Forty Businesses Demand that the City Let Uber Operate in Portland

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Thursday, December 04, 2014

GoLocalPDx Business Team

Forty businesses in Portland have signed a letter asking the City to allow ride-sharing service company - Uber - to operate within city limits. 

The letter, sent out Dec. 3,  highlights the progressive nature of Portland and how allowing Uber to do business in the city would only benefit the already existing independent businesses - including taxi services.

Portland, currently, is the largest city in the country that does not have a ride sharing services available, the letter states.

Download: Full Letter Here

“The taxi industry will survive here,” the letter stated. “...Just as it has survived - and flourished - right alongside Uber and similar services in cities like New York, San Francisco, and Seattle. The existence of ride sharing would create healthy competition that would motivate the taxi industry to up their game.”

“[…]We have about 400 licensed taxis for a city of more than half a million residents,”the letter stated. “That’s .07 cab per one thousand residents, which is among the lowest per capita in the entire country. Washington, DC, has 12 cabs for every thousand residents - nearly 20 times as many on a per capita basis.”

The businesses were lead by Bashir Wali, President of Provenance Hotels, and Mike Thelin, Co-Founder of Feast Portland.

Businesses in agreement with the commission letter included: St. Jack Restaurant and Bar, Lane PR, Ziddell Yards, Grand + Benedicts, Beam Development and Tedx Portland to name a few.

The 40 business leaders intend to reach out to the city commissions in the following weeks to set up a meeting to formally discuss the issue.

Uber recently started operating in four towns in the metro area, Gresham, Beaverton, Hillsboro and Tigard.

While critics, especially in the taxi industry in Portland, have worked to try to keep the company at bay, Portland Transportation Commissioner Steve Novick's office has said that Novick supports a comprehensive review of the city's taxi regulations.

Related Files

• http://s3.amazonaws.com/art.golocalpdx.com/News/Ride_Sharing_City_Commission_Letter.pdf

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