City officials seek to stop ridesharing company from operating until it adheres to safety regulations.
BY JACOB PALMER | OB DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
Eugene officials want to stop Uber from operating in the city until it adheres to safety regulations.
So the city is taking its case against the ridesharing company to Lane County Circuit Court, the Register-Guard reports.
The lawsuit comes seven months after Uber began operating in Eugene and Springfield and after failed negotiations between city regulators and company representatives to reach an agreement so the ride service operates in what the city considers a legal fashion.
The R-G reports that Uber saw the suit as the city’s attempt to banish the company from Eugene.
“While jurisdictions across the country, including neighbors like Vancouver and Portland, work to craft regulations that ensure public safety and embrace ride sharing, Eugene city leaders decided to hide behind red tape to shut down Uber,” said Brooke Steger, the ride service’s general manager for the Pacific Northwest, in Christian Hill’s story.
City officials countered that their intent all along has not been to shut Uber or hamper the ability of a local resident to make money driving for the ride service: “We truly want to get them under our umbrella of some regulatory involvement,” Deputy City Attorney Kathryn Brotherton said.
The Associated Press reported on the fines Uber has incurred during its time in Eugene:
The city began fining Uber in November for refusing to get a license. The fines total $146,000 so far. Uber is contesting the penalties and a hearing is scheduled March 24.
