The University of Texas at Austin's West Mall has recently become a conflict of signs and campaigners for and against "Prop 1." Volunteers in baby blue T-shirts litter the plaza, telling passersby to "Vote for Prop 1, keep Uber and Lyft in Austin."
But recently, more and more student-made signs have appeared on the lawn, sporting slogans against Prop 1. I was confused, who didn't want to keep Uber and Lyft in Austin? Uber has become a central part of many students' lives -- it keeps student drivers off the road after they've been drinking and lets students without cars get where they need to go.
What these ridesharing companies don't want people to realize is that the issue is a lot more complicated than just keeping Uber and Lyft in our city. Here's what you as an informed voter need to know about Prop 1.
1. First and foremost, THIS is Prop 1:
PROPOSITION 1: “Shall the City Code be amended to repeal City Ordinance No. 20151217-075 relating to Transportation Network Companies; and replace with an ordinance that would repeal and prohibit required fingerprinting, repeal the requirement to identify the vehicle with a distinctive emblem, repeal the prohibition against loading and unloading passengers in a travel lane, and require other regulations for Transportation Network Companies.”
What does this mean?
2. Uber and Lyft are threatening to leave the city based on background checks and regulations.
Here's what the Vote For Prop 1 website had to say about the law:
Here are the facts: Prop 1 keeps in place the same rules that have made ridesharing a safe, reliable option for Austin for the last two years and mandates national, criminal background checks for all drivers.
So what is the law really about?
4. An issue of background checks.
A brief history of this issue: The Austin Ordinance in question, which Prop 1 would essentially repeal, required ridesharing companies to perform fingerprint-based background checks on their employees. Uber and Lyft don't want that -- they want to be allowed to run their own background checks.
5. What's the difference?
The ridesharing companies' argument, according to the Statesman, is that "fingerprinting is cumbersome and an expense for applicant drivers, and thus will significantly reduce the number of people who attempt to become part-time ride-hailing drivers," which "will do real damage to their business model and to the customer experience by lengthening the waiting time for a car to arrive." They also claim that their existing background check system is sufficient, for which there is no study indicating otherwise.
But what about the other stipulations of the Proposition?
6. Vehicle identification and pickup location.
Prop 1 also would get rid of two of the other regulations established by the city of Austin:
Identification of vehicle: Lyft actually already does this, but this aspect of the law just says that ridesharing companies must in some way identify their vehicle, which would make the whole process likely safer overall and prevent pickup of passengers by non-Uber drivers.
Stopping in traffic: this regulation merely mandates that ridesharing drivers must pull out of traffic and off of the main road to pick up passengers.
7. The weird part.
What struck me as odd is that the city of New York already requires companies like Uber and Lyft to perform finger-scanner-based background checks, and guess what? They're still there.
Everything I have seen campaigning for Prop 1 has made it sound like if the law isn't passed, Uber and Lyft are leaving Austin. But even on the Vote for Prop 1 website says that a vote against Prop 1 would mean "longer wait times and higher prices for riders in Austin." That doesn't make it sound like the companies are actually going anywhere. One Uber employee came forward and actually said that the company has no plans of leaving Austin.
8. So, what does it all mean?
It means that this issue is more complicated than "keeping Uber and Lyft" in Austin. It comes down to who you as an informed voter believe should be able to regulate ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft in Austin -- the City of Austin or the companies themselves? The choice is up to you.
