SAN ANTONIO – In a 9-to-2 vote Thursday, San Antonio City Council members approved a one-year operating agreement with Uber, Lyft and Get Me.
The done deal was preceded by a lengthy battle as city leaders grappled with how to provide San Antonians with 21st century transportation options while protecting public safety.
A major speed bump in the debate centered on background checks for drivers. The agreement, which runs from Dec. 31 though the end of 2017, with the option of three one-year extensions, keeps San Antonio Police Department fingerprint background checks for drivers voluntary.
As of Dec. 1, 285 drivers have undergone and passed the screening for the San Antonio Police Department. The city does not keep record of how many rideshare drivers operate in San Antonio.
The taxicab industry and its drivers have been a large part of the push for mandatory fingerprinting, but some in the rideshare industry agree with the idea, too.
“I think overall it’s been shown that having it as an option, drivers aren’t going to do it,” said Regina Radulski, vice president of operations for Get Me. “You have thousands of drivers who drive in the San Antonio market and you only have a couple of hundred who do the fingerprinting.”
Radulski adds that the city of Austin requires mandatory fingerprinting and her company has not seen any pushback from its employees there.
Robert Gonzales works for National Cab and describes himself as an advocate of the taxicab industry for 36 years.
“The council knows that it didn’t work,” Gonzales said, referring to the voluntary fingerprinting during the city’s rideshare pilot program. “And they’re still allowing these companies, these corporations, to come in and control the agenda.”
Supporters of the agreement argue that drunken driving is the more prevalent threat to public safety and ridesharing will help combat that problem.
“The more options people have to get home safe, the more they’re actually going to choose one of those options,” said Jason Derscheid, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving in South Texas. “And in San Antonio in particular, there’s a lack of transportation options, so we want to support more options and not fewer.”
SAPD cites a drop in drunken-driving incidents since rideshare companies began operating in San Antonio, but Derscheid said it’s hard to say ridesharing is expressly the reason for that decrease.
“We think this solution balances consumer choice with public safety in a really elegant way, and also makes sure rideshare stays and we can attack this drunk-driving problem,” said David Heard, CEO of Tech Bloc.
Tech Bloc was instrumental in pushing for the return of ridesharing to San Antonio.
Mayor Ivy Taylor called Thursday a “day to celebrate,” adding that she does not see mandatory SAPD background checks being required for drivers in the future.
“I don’t believe that what we developed today was perfect, but I would also say I don’t believe it’s the job of a city government to protect an industry that may not be adequately responding to consumer demands,” Taylor said.
The agreement calls for the city to create an incentive program to urge drivers to take part in the SAPD screening.
Rideshare companies will also be required to notify drivers of the SAPD background when they are hired and on a quarterly basis.
The agreement changes the fee structure for rideshare companies and reduces operating fees for taxis and limos.
It also eases restrictions on taxis and limos, which includes relaxing advertising restrictions and eliminating third-party inspections.
Rideshare Presentation City Council