Taxi Exec Calls Proposed Uber, Lyft Rules a ‘Public Safety Disaster’
By: Richard Velotta (Las Vegas Review Journal) August 2015
An executive with one of Southern Nevada’s dominant taxicab companies says the Nevada Transportation Authority’s proposed regulations for transportation network companies “is going to represent a public safety disaster for Las Vegas.”
Jonathan Schwartz, a director for Yellow Checker Star, said Nevada’s draft regulations are among the weakest for ride-hailing companies anywhere in the country.
The Legislative Commission on Monday pre-approved 17 pages of regulations for companies such as Uber and Lyft to begin operations in the state.
The Transportation Authority has scheduled a public hearing for Sept. 11 at which the three-member board could give final approval to the regulations. Companies are welcome to apply for licensure and could be allowed to operate before that hearing as long as they conform to the framework of rules established by Assembly Bills 175 and 176. Those bills were approved by the Legislature in May and signed into law by Gov. Brian Sandoval.
The authority would be required to approve or reject an application within 30 days of its submission.
But Schwartz said the rules as proposed are too lax and could lead to problems for Southern Nevada’s tourism industry.
“Nevada’s lax regulatory structure of TNCs (transportation network companies) is going forward when the two states that have the most experience with TNCs are imposing more stringent regulations and higher fines,” Schwartz said in an email.
“California just fined Uber $7.3 million for violations of regulations, the district attorneys in both San Francisco and Los Angeles are suing Uber regarding their background checks, and the Los Angeles City Council just took over the regulation of TNCs at Los Angeles International Airport,” Schwartz said.
The California Public Utilities Commission said Uber failed to give it information on how many rides were requested and accepted by ZIP code, how many users requested handicap-accessible vehicles and the cause of accidents involving Uber drivers. The matter went to court and a judge recommended a $7.3 million fine against Uber that, if not paid, could lead to the suspension of Uber service in California. The company has appealed, and the company can continue to operate until the appeal is heard.
“New York just passed a multitude of new regulations regarding TNCs, too,” Schwartz said. “It appears that Nevada is unable to learn from the misadventures of other states with TNCs.”
Schwartz said the Nevada regulations do not require:
— FBI or state-enhanced criminal background checks.
— Pre-employment or random drug testing. Schwartz said more than 50 percent of driver applicants fail drug tests.
— Full-time effective insurance. Regulations do require the company to provide insurance when a passenger is in a ride-hailed car, but they’re silent on insurance requirements for drivers on the app without a passenger. Insurance companies have said standard motor vehicle insurance would not cover a motorist driving contractually for a transportation network company.
— Driver training. Yellow Checker Star has driver training, requiring employees to perform in a simulator before going out on the road.
— Cameras in vehicles to ensure driver and customer safety and surveillance. All taxis are equipped with cameras that serve as a deterrent to potential criminal acts. They can also capture information if there’s a dispute between the driver and a passenger.
— Separate staging areas for resort properties to guarantee trips will be performed “on-app.” Schwartz said there is no assurance that TNC drivers wouldn’t negotiate rides off the app when stopped at a resort, an illegal practice that the companies also would want to prevent. At Monday’s Legislative Commission meeting, Transportation Authority Chairman Andrew MacKay said staging at resorts is a matter between the companies and the resorts.
— Dynamic pricing controls and oversight. The practice, which increases rates during busy periods, is designed to stimulate additional cars on the road with higher payment rates when they’re needed most. Schwartz said “surge pricing,” as critics call it, “will make long-hauling look like nothing.”
— Daily driving limits of 12 hours. While the regulations prevent drivers from working more than 12 hours in any 24-hour period, they also allow drivers to have their apps turned on for no more than 16 hours a day.
— Adequate funding of the Transportation Authority to police companies. “If the (authority) does not appropriate enough funding from TNCs to put cops on the street, any regulation is pointless,” Schwartz said. The current regulation requires companies to pay $300,000 for an unlimited number of cars to operate.
— Conspicuous markings on the vehicles for law-enforcement identification. The regulations require drivers to have a small decal identifying their companies on the bottom of the windshield on the passenger side of a vehicle. Drivers also are required to have some form of “trade dress” to identify the vehicle to customers.
