Photo by Dan Macy
The D.C. Council gave its nod to legislation that would impose new regulations on Uber and other dispatch services in the city’s burgeoning sedan-for-hire industry. Unlike previous attempts to regulate livery sedans, Councilmember Mary Cheh’s (D-Ward 3) bill does not include any restrictions on fares, though it would require sedan drivers to obey the same geographical rules that apply to taxicabs.
Under Cheh’s bill, which passed its first reading without opposition, so-called “sedan-class” drivers and their vehicles would be required to be licensed and registered in the District in order to pick up customers from another jurisdiction and ferry them to D.C. or complete trips that take place entirely within D.C. boundaries.
The same rules already apply to taxis under an agreement between D.C., Maryland and Virginia, and were cited in January when Ron Linton, the chairman of the D.C. Taxicab Commission, ticketed a sedan driver from Virginia in his “sting” on Uber.
Perhaps more stringently for Uber and its competitors, Cheh’s legislation would issue new rules for “digital dispatch” services that offer customers the ability to hail a ride through a mobile-phone application.
“You don’t have street hails,” Cheh said at a Council news conference yesterday. “It changes regulations.”
Under her bill, Uber and its ilk would be required to provide detailed receipts upon the completion of a trip, offer to serve all eight D.C. wards and provide handicap-accessible vehicles upon request. Data released by Uber earlier this week show that the company does serve every ward, though usage is far higher closer to the center of the city.
The sedan legislation also compels companies like Uber to submit trip data back to the taxi commission and prevents them from refusing customers based on where they live.
Additionally, the bill would also instruct the D.C. Taxicab Commission to create a new, sedan-specific class of driver’s license. The commission would also be told to dispose of separate exams for different types of public vehicle-for-hire licenses and instead offer a unified application process through which a driver can obtain multiple types of licenses.
With the vote today, Cheh’s bill will be presented for final passage at the Council’s final legislative session of the year next month.
