How The City of Portland Plans to Fight Uber
Tuesday, December 09, 2014
Uber, which operated DIY taxi services in hundreds of cities across the nation and world, often illegally, launched service in Portland Friday, without permits or licenses. Customers summon an Uber driver using a smartphone app. Drivers use their own cars and to find rides and transact business, which cost far less than a traditional taxi.
Considered to be a “disruptive” innovator to some, many cities regard the company as a renegade that thumbs its nose at the law. Some cities look the other way when Uber operates illegally on their streets. Other cities wrestle with the corporation to no avail. But a handful of cities and states, like Cambridge, Mass and Columbus, Ohio and Nevada have gotten Uber to come to heel through legal injunctions. Around the world, Thai courts ordered the company to halt all operations on Monday, and Spain imposed a temporary injunction against the business, according to media reports.
Slides Below: What 20 Cities Around the World Did When Uber Came to Town
“We sent them a warning and they didn’t listen. We sent them a cease and desist order and they didn’t listen. So maybe they will listen to the judge,“ said Dylan Rivera, spokesman for the Portland Department of Transportation, of Monday's court filing.
The lawsuit, filed in Multnomah County Court Monday, followed a cease and desist order filed earlier that day by Portland Bureau of Transportation Director Leah Treat.
The company has been encircling the Metro area for the better part of a year. It opened up service in Vancouver in July 2014, using a grey area of the law, with the city taking no action against it. Then, in the fall, Uber began running service in Gresham, Beaverton, Hillsboro and Tigard.
On Friday, at 5 p.m. the company announced that it would begin service in Portland proper. The city immediately threatened to fine Uber’s driver $1,500 an incident.
"So far what we've been doing is requesting a ride on the Uber app," Brian Hockaday, a policy adviser for Commissioner Steve Novick, said. "That within itself gives us the documentation that we need to impose any fines against the company, as well as the driver."
But Portland now hopes the courts will do what other methods can't.
“The goal is to get Uber to stop operating until it gets a permit,” Rivera said.
Other cities, like Las Vegas, NV, were successful in filing injunctions that banned the service outright in its state. The City of Cambridge, Mass. filed and injunction against the company only to lose its court battle. The state of Colorado became the first state to pass regulations for rideshare services.
Uber Fights On
In a Dec. 8 email to customers Uber stated that it will be petitioning the city to allow it to operate in Portland. By 3:50 p.m. Monday, the petition had gathered approximately 5,515 signatures, just over half of its 10,000 signature goal, according to Uber spokeswoman Eva Behnrend.
“The bottom line is this,” the petition stated. “Drivers deserve an opportunity to earn a living and Portlanders deserve a safe, hassle-free transportation option. We will continue to fight for you to have that right until it’s a reality.”
'The Rule of Law'
River stressed that Uber doesn’t even have a permit. The city could change its policies towards ridesharing, Rivera said, but the company would still need to apply to operate as a business in the city.
“The rules could change tomorrow and they’ll still have to apply for a permit,” said Rivera.”They haven’t applied for a permit in over a year."
River said that when it comes to strategizing, Portland can learn from what happened in Nevada, but that city more or less knows what it has to do.
“This is not about Nevada or any other place,” Rivera said. “We know our codes and we know how to enforce them.”
Uber requested a meeting with the City of Portland in 2013 to ask if it could operate its Uber Black service without being subject to towncar regulations. Uber didn’t show up to the meeting, so PBOT denied Uber’s request, Rivera said.
Intrix CEO, Will Davis, said every business takes risk, and he’s not surprised to see Uber ruffling some feathers in Portland.
“If you were look at Fortune 50, or Fortune 500 companies, there’s rule bending on every level,” Davis said.
Davis said he thinks that when the dust settles, there will be a set of new laws for ridesharing in place.
Portland is kind of perfect for (Uber), especially for people who work downtown,” Davis said. “It’s a very young city, it’s also a very expensive city. People are willing to pay five or 10 bucks to go 25 blocks, and some people are willing to share their ride to make a little bit of extra money.”
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