Members of a city committee are willing to let the state to take the driver’s seat on ride-sharing regulations in Evanston, a position that drew sharp criticism from one council member.
Members of the city’s Administration and Public Works Committee began debate Jan. 19 on a staff recommendation that the city adopt an ordinance, modeled after Chicago’s, setting basic regulations for transportation network providers such as Uber and Sidecar.
Aldermen were unaware until then that state regulations had gone through, establishing standards for the industry, some declared Monday night.
To hold off on any city proposal “is a wise move,” said Ald. Coleen Burrus, 9th.
Ald. Jane Grover, 7th, said her understanding of the state legislation is that it addresses two public policy concerns of local officials: dealing with public safety and consumer protection.
She said a lot of the consumer protection concerns are “taken care of through how the transportation network system operates, with riders able to leave instant feedback about the safety and cleanliness of a ride.”
However, when the committee’s stance was mentioned at the full council meeting Monday, Jan. 26, Ald. Donald Wilson, 4th – who does not serve on the Administration and Public Works committee – said he was baffled “why we would just let this business completely off the hook and have these extraordinary limitations on taxicabs providing the same service.”
Taxicab drivers pay stiff fees for medallions to operate, he noted.
“I can’t imagine how anybody who can support the idea of not regulating the transportation network providers could sit and look a taxi driver in the eye [and say] ‘you know this is good. This is competition.'” he said. “Frankly it’s kind of absurd to have one group heavily regulated with extraordinary costs and to tell the other guy ‘you’re not going to have any costs – you just go out and play and compete with guys and see how it plays out.
“You know how it’s going to play out? The other group is going to be decimated.”
Aldermen have directed staff to prepare a resolution noting the city’s decision to abide by the state legislation at this time.
At the Jan. 19 A&PW meeting, officials recommended the city draw up an ordinance to regulate the new companies whose drivers book rides on line. The proposed ordinance would have required the companies to pay a fee based on the number of drivers operating in a municipality. In addition, companies with drivers operating no more than 20 hours per week in Evanston would have to pay an annual fee of $10,000 while those with drivers at 20 hours or more a week would pay $25,000.
The companies would also have been required to provide both commercial general liability insurance and commercial automobile liability insurance, each no less than $1 million, under the proposal.
Staff provided some basis for the recommendations in a follow up memo responding to concerns A&PW members raised about the need for any regulations.
Grant Farrar, the city’s corporation counsel, explained that in contrast to taxicabs, the licensing fee is assessed against the transportation network provider company, not the individual driver.
“Thus, a $20,000 fee could be assessed to a TNP such as Uber, which reported an $18 billion stock market valuation in the Wall Street Journal in July 2014,” he said.
Some other jurisdictions such as Springfield, Ill. or Austin, Texas have assessed a $500 licensing fee to each TNP, he noted.
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