Ohio and Cleveland propose regulations to Uber and Lyft

After waiting hours for RTA to pull up to her stop or trudging home on foot after a night of a few too many drinks, 27-year-old Clevelander and Kent State University grad student Yhosila Deew welcomed Uber into the city like a “godsend.” The ride-sharing app is similar to its competitor Lyft. It performs much like a social network, allowing users seeking a ride to connect with freelance drivers. Riders can even choose the style of car they’d like to be chauffeured in.

“It’s a life-saver,” Deew said of the service. “I use it at least once a week.”

Deew, who was born and raised in Indonesia, said using an app like Uber or Lyft helps her get from place to place better than a taxi service.

“Drivers don’t always understand me when I speak,” she said. “In the app, I can pick my language.”

Cutting out direct verbal communication between the passenger and the driver, Deew said, eases her anxiety and helps her get around.

Deew isn’t the only person reaping the benefits of ride-sharing. Uber reported to Forbes that it caters to at least one million people a day in 53 countries.
Recently, local officials have begun processing a bill that could fragment the popular service. House Bill 237, which has been unanimously passed by the Ohio House of Representatives, will regulate ride-share apps and its drivers if passed by the Senate.

As outlined in the document, ride-share drivers will be forced to acquire transportation network company (TNC) permits, TNC insurance and background checks. Ride-share programs will be further required to keep better documentation of exchanges and provide customers with more information before travelling.

Many of these elements are already required for Uber and Lyft drivers. Both companies already perform background checks and require drivers to be at least 21. However, the TNC permit and the subsequent fees are throwing a wrench in the peer-to-peer machine. Columbus already requires many of the elements Bill 237 is proposing as well, including the permit. To apply for Columbus’s TNC permit, the fees total around $100. According to Uber, last year the company offered to cover this fee for drivers to ensure they could keep working. Bill 237 is proposing drivers apply for the same permit. But as outlined in the document, it would cost Ohio ride-sharers $5,000 a year.

This fee is enough to put many Ohioans out of the drivers seat. Time explained in its piece on ride-sharing that the majority of drivers are young, part-time workers who drive out of necessity while looking for other, steadier jobs. Many of them are college students or recent college grads, meaning a good chunk of drivers are already in debt.

51-year-old Cleveland Uber driver Mark Norton said he wouldn’t be able to continue ride-sharing if the bill becomes law.

“I don’t have that kind of money lying around,” Norton said. “I drive because I don’t have that kind of money around.”

Norton usually spends his time and earns his living driving industrial trucks across country. He said he specialized in transporting glass. However, after a work injury forced him to return to hometown of Cleveland to recover for 18 weeks, Norton took to ride-sharing to pay the bills.

“My son told me about it, and it seemed like a natural fit,” he said. “I’m already used to driving long distances. I still work eight hours or more a day. I just get to set my own schedule and take breaks when I need to.”

Licensed taxi drivers aren’t as excited about ride-sharing in their city.

“I don’t know how it was ever even allowed to slip by,” Cleveland’s assessments and licenses commissioner Dedrick Stephens told a group of cab drivers at a public meeting last month. “We would never let a taxi driver just get in his car and start a taxi service. Uber isn’t fair to taxis, and it isn’t the way things should be done.”
Currently, taxi laws are designed by each city, Cleveland having its own policies regarding taxis. If passed, this bill would override city regulations on ride-sharing. Though, even if Bill 237 falls through, Cleveland is already proposing its own similar regulations.
Stephens told the group during the meeting that his department is looking to amend city ordinances on taxi services to include ride-sharing programs. Though details on the city ordinance won’t be available until 2016, Stephens mentioned many of the same elements Bill 237 is already proposing.

“This isn’t something we ever should have allowed,” he said of ride-sharing. “It’s the same thing as our taxi services already.”

There is no scheduled date yet for the Senate to vote on the proposed regulations though they received the bill July 1.