Taxi, Uber rules in Everett get sidetracked over insurance

Published 1:30 am Monday, April 24, 2017

EVERETT —The Everett City Council last week took another stab at revising its rules regulating taxis, Uber and other internet ride-hailing companies.

As happened when the council members first took up the issue in January, they got hung up on the nuances of insurance and other provisions in the ordinance.

The council voted unanimously Wednesday to table the measure indefinitely until the city staff could conduct additional research.

Uber, a company that hires drivers as independent contractors to ferry passengers in their personal vehicles, had raised several concerns about the ordinance in past months. Insurance was one of the major issues.

Assistant City Attorney Katie Rathbun said that the intent was to create a uniform set of regulations governing taxi companies and what the city calls transportation network companies, such as Uber and Lyft. The city looked at regulations in Olympia, Bellingham, Vancouver and Kennewick.

“The provisions we’re adopting are all operating in other jurisdictions where Uber is operating,” Rathbun told the council.

Caleb Weaver, the public affairs manager in Washington for San Francisco-based Uber, said that wasn’t the case.

“We would not be able to buy an insurance product that meets these requirements,” Weaver told the council.

The reason is that drivers for Uber are not commercial drivers like taxicab drivers are.

Another concern was a requirement that would require transportation network companies to give the city a comprehensive list of its drivers, which Uber considers a trade secret.

“We do not operate anywhere where we are required to turn over a complete driver list,” Weaver said.

James Lockhart, an Everett resident who drives for Uber to help put his daughters through college, told the council that he doesn’t have to live paycheck-to-paycheck.

“If you put all these extra fines or fees or whatever, I couldn’t afford it,” Lockhart said.

The ordinance initially considered in January was sent back to the council’s Public Safety Subcommittee for further study.

In March, the state Senate passed a bill that would have overruled local ordinances regulating transportation network companies and set statewide standards. That bill didn’t make it out of committee in the House, however.

In the days before the meeting, representatives for Uber sent a message to the council objecting to a long list of provisions in the ordinance, including those that would require audits of drivers, limit inspections by mechanics affiliated with the companies, and put the onus on the companies to conduct criminal background checks.

The communication caught the council by surprise, because the city had been in regular contact with those companies while working on the ordinance. The council members thought many of those areas of disagreement had been addressed.

“It’s a little out of left field to receive this notice from Mr. Weaver from Uber on Monday,” said councilwoman Brenda Stonecipher.

Councilman Scott Bader also expressed his frustration with the outcome.

“I think Uber and Lyft were asleep at the switch here and now at the last minute we’re hearing from them,” Bader said.

A public hearing on the bill remains open until it comes back to the city council. A date for final consideration has not been set.

Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.