As city officials put in place new rules governing both Honolulu’s conventional taxis and emerging ride-hailing services, such as Uber and Lyft, the matter of public safety must remain in the driver’s seat. Customers should not have to wonder whether the person behind the wheel has a good driving record, a crime-free background or even a working knowledge of Oahu’s roadways.
When it comes to government regulation, it’s only fair that all private transportation operations play by a similar set of rules. But city officials must be careful to limit the set to a lean and meaningful checklist.
The new rules, drafted by City Councilmembers, respond to two concerns: a public perception that more thorough criminal background checks are needed; and complaints from traditional cab companies that Uber, Lyft and other “transportation network companies” provide essentially the same service but are currently not subject to rules and regulations pertaining to private transportation operations.
According to a measure approved by the City Council in August, both taxi and ride-hailing drivers will be required to jump through at least a half-dozen hoops to obtain a city-issued certificate. The city’s Department of Customer Services is now finalizing the new law’s administrative rules.
Among the most pertinent to public safety is a requirement to submit to a third-party, nationwide criminal background check going back seven years, and then repeat the same process every two years. Taxi companies now must obtain two-year local background checks.
Some of the other stipulations, though, appear to have little bearing on public safety.
They include requirements that drivers must hold a valid Hawaii driver’s license (some drivers, such as military members of military families may want to hold onto their mainland driver’s licenses); secure a physician’s medical clearance for the job (companies can set their own fitness standards); and pass an exam on traffic laws and ordinances, locations of roadways and landmarks (GPS tools can help with island navigation).
In addition, the new law requires private transportation companies to maintain a staffed business office on Oahu. But Uber and Lyft — mainland startups that connect drivers with passengers through smart-phone applications — have been operating in Honolulu for the past few years without a pressing need for a bricks-and-mortar presence.
At a public hearing held earlier this month a cab driver complained that under the current rules, she spends weeks and several hundred dollars renewing required credentials. And Uber and Lyft operators groused that the new checklist would needlessly complicate efforts to hire drivers wanting flexible employment.
Also, a city licensing administrator said there might be need to hold another hearing should the department amend the proposed rules as they now stand.
City Council members are now considering a few tweaks to the new law. One would give companies and their drivers a 60-day grace period to comply with the law should the city not have rules in place by its slated Jan. 15 start date.
Another would add more driver requirements. For instance, no driver certificate would be issued to someone who gets five or more moving violations during a two-year period, is convicted of a serious traffic infraction within two years, or is convicted of crimes including violent, sexual or drug-related offenses within seven years.
Here’s hoping that both advance. The latter is tied to compelling public safety concerns. And it appears that the Department of Customer Services needs a bit more time to take a hard look at the new law’s proposed administrative rules. Any regulation that strays from a focus on public safety or hobbles effective enforcement of such matters would be a disservice to private transportation businesses, their customers and the city’s taxpayers.
