Commissioner Steve Novick, who heads the Transportation bureau, isn’t ready to implement permanent regulations.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
Commissioner Steve Novick, who heads the Transportation bureau, isn’t ready to implement permanent regulations for ridesharing companies.
So, the Portland City Council extended the pilot program under which companies like Uber and Lyft have been operating for another four months.
“There are issues that I still want to explore,” said Novick, who took over regulation of the industry several months ago when that responsibility was shifted from the Revenue Bureau to the Portland Bureau of Transportation, which he oversees.
Novick said he’s “uneasy” that Uber and Lyft raise their rates — so-called surge pricing — in the early hours of the morning when there are no alternative ways for people to get around.
(SOURCE: Portland Tribune)
The traditional taxi companies are still unhappy with the setup.
“I just wish we’d get a fair shake at City Hall,” says Darin Campbell, a Radio Cab driver and elected representative of Portland’s taxi drivers.
But many cab drivers and taxi company owners sense the die is cast, and some drivers have jumped ship to Uber and Lyft, which allow anyone to turn their personal car into a taxi “hailed” by customers on smartphones.
(SOURCE: Portland Tribune)
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