Lake Charles City Council members on Wednesday voted to amend a section of the city code titled “Vehicles for Hire,” which sets up protective measures for passengers using transportation network services such as Uber.
Assistant city attorney Corey Rubin drafted the amendments after speaking extensively with representatives for Uber and Lyft about the city’s policy. The changes include allowing audits to take place electronically instead of inside city limits and allowing felony background checks to go back only five years instead of seven.
The “Vehicles for Hire” section regulates background checks, permits, safety inspections, recognizable insignias, insurance coverage and up-to-date records for transportation network services — defined as online applications that connect passengers with noncommercial drivers.
Mayor Randy Roach said the amendments were mostly technical adjustments made after careful review of other cities’ policies toward such companies.
“The overall framework is pretty consistent with what other communities are doing,” Roach said.
He said that since companies are now considering drafting a piece of legislation that would create a statewide standard, the city took a preliminary step and made sure its policy aligned with that of other Louisiana cities.
Roach said he didn’t know if or when Uber and Lyft planned to come to Lake Charles. But the fact that they are showing interested in local policies shows that Lake Charles is on their radar, he said.
“They’re very interested in working with us, and they spent a good deal of time going through the ordinance,” Roach said.
Whether or not Uber and Lyft do decide to come, having the “Vehicles for Hire” section ready to go will, he said, be well worth the effort.
Uber has gained popularity around the world for its convenience and low cost. It has also garnered criticism for being at an unfair advantage in cities without Uber-specific requirements in place, while traditional taxi companies have had to abide by stringent, and often costly, standards.
In the past few years, many cities have responded to this criticism and created policies that govern transport network services to protect their communities.
Roach said the city plans to allow the two forms of commercial transportation to coexist and isn’t favoring one over the other.
Councilwoman Luvertha August voiced concern about the lack of a city policy protecting the network drivers from backlash if they, for instance, denied someone entry who is under the influence.
“I have no problem with how the policy is written. It supports the passenger, as it should,” August said. “But who’s going to protect the driver?”
Rubin told August that the city didn’t find it necessary to outline those policies protecting drivers, as they are traditionally outlined by the companies themselves.
August asked Rubin to find out from the individual companies what policies they have in place to protect drivers, and to report his findings to the council. Rubin agreed, and the amendments were unanimously approved.
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