City Council members are weighing in — and trying to level that field.
Uber and Lyft, the newest mobile-car services to come to Jacksonville, are the target of legislation council member Stephen Joost plans to file in the coming weeks.
Saying the companies are “thumbing their noses” at local regulations, Joost’s bill would allow the city to impound and eventually seize vehicles from owners who don’t meet transportation rules. It’s modeled after a similar bill in Miami.
The mobile ride-share companies allow drivers, who function as independent contractors, to use their own vehicles to transport passengers who connect via their mobile devices.
In Jacksonville, Uber offers UberX and UberBlack. The latter is a black-car service while the former allows regular vehicles for hire. Lyft operates much like UberX and it’s the lack of insurance information on those that has caused concern.
Joost and others say those drivers don’t acquire the necessary city permits, which cost a little more than $200, and the insurance they carry hasn’t been reviewed. Both are required of cab drivers.
Joost and council member Robin Lumb met Thursday to discuss the possible legislation and situation. They were joined by taxi operators who are still angry about the current policies and have been since city codes were changed last year to accommodate the new competition.
Joost said his main concern is a safety issue, but an Uber spokesman said the company is safe and the legislation is about limiting competition.
“If the council’s true concern were safety, then it would embrace Uber for being the safest ride on the road,” said Taylor Bennett, a spokesman with Uber Technologies Inc. “Instead, this proposal is nothing but an attempt to limit competition on behalf of special interests, who have failed to innovate and meet consumer demand.”
Chelsea Wilson, a spokeswoman with Lyft, said the mobile-ride companies don’t fit traditional transportation services and should be embraced for offering options. She said the company’s safety and screening process goes above what the city requires.
Both companies advertise having $1 million insurance policies for drivers while they are on a service call.
Lumb didn’t support the legislation Thursday, but gave the two mobile-ride companies a 30-day notice to be in compliance with local law or he would get behind the bill.
Officials with the taxi companies see a problem in that, though.
The annual Florida-Georgia game is a boon for the traditional taxi services and is at the end of the month.
In response, Joost has asked the city’s parking services division to partner with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to ramp up efforts to crack down on illegal transporters. That includes sting operations, which parking official Jack Shad said already has occurred, albeit on a small scale.
At the last Jacksonville Jaguars preseason game, two drivers were cited with $500 in fines for operating a transport vehicle without a permit and laws relating to dispatch services. The companies also were fined.
Those cases went through the court system last week and after serving as a “test,” further enforcement efforts could be scheduled.
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