“Cities are recognizing they have to change, and that it’s a great thing if people have more options,” said Joseph Kopser, CEO of Austin-based RideScout, an app that provides real-time information about transportation services in different cities. In some cases, the debates have been hotly contested. Texas cities are at varying stages of re-evaluating city regulations overseeing vehicle-for-hire services to see if there’s a way to allow the popular services to co-exist with traditional taxi services.
#UBER IN DALLAS TEXAS DRIVERS#
In April, a coalition of Houston and San Antonio cab drivers filed a request for a federal injunction against Uber and Lyft, arguing that the companies are violating local ordinances.
Cab and limo businesses in some Texas cities have argued that allowing TNCs to operate under more relaxed guidelines creates an uneven playing field that will drive them out of business. Yet the companies do not meet some of the local regulations that traditional taxi company drivers in many cities are required to follow, such as paying permitting fees and charging standardized fares. Both Uber and Lyft require their drivers to have auto insurance but provide insurance coverage of up to $1 million on top of that. They also argue that they go to great lengths to ensure the safety of their services. Both Uber and Lyft officials took issue with efforts to characterize them as unpermitted or illegal taxi services. Officials with the two companies describe the firms as technology companies connecting drivers with passengers. Police officials did not respond to a request for comment for this story.īoth Lyft and Uber insist they are operating legally in all of their markets. “There will be a dedicated enforcement effort following with intent to persuade compliance and ensure public safety,” Simpson said last month in an editorial for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. In Corpus Christi, a 30-day grace period for Lyft and Uber drivers ends Tuesday, according to a recent statement from Corpus Christi Police Chief Floyd Simpson. “Our big message right now is to make sure people aren’t breaking the law accidentally,” Alexander said.ĭrivers have also been ticketed in Houston and San Antonio. She noted that in some cases, Austin police have ticketed Uber or Lyft drivers who were unaware that they were in violation of any city rules. Lyft and Uber drivers in Austin are at risk for a Class C misdemeanor ticket and possibly having their car impounded, Alexander said. “As of right now, they are not permitted.”
#UBER IN DALLAS TEXAS CODE#
“As the current city of Austin code is written, you still have to be a permitted ground transportation service to operate in the city of Austin,” said Samantha Alexander, a spokeswoman with the city of Austin’s Transportation Department. As Uber and Lyft promote their services in Texas markets, their drivers are technically breaking local laws, according to statements by officials in each Texas city. While TNCs have gained acceptance and popularity in cities like San Francisco, where both Uber and Lyft are based, they have hit a bumpier road in Texas. (Lyft vehicles are denoted with a pink mustache across the grill.) Drivers with Lyft and Uber’s UberX service use their own vehicles. Payments are made entirely through the app. The two transportation networking companies, or TNCs, allow people to connect with freelance taxi drivers via a mobile app. The companies are also operating in Dallas, where city officials are set to consider a complete overhaul of their taxi regulations to bring Uber and Lyft into compliance.
Both companies were already doing business in Houston, San Antonio and Corpus Christi. In the past two weeks, both Uber and Lyft launched their services in Austin. Texas has emerged as a key battleground in the fast-growing universe of vehicle-for-hire apps, with Uber and Lyft battling each other for market share across the state’s biggest cities, while local officials struggle with whether to embrace the companies or ban them.
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